Page 24 of Three Pucking Words
What parent would? “Me either,” I whisper.
I look down at my lap, but I can feel him staring at me. Then he says a number that makes my gaze snap upward. And when I don’t say anything, he repeats it again. “That’s what you’d get per season, because it’s going to be demanding. You’ll be traveling with us, so it isn’t just committing to home games. There’s the behind-the-scenes online stuff on top of it.”
Holy crap on a cracker. “That’s a lot of money,” I rasp.
All he does is dip his chin.
“Would they offer anybody that?” I question.
“That’s what Mackenzie got,” he replies, looking back down at his notes. “So it isn’t nepotism if that’s what you’re concerned about.”
This time, I don’t answer.
When he looks back up at me, there’s an inquisition in his eyes. “So what do you say, kid? Do you want to be part of the team?”
I snort. “You make it sound like I’ll be out there on the ice with the rest of you.”
“You can probably skate just as well as any of them, if not better,” he states confidently. “If you didn’t forget how. If memory serves, you picked up on that skill quickly too.”
The fact he remembers how much I loved being on the ice—howgoodat it I was—makes me blush under the scrutiny of his knowing gaze. I used to spend hours on the ice skating andlearning new moves. He would have to drag me off kicking and screaming when it was time to go.
“I haven’t forgotten,” I admit. “But it’s been a long time since I’ve done that too.”
He watches me for a second. “Why did you stop doing the things you loved, Honor?”
My heart sinks a fraction in my chest. Wetting my lips, I stifle a sigh at the truth. “I guess I found other things to love that got in the way.”
Max.
I don’t have the energy to figure out if that was real love or something mimicking it. Because real love doesn’t end, does it? It doesn’t make you cry or hurt. It doesn’t make you regret your life choices. So, it couldn’t have been love.
“Maybe it’s time to brush the dust off and remind yourself why you loved it to begin with,” he suggests. He lifts his watch up to check the time. “The rink won’t be used for another few hours.”
Is he suggesting what I think he is? “I don’t have skates.”
His lips waver as he moves his chair back, bends over, and picks something up from behind his desk.
I gape at what he holds. “Are those…?”
“They should still fit,” he says of my old skates. They look the same as they always have. There are even still stickers on the sides of them from when Mila and I decorated them to stand out from everybody else’s.
I shake my head in disbelief as he sets them on the desk in front of me. “I can’t believe you kept these.”
All he says is, “Knew you’d wear them again, kid. Kept up with them for when you came back.”
ForwhenI came back. Notif.
When I glance up at him, he’s watching the screen again.
But there’s a softness to his face that wasn’t there before.
CHAPTER FIVE
Bodhi
It’s been tenminutes since I got to the complex and watched the unmistakable redhead fly effortlessly across the ice, gracefully utilizing the space like it’s always been hers to claim.
I guess it sort of is, given the blood that flows through her veins. I’ve seen that determined look a million times on a much less pretty face. It’s way better staring at her soft features and voluptuous curves as she concentrates on a turn versus her father’s hardened expression as he grills us for fucking up a play.
