Page 37 of Can't Take Moore

He shrugged. “He’s not my favorite person in the world right now, but he’s also not the worst.”

“Only because my mom and sister are so awful,” I huffed.

“You’re happiest when you’re on the ice, right?”

“Yes,” I reluctantly admitted.

“And sharing your love of skating brings you joy?”

Dean was the only guy I knew who could say something like that while still sounding like a bossy alpha male. “It does.”

He jerked his chin toward Jack. “Then I can deal with that guy for a couple of hours while you get on the ice and turn his players into the best skaters they can be.”

His confidence in me was heart-warming. “That’s a pretty tall order for only two hours.”

“Yeah, but it’s a two-hour skating session with an Olympic gold medalist. An opportunity most high school hockey players would kill to have.”

“Okay, okay.” I held my hands up in a gesture of surrender. “You don’t need to convince me. I wouldn’t want to disappoint all those teenagers who sacrificed a gorgeous summer morning to come to the rink. I'll do my best to kick their butts into shape.”

“That’s my girl.” He beamed an approving smile at me before climbing out of the car and circling around to open my door. As I climbed out, he grumbled, “And their coach better keep that in mind.”

Tilting my head to the side, I squinted at him. “Why do I get the feeling you had an ulterior motive for setting this up other than getting me out of the house to do something I love?”

Widening his eyes and pressing his hand to his chest, he gave me his most innocent look. “What other reason could I possibly have?”

“Since you have a good reason to stick close to me, you have the perfect excuse to keep an eye on Jack while I do the power skating session.”

“Hmm, imagine that.” He opened the trunk to grab my skate bag. “I suppose I do.”

“Uh-huh, that’s what I thought.” I giggled when he placed his hand on the small of my back while eyeing Jack as we walked up to him.

The hockey coach gave my boyfriend a knowing look before flashing me a friendly smile. “Thanks for agreeing to come out and skate with the boys today. They’re really looking forward to it.”

“Then they must be very dedicated to hockey,” I drawled as I pointed up at the sky. “Most teenage boys would be complaining about getting up and coming to the rink on a beautiful summer morning like this.”

“Who would do a silly thing like that when they could skate?”

I slanted a glare at Dean since I’d done exactly that when he’d been talking me into using my ice time this morning. Only once I agreed, he hadn’t warned me that I wouldn’t be skating alone. “Uh-huh. Keep it up, bucko, and I’ll have you out there skating laps with the team.”

“Him? On skates?” Jack laughed so hard that he had to bend over to catch his breath.

My gaze darted between the two men as I took in the sour expression on Dean’s face. “Why do I have a feeling there’s a really good story here?”

“There isn’t,” Dean insisted.

“I think it depends on your definition of a really good story,” Jack disagreed. “And your perspective. Because from where I’m sitting, she’s right, there is.”

I shrugged and pointed at Jack. “Sorry, but I think I have to believe him on this one.”

“You fall on the ice one time when you’re a teenager, and it turns into a whole thing,” Dean muttered, shaking his head.

Jack’s brows arched. “Ah, but you didn’t just fall one time.”

“There’s nothing wrong with falling on the ice. It happens to everyone. Even Olympic gold medalists,” I assured them both.

Jack laughed again. “There is if you split your pants right down the ass in front of the entire school.”

“It wasn’t the whole school,” Dean mumbled, gripping my hand to tug me into the rink. “Just the kids in my freshman class.”

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