Page 22 of Jesse and the Ice Princess
And so did she.
They stayed neck and neck for the better part of the first two laps. Charlotte’s legs burned as she started to pull away, to go faster. She was trained to endure almost five minutes of jumps and spins. Four laps around the rink was child's play.
Jesse didn't slow, but he struggled to match her speed, falling behind a little at first. But as they rounded the end of the rink, she widened her lead.
Hadley screamed her name, her voice rising above the guys cheering on their teammate.
A teammate who was going to lose to their so-called "ice princess." When she made it to the blue line after her final lap, she skated to a stop and bent over to catch her breath, looking back at Jesse who was half a lap behind her.
She'd done it.
Adrenaline pumped through her, more exhilarating than any of the competitions she'd done in months. A grin stretched across her lips as Jesse made it to her, his chest heaving.
"Dang, you're fast." He wiped a bead of sweat from his cheek. His eyes latched onto hers, but she glanced away. "Look, I have an idea. I don't know if you're going to like it, but—"
Hadley reached them, interrupting Jesse's words as she threw her arms around Charlotte. "You did it!"
"Of course, I did." Charlotte laughed. "I've been in skates longer than any of these guys."
Roman clapped Jesse on the back. "Tough break, bro." He turned to Charlotte and bent at the waist. "I bow to the ice queen."
It was better than ice princess, she guessed.
The rest of the team crowded around them, ribbing on Jesse and congratulating Charlotte.
She managed to squeeze her way out of the scrum and away from the uncomfortable attention. They continued to yammer on, but she skated away, needing a quiet moment.
It wasn't until she bent to pick up her hockey stick that she realized Jesse followed her.
"Are you sure you won't play?"
Right, the hockey game, the reason they'd come to her parent's rink late at night. She shook her head.
"I could really use someone like you on my wing."
The one thing she knew about the team was that the first line was competent, unlike the rest of the team. "You have Roman and Damien for that."
One corner of his mouth curved up. "But you're better than them." He dropped his voice. "Don't tell them I said that. They know you're fast, but if they saw what you could do with a puck, they wouldn't question it."
"I'm sorry." She turned away from him. "I can't."
She skated past the team to the tunnel and found the pink skate guards she'd left. Snapping them on, she stepped off the ice and walked toward the girls’ locker room. She wasn't meant for crowds and attention.
At least when she was among the masses at competitions, she wore her serene skater's mask for the cameras, never letting anyone see a crack in the veneer.
But when it was just her, just Charlotte, she wished they'd leave her be.
In the locker room, she flipped on the lights and removed her skates. Hadley would realize she'd left and eventually find her here.
She turned the shower on and undressed before stepping under the steaming spray. After skating, she always took blazing hot showers to loosen her muscles and clear her mind.
Only, it wasn't so effective this time.
Because when she stepped out and dried off, Jesse Carrigan was still on her mind.
"You're better than them.”
No one other than Hadley even knew how good Charlotte had become at hockey, that when her parents weren't home, she spent too much time in the basement shooting pucks and decking pretend defensemen.
