Page 2 of Heat It Up (Off the Ice)
“What about you?” I ask Maija.
“I’m studying economics.”
After lunch, and in preparation for Operation Scrub the Sauna, I pull on the oversized rubber boots in the women’s staff locker room. Normally, I’m fairly graceful. Normally, I’m not wearing boots made for a six-foot-tall man.
With a resigned sigh, I stumble down the hall to the saunas. The boots make an awkward thunk, thunk, thunk on the tile floor as I do my best not to trip and land on my face.
The facility is open until ten at night, but management doesn’t want to hire late-night cleaning staff, so instead the saunas are each closed for thirty minutes so we, or I, can clean and hose them down.
I spend the first half hour in the women’s sauna, sweating like I’m running a marathon. A drop of sweat trickles down my back and I don’t complain when the spray of water bounces off the top bench. It soaks through my uniform and bra. I’m tempted to turn the hose on myself and drench my entire body.
But that would be a little hard to explain should I bump into anyone on my way back to the staff room, especially my supervisor.
I finish the room and head for the men’s sauna, my damp skin cooling off in the short distance. I knock on the pine-wood door, wait for a three-count, then crack it open. A blast of stifling heat hits me, along with the heady pine scent, which smells a million times better than the fake stuff found in disinfectants. “Hi, is anyone in here?”
When there’s no reply, I inch the door open and peer inside just in case someone didn’t hear me.
Once I’ve made sure no one’s here, I push the door open and drag the hose in. A strand of hair falls from my ponytail and plasters itself against my face. I ignore it and get to work, placing the bucket with soapy water on the floor. It sloshes over the side and lands on my booted foot.
I spray the wooden benches, then grab the bucket and climb onto the first row. With a large brush, I scrub the upper bench. Even though it’s hot, I manage to sing a new song that’s been playing in my head over the past few days. It’s the closest thing I have to music, and as exciting as this job is (ha!), it’s better than nothing.
As I sing and scrub, I move my hips to the music in my head. I spray the bench, rinsing the soapy water. And like last time, the cold water splashes off the wood and hits my uniform. At the sound of laughter, I whip around in time to see two guys step into the sauna. Both are tall and covered in muscles, except the blond guy is much bulkier than his friend.
Both are naked.
Yikes! Without realizing what I’m doing, I shoot a blast of water at the dark-haired guy’s leg, barely missing his man parts.
“Fuck,” he says, echoing my sentiments, and jumps back. His friend bursts out laughing.
Fortunately, wooden railings separate me from the blond guy, and a two-by-four cuts across wherehisman parts are located.Thank you, pine-tree gods, for your much-appreciated sacrifice! I owe you one.
With mortification laughing at me in the corner, I jerk the hose in that direction and fumble to turn off the water. My face heats up more, which is hard to believe given where I’m standing. The blond continues laughing and I keep my gaze locked on the nozzle. It’s not like I haven’t seen a naked guy before. I have. My ex-boyfriend. And…well, that’s it.
I finally manage to twist the traitor of a nozzle. If it had been on my side, it would’ve already cooperated and let me bail a minute ago. The water transforms from a blast to a spray. My breath comes out hard, almost a grunt.
The blond guy says something in Finnish.
“Sauna is closed,” I say in their language. Or at least that’s what I’m aiming for. God, what’s wrong with this stupid thing?
The dark-haired guy takes the nozzle out of my hand, unconcerned by his nakedness—not that I’m looking. “Newton’s third law of physics states that an object in motion will stay in motion if nothing acts against it.”
I startle at his American accent, but don’t wait to hear what else Newton has to say.
I bolt.
“Wait,” the dark-haired guy calls out.
The only other thing I hear as I escape through the door is the blond guy. “Dude, I told you women don’t like physics. It’s boring.”
Chapter Two
Kyle
Nik recounts what one boy said during training camp today. I laugh despite the growing ache in my leg. Nik’s too busy telling me what happened, he hasn’t noticed my slight limp. That, or he decided not to comment. As long as he doesn’t mention it to his uncle, things will be okay. I don’t want to risk my job. I live for coaching those boys and being on the ice again.
Even if it means my leg aches by the end of the day.
Nik pulls the sauna door open and heat instantly blasts us. I almost sigh in relief. Shortly after arriving in Finland for the summer, I discovered sauna heat helps with the pain in my leg after a day of coaching. Nik’s apartment building has two saunas in it, but you can only use them once a week, on your assigned days.
