Page 50 of Fake Out Hearts

She blushes at my compliment. “I don’t know what happens, but when I’m dancing, everything else just kind of falls away. I get into this flow state. It’s like this perfect harmony between my mind and body, like there’s no lag at all between my thoughts and my movements. I love feeling that way. Everything else just melts away.”

The passion in her voice makes me smile because I know exactly what she means.

“I have the same thing happen when I’m out on the ice sometimes,” I admit. “It’s like my stick and skates become a part of me, another few limbs or something.”

“Exactly!” She beams. “I don’t know about you, but I get a kind of tunnel vision when it happens. Like nothing else exists but the next step.”

“Yeah, I get that. But for me, it’s usually when I’m barreling down the ice toward a goalie like a heat-seeking missile,” I say.

She laughs again, her brown eyes bright. “That makes sense.” She sits down on the bench and sighs, still catching her breath. “You know, I think dancing and hockey have a lot more in common than most people think.”

“Really?” I ask as I step over to the little mini fridge set against one wall and grab her a bottle of water. I always keep it stocked with that and electrolyte drinks for after my workouts.

I hand the bottle to her, and our fingers graze as she takes it. An electric shock seems to shoot up my arm, and I try to shake it off. Every fucking time we touch, I swear I can feel some kind of static charge build between us, but I’ve been trying to ignore it.

It’s hard as hell though.

Becca takes a sip of water, her delicate throat moving as she swallows. I tear my gaze away, suddenly finding the weight rack incredibly interesting.

“You know…”

Her voice draws my attention back to her, and I shoot a glance her way.

“What?” I ask.

She chews her lower lip, recapping the bottle. “I’ve been thinking about something. You told me the other night that you were in a kind of slump, right? And you didn’t really know why.”

I blow out a breath, my shoulders slumping a little. I hate that she knows that about me, but at this point, who doesn’t?

“Yeah. It’s been an issue pretty much all season.”

“Well, what if what’s missing is that flow state we were just talking about? Like maybe that’s the missing piece. You’re too distracted to slip into that headspace,” she says.

It takes everything I have not to wince at her use of the word ‘distracted,’ because that’s exactly what Noah accused me of being with Becca. But this slump I’ve been in started long before I married her, so there’s no way she’s the cause of it.

I shrug. “Could be. That would make a lot of sense.”

She hesitates, and I can tell from the look on her face that she wants to says something else but isn’t sure if she should.

“What is it?” I ask, keeping my voice gentle. I don’t want her to worry about anything she might say.

Her lips pull to one side. “I hate to even ask this, but I feel like I have to. You aren’t having problems with hockey because of… because of me, are you?”

My hand darts out to rest on her shoulder, and I give a little squeeze. “No way, princess. Not at all. It was a problem for me way before we started all of this. I really don’t know what’sbehind it, but it’s definitely not you, so please don’t let that get in your head, okay?”

Becca nods and smiles. “Okay. I believe you.” She stands up from the bench, her worried expression morphing into a playful look. “But I have an idea.”

“Why don’t I like the sound of that?” I cock my head warily, and she laughs.

“Nothing painful, I promise. I just know that when I’m in a rut, sometimes it helps me to try something totally different. We get stuck in routines, you know? And then we get bored, and nothing kills passion like boredom. So why don’t you try something new?”

I raise an eyebrow. “That depends on what you have in mind.”

She holds out a hand, her brown eyes dancing. “Dance with me.”

“Oh, no.” I shake my head, making a face. “I give new meaning to the phrase two left feet. You’ll lose all respect for me if I even try this.”

“I’ve seen the way you skate. You couldn’t suck at this if you tried. Come on, just give it a shot. For me?”

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