Page 28 of Heat It Up (Off the Ice)
“I’ll let you two work out and talk hockey,” Maija says, “and I’ll be on the rowing machine. Have fun!” She walks away.
The best part about Toivo is that he’s serious when it comes to training. He’s not at the gym to socialize. We push each other hard, focused on the workout and on nothing else. It’s not until we’re finished that I start wondering why I’m even worried about what Nik’s dumbass comment could mean for me when it comes to Sofia.
Because she’s a friend, I remind myself. Yes, I’d be more than happy to screw her if she gave me another chance. But I also don’t want to fuck up what we have between us. She’s not a puck bunny. Unlike them, she wants to be friends.
But thanks to Nik, I might’ve lost her as even that.
Toivo and I finish off our workout and join Maija. As far as I can tell, Sofia hasn’t told her yet that I’m a cheating douchebag of a husband.
“Do you want to have coffee with us?” Toivo asks as we head for the locker room.
“Sure. But I need to use the sauna first.” I explain how the heat helps my injury. Like with Sofia, I’m vague as to how I got it, but even though he hasn’t said anything, I have a feeling he knows who I am. And I have a feeling he knows about the accident. I have no idea if Maija also knows, but if she does, it’s only time before she inadvertently mentions it to Sofia.
Maija splits off to go to the ladies’ locker room. The men’s sauna is busier than I expected, and it keeps Toivo from asking questions once he notices the scars on my leg. But he also doesn’t seem too surprise to see them, confirming he knows who I am and what happened to me last year.
“Can you do me a favor?” I ask. “Can you not tell Maija about them or about who I am?” At his puzzled frown, I explain what I mean.
“Maija knows you used to play hockey for the Minnesota Bears. I told her.” He cringes. “I’m sorry. I had no idea it was supposed to be a secret. But why don’t you want Sofia to know that you used to play in the NHL?”
“She’s different than the girls usually interested in me. Different in a good way. I’d rather she just see me as a regular guy.” And not a man to pity because he lost everything important to him, no thanks to the stupidity of someone else.
“I’ll talk to Maija but I can’t guarantee anything. She’s not into gossiping, but if she thinks Sofia should know, she will tell her.”
“Thanks.” That’s better than nothing, I guess.
Nik texted me while I was in the sauna and wants me to call him back ASAP. I tell Toivo I’ll meet him and Maija at the coffee place he mentioned. By the time I arrive, he has already asked her not to say anything to Sofia about my previous career.
“So you want me to lie to her?” Maija says.
“Not really.” I tell her the same thing I told Toivo. “I just don’t think she needs to know. That was my past and I’m focusing on my future.” I don’t mention what that is. If Maija’s like most other girls—excluding puck bunnies—she’s thinking happily-ever-after thoughts about me and Sofia. She doesn’t need to know the truth—that Sofia isn’t part of my future.
Maija remains torn between what she wants to do and what I’ve asked of her. In the end she lets out a hard breath. “Okay. I won’t tell her. But if it comes out, you can’t tell her I knew. This is between you two.”
“Thanks.”
One problem down. Next up? Dealing with the lie Nik told Sofia.
Chapter Sixteen
Sofia
I tie up my sneakers. Muumu emerges from her bedroom, smiling. She’s in her bathrobe and has curlers in her hair. She asks me if I’m going for a run, but other than that I don’t understand what she’s saying, even though she says it slowly. You’d think after being here for almost a month, I’d at least be a little bit more fluent in the language. But noooo. I still suck at it.
And maybe that’s why I notice whenever she says Joni’s name. It’s pretty much the only thing I recognize in that long string of Finnish.
“Hei, hei,” I say and open the door…to discover why she’s been smiling ever since she left her room. Joni is standing in the hallway in his running gear. “Hi?”
“I thought you might like a running partner.” His gaze drifts over my tank top and running shorts.
“Have you been waiting all this time?” I never told him when I run, but I suspect someone has. I look at that someone. She nods her encouragement.
“Maybe a few minutes,” he says. “I won’t talk if that’s what you prefer.”
It is what I prefer. I can’t daydream if I’m talking or listening to someone. I don’t want to be rude, though, so I avoid answering the question. “Can we run by the lake?”
He tells Muumu something that causes her smile to widen.
“She’s responsible for this, isn’t she?” I say as we leave the apartment. I shut the door behind me.
