Page 79 of Check & Chase
“We’ll start next session with these additional exercises,” she says. “But modified to my specifications. And no more secret workout routines.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I give her a mock salute that earns another eye roll.
“We’re done for today.” She hands me my crutch. “Ice when you get home.”
“Wait.” I catch her hand before she can walk away, our fingers tangling briefly. “We still need to have that talk.”
Her expression shifts, professional distance giving way to something more vulnerable. Since dinner with her brother last week, we’ve been dancing around the conversation we both know is overdue.
“I know. But I have patients until seven tonight.”
“Tomorrow, then? Dinner at my place? You can help me cook.”
Her eyebrows rise. “You can cook?”
“I’m a man of many talents, Blondie.” I grin at the faint blush coloring her cheeks. “Seven o’clock. No PT talk, no pretending. Just us figuring out what this is.”
She hesitates, then nods. “Okay. Tomorrow.”
“You want to build a what?” Maya stares at me across the café table, coffee cup frozen halfway to her lips.
“A private ice rink. Nothing fancy. Just a small backyard setup where Emma can practice being on the ice without an audience.”
Meeting Emma’s best friend in secret feels like a spy movie, especially since Maya had been suspicious when I texted asking to meet.
“Let me get this straight,” she says. “You want to build an ice rink in your backyard so Emma can overcome her PTSD about skating?”
“Essentially, yes.”
“Even though your relationship is supposedly fake and ending after the Bears-Wolves game?”
I wince. “That’s… part of what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“I knew it.” Maya sits back triumphantly. “You’ve fallen for her.”
No point denying it. “Is it that obvious?”
“To everyone except Emma, apparently.” She studies me. “How real are we talking here?”
“I haven’t been sleeping with her. We’ve had… moments. But nothing’s happened beyond some kissing.”
“And eating her out at Donovan’s Halloween party,” Maya adds, completely unfazed by my shocked expression. “Don’t look so surprised. The walls in our house are thin, and Emma talks in her sleep sometimes.”
Heat rushes to my face.
“It’s not just physical,” I admit. “I want more. All of it. The real relationship, not just the pretend version.”
Maya sips her coffee. “And the ice rink factors into this how?”
“Emma’s fear of the ice is holding her back. She ran out there when I got injured, then had a panic attack afterward. But she still did it—for me. I want to give her a safe place to face that fear.”
“That’s… actually really sweet.”
“Don’t sound so surprised.”
“Can you blame me? Your reputation isn’t exactly ‘thoughtful boyfriend material.’”
“Fair enough. But I’m serious about Emma. More serious than I’ve been about anyone.”
