Page 10 of A Scoring Chance

“I may have flirted with him some.”

“Who are you, and what have you done with my shy best friend?” Alsie laughs loudly, turning her entire body to face me, gripping both my hands in hers. “Tell me everything, and don’t leave out a single detail.”

“There’s nothing to tell. He wanted to bring Bluebell some apples.”

“I doubt that was all Cooper wanted,” Alise whispers, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Oh, this won’t end well for me. Before I can react, Alise stands up and waves her arms above her head while shouting Cooper’s name. His head snaps in our direction, and our eyes lock on each other. My cheeks heat for what feels like the millionth time in the last hour as I tuck a few of my locs behind my ear, my eyes looking anywhere but at the man standing in the middle of the ice.

“He’s looking at you.” Alise bumps my shoulder, motioning for me to turn toward him.

A knowing smirk covers his face as he glides toward us. My heart instantly shoots up into my chest as my head swivels back and forth, searching for a place to escape.

“Oh, no, you don’t. We’re going to talk to him,” Alise commands, grabbing my hand and pulling me down the few steps toward the glass.

I can’t do this. It’s one thing to talk to this man when he was just a stranger passing through town, but this is entirely different. He’s the town golden boy, a professional hockey player, and probably not the type to want relationships or put down roots.

“I’m not asking you to marry him, Mona. Just say hello and see where things go,” Alsie whispers, shoving me toward the glass.

“Hello again.” His voice glides over my skin like silk, sending a shiver down my spine.

“Hello,” I squeak out, his warm brown eyes locking with mine.

We both just stand there, staring at each other like two lunatics. There isn’t a sound in the room, just the two of us in our own little bubble of bliss. I should say something, break the silence, but I can’t do anything but drink him in. Cooper Hendrix is tall and hard all over, built for sports. His arms look to be about the size of my head, but that could also be from the bulky shirt he’s wearing. Either way, it would take little effort for him to toss me around like a potato sack, but I’m not afraid. There is a gentleness to him that I have a feeling he doesn’t show too many people.

I’m not short by any means at 5’4”, but he has to be well over six feet tall. I even have to tilt my head back slightly just to see his face. His luscious brown hair, which I wanted to run my fingers through earlier, is covered with a grey beanie hat. He has a small scar above his eyebrow that my hand itches to trace with my finger. His clean-shaven jaw from earlier is now accentuated by his five o’clock shadow.

His eyes scan my face as if he’s committing me to memory before his lips stretch into a blinding smile, and two perfectly shaped dimples appear on his cheeks. Fuck, he has dimples. Dimples are my goddamn kryptonite.

Alise clears her throat loudly from beside me, breaking our trance. Every sound and smell from the rink comes rushing back to me. Speaking. I need to speak. But instead of saying something like my name or flirting a little more, I say the first thing that comes to mind. “I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t moveto town until high school, so I didn’t know who you were. I think I had a few classes with your brother, Cole, but we weren’t friends or anything. Sorry, I didn’t know you were such a big deal around here. If I did…”

Alise bumps my shoulder, and I slam my mouth shut. Fuck, can I be any weirder than I am right now? Probably one of the hottest men I’ve ever seen is looking at me like I’m his next meal, and I’m apologizing for not knowing who he is and talking about someone I assume is his little brother. Shoot me now. But instead of immediately skating away, he cocks his head to the side and asks, “If you did, what?”

“Huh?”

My brain must have temporarily short-circuited because there’s no way he is still standing here speaking to me. This is the part when the guy makes his excuse and leaves, regretting his decision to come and talk to the weird girl sipping a soda in the corner of the bar while all her friends are dancing. Does that analogy have anything to do with this moment? No, but as you’ve already discovered, my brain has a mind of its own.

“You said if you knew I was a big deal around here, you would have… what?” he questions, interrupting my spiral.

“Ummm…”

There are a million different ways I could’ve finished that statement.Not make an ass out of myself by flirting with you. Not even spoken to you at all. Would have pretended you didn’t send my heart galloping in my chest the moment you looked at me.Nope. I can’t say any of those things. Not to his face, at least. My mind races for something I can tell him when someone calls his name.

“Saved by Coach's whistle.” He winks, and my knees buckle slightly.

This man should come with a warning label. It should readBeware of dimples and will wink when given the chance.Pleasedo not enter a conversation with this individual without having something to hold on to.OMFG, why am I so freaking weird?

“See you around, Beauty.” Cooper taps the glass between us twice before skating backward toward the center of the ice.

“Show off,” I mumble.

“Her name is Ramona,” Alise shouts, startling me. Bless it. I completely forgot she was standing next to me. Again.

“It’s nice to meet you, Ramona, but if it’s all right with you, I like Beauty better.” He winks before spinning around and skating toward the group of kids and other coaches in the center of the rink.

“Holy fucking shit, Ramona! Coop has the hots for you!” Alise squeals, throwing her arms over my shoulders. “I couldn’t have planned this better myself.”

“Pump your brakes, girl,” I say, unwrapping her arms from my neck and stepping away from her. “It’s just a little flirting, nothing serious. I’m sure he does this with every girl he meets.”

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