Page 20 of Chasing The Goal
Mallory said—? I didn’t remembersaying that. Had I?
Jaymie’s jaw ticked, but he nodded once. “For now.”
“Rough luck, man.” Jackson gave a chuckle that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I always say, I’d rather have brains than brawn.”
Jaymie’s expression didn’t change, but I felt his gaze flick to mine for a second. Just long enough to say,Is this guy serious?
“Guess some of us got both,” Jaymie said coolly.
I felt my cheeks burn.
“Anyway,” I said quickly, “we were just heading out. Dinner.”
Jaymie nodded, his voice quieter now. “Right. Well… enjoy.”
And just like that, the elevator doors slid shut behind us, and Jaymie disappeared.
I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until Jackson said, “Nice guy. Little intense though.”
I forced a smile. “Yeah. He’s... a lot.”
But even as Jackson talked, even as I tried to tune back into whatever story he was launching into, my brain wouldn’t quiet. Because Jaymie wasn’t smug. He wasn’t trying to impress. He didn’t drop buzzwords or namedrop gym routines.
He noticed things. Asked questions. Made me laugh without trying to be charming.
And when he looked at me?
Hesawme.
Jackson hadn’t even asked for my number yet. We were still snap-streaking like teenagers. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. He was scrolling something on his phone, not noticing the silence between us at all.
And now, I wasn’t so sure Jackson was the better choice after all.
Part Two
Jaymie
The rink was openand clear. The chill of the air bit at my cheeks as I stepped onto the ice, the familiar scrape of blades echoing in the hollow silence of the empty arena. The world was still asleep, the city lights dim outside the glass walls, but here, under the soft hum of overhead fluorescents, everything felt right.
My body remembered the rhythm before my brain did. I pushed off slowly, cautious, testing the tight coil of musclestill healing in my hamstring. It twinged, more whisper than scream, but it held. I let out a breath, long and even.
Progress.
Skating felt like exhaling for the first time in weeks.
Behind me, the click of blades met the ice, followed by a voice that was unmistakably Logan.
“Look who finally decided to crawl out of the PT dungeon.”
I glanced over my shoulder as he coasted up, grinning like a smug bastard. “Morning to you too, sunshine.”
“Didn’t think I’d see you back out here so soon.” He bumped his stick against mine. “Miss me that much?”
“Only when I need someone to make me look fast,” I shot back.
He snorted. “Cute. Real cute.”
We fell into an easy rhythm, circling the boards in wide arcs. A few pucks littered the far end of the ice, but we ignored them, skating not for drills or speed, but for the sheer muscle memory of it. We’d been doing this since juniors – just us, the ice, and whatever crap we needed to work out before the rest of the world caught up.
