Page 50 of Jesse and the Ice Princess
"That's why I came to ask first." He rubbed the back of his neck. "He... uh... said I was welcome to ask her."
That surprised Jesse. Why would Coach give Damien of all people the go-ahead?
"You going to call her?" His voice rose an octave.
"Now?" He pulled out his phone to check the time. "School did just end..."
"Go for it, man." He didn't know why he was encouraging Damien when all he wanted to do was punch the guy in the face. He tapped a finger against his lips as he'd done a million times since the kiss the night before. A kiss he couldn't forget if he tried.
Charlotte Morrison was nothing like he'd expected, and he wanted more, he wanted to find out what made her so driven, so fierce.
Damien held the phone to his ear. "Um, Charlie, this is Damien."
Jesse could hear her through the phone. "Charlie isn't my name."
"Oh." Damien's cheeks reddened. "Sorry. Look, I wanted to see if you had any interest in getting a coffee this weekend."
"With you?"
"Well, yes. That's how a date works."
"You want me to go on a date? With you?"
Jesse bit back his smile.
"Yes?" Damien's panicked eyes found his.
"Was that a question? Do you or do you not want to go out with me?"
"I..." He pushed out a breath. "I asked your father. He said it was okay to ask you."
"He did?" She laughed. "He's such a generous dad." Jesse detected sarcasm in her words, but Damien didn't seem to notice.
"I like Coach."
"Mhmm, he's good to his team." She paused. "Okay, Damien. I'll go out with you."
Jesse's heart jumped into his throat as they made plans, Damien grinning like he'd just won the lottery.
Jumping from his chair, Damien hung up and patted Jesse on the shoulder before walking in the direction of the locker rooms, an extra bounce in his step.
Jesse slammed the rulebook shut, hating that it didn't make a sound. Charlotte, the girl he couldn't stop thinking about, had a date with his teammate.
Wasn't that just peachy?
* * *
Practice sucked.
That was all there was to it.
Coach started the session with a lecture about what winning their game against Venice would mean for them. As if they didn't already know.
It wasn't a pep talk kind of thing though. Something about him was... off.
He put the team through rigorous skating exercises that left half the guys bent over trying to catch their breath.
By the time they got to skills drills, no one wanted to be there anymore. After the last practice when Charlotte wowed them all, this was a letdown.
