Page 36 of Why Not Us?

She laughs. “I don’t think so. I’m just having some fun. In fact,” she glances up at me, “we should get back to it, right?”

I nod again.

Tim chuckles, lifting a hand to wave. “See you tomorrow, Nate. I’ll be the one scoring on your goalie.”

“I’ll be the one shoving you into the boards,” I respond.

Tim skates away and I watch him go until Adalie places her hand on my arm. She hasn’t put her glove back on. I look down at her.

“You don’t like him,” she says. It’s not a question.

I shake my head. “He’s a dick. His whole team is made up of assholes. One of their players transferred to our team in the middle of the season. He said they kept making fun of him for getting things wrong but never helped him fix any of his issues. He was pretty new to playing and didn’t know all the rules.”

“Does he still play with you?”

“Yeah. He’s one of our better players now. A few of us brought him out to one of these and helped him get the hang of a few of the plays he wasn’t getting. Like being offside and icing the puck.”

“You helped him?”

She still has her hand on my arm.

I swallow. “Me, Taylor, a couple of others.”

She’s looking at me like I’m some kind of fucking hero, and it takes everything in me not to kiss her again. Then she skates a little away from me so I can’t act on the impulse.

“All right,” she says, rolling her shoulders and tapping her stick on the ice. “Pass me the puck.”

We pass back and forth for a while before we head to one of the nets and she practices shooting. It takes a couple tries, but eventually she gets the puck in the net time after time. I stay off to the side so I can pass it back to her.

When the hour is up, we get off the ice so the next event can start. It’s a women’s team game.

“Do you want to get out of here?” I ask. “Or do you want to stay and watch for a bit?”

She hobbles to a bench and sits. “We can stay for a bit and watch. I’d like to see a game.” She groans as the skates come off. “Oh my god. My feet arenotused to skates.”

I chuckle as I sit and take mine off. “If you’re going to come out more often, I’d recommend getting your own. Rentals aren’t great.”

“That shouldn’t be necessary. I’ll probably stick to cardio and yoga.”

She lifts one foot onto her knee and rubs the top and the sole, giving herself a massage. I swallow as the urge to do it for her swamps me. But she puts her shoes on and returns the skates, then we sit on the benches watching as the women do a warmup before the game.

“Who got you into hockey?” Adalie asks, her eyes on the ice.

It feels like a stone drops into my stomach. I clear my throat before I answer. “My dad. He also got me into brewing.”

She smiles, glancing at me. “And riding. Are you guys close?”

“We were.”

Her smile fades. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

I shake my head. “It was a while ago. He had a heart attack about thirteen years ago. Shortly after that, Mom decided she wanted to travel.”

“You and Taylor were left on your own?” she asks softly, but I hear the distress in her voice.

“We were both adults. It wasn’t like she abandoned us. She just realized how short life can be and wanted to…” I shrug. “Anyway, she comes back sometimes. I’ve got a spare bedroom where she stays.”

Adalie places her small hand over mine, offering simple comfort.

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