Page 41 of Puck Happens

“I’m sorry, Coach, but that’s the worst victory dance I ever saw,” O’Rourke teased her. “You seriously need to work on your moves.”

“What? The fist pump is classic. Alternating fist pumps. Yeah. Yeah.” She did another demonstration of her alternating fist pumps. “And the kicks.”

She did some kicks and looked utterly ridiculous.

Ron skated past me, his eyebrows raised, and I wiped the smile off my face.

“Come on, boys,” I said, pushing myself into motion. “Back to work.

8

Later That Afternoon

Liv

The short term lease the team got me was about as welcoming as my office. One bedroom, fully furnished with extremely uncomfortable furniture in an apartment complex on the edge of town. I had one window that wouldn’t open and one window that wouldn’t shut all the way.

It also came complete with a creepy downstairs neighbor guy.

All of this I omitted from my daily phone call with my parents, who weren’t exactly thrilled with my decision to move cross country for a short-term contract and a job they didn’t think I should take.

My mother:

“Honey, I know how hard this must be for you, but your skating career is over. Finding ways to get around that is only going to cause you more heartbreak.”

My father:

“Kiddo, you were the best. You achieved at such a high level, but now it’s over. It’s time to hang up your skates and focus all that intensity you have on the next part of your life.”

Thiswas me trying to figure out the next part of my life. They just didn’t understand that.

I didn’t have a college degree and I wasn’t interested in going back to school.

And no one was going to hire a figure skating coach who couldn’t demonstrate sit spin technique.

Which left me speed and footwork. And the New England Bruisers.

Today, I crushed it.

I watered Harry, my spider plant, and Styles, my cactus, and took a second to do what I hadn’t done almost all day. Go pee. My days were long. It wasn’t just the ice time, it was the endless meetings too. Staff meetings. Team meetings. Today I had a meeting with Jennifer, the trainer, to talk about Ron’s ankle mobility.

It was like I had time for one coffee on my way to work and then I didn’t stop all day long.

There was a hard knock on my door and I jumped so hard I bashed my hand on the cheap countertop of my bathroom.

“Shit,” I hissed, pulling up my pants and washing my sore hand.

I knew no one in Portland outside of the Bruisers. Which left my creepy downstairs neighbor. Maybe he wasn’t creepy? Maybe I was just judging him harshly because I was alone in a new town. It wasn’t like he’d done anything; he just gave me a weird vibe.

Another knock as I made my way toward the door.

I checked the peep hole.

Dillon.

I opened the door with a scowl on my face because his stopping by my apartment was a really bad idea, and I also wanted to hide the fact that I was happy to see him.

“How did you get my address?” I asked him, as soon as it occurred to me he wasn’t supposed to know where I lived.

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