Page 24 of Goalies Don't Date Ice Princesses

I chucked a pillow at her, mostly to distract her from thinking about that too much. The last thing I needed was for her to make a connection between me and Archer in her mind, for whatever reason. Then I zipped up my duffel bag, trying to push away the fluttering of nerves that Adelynn’s words had stirred within me. The image of Archer’s dimpled smile and his warm, kind eyes flashed through my mind, making it harder to deny the tiny flicker of attraction that had ignited between us.

Adelynn laughed and fell back, hugging the pillow to her chest. A small smile found a way onto my face as I looked at her. Before the last few weeks, I couldn’t remember the last time I heard her laugh like that.

When I first met her, Adelynn had still been reeling from the sudden death of her father. Over the past few years, I’d slowly watched her come out of her shell and become happier, but it always felt like something had been holding her back. Like something was always weighing her down. But over the past few months—ever since we started at Westwood, and even since she’d started officially Jasper a couple of weeks ago—she’d been warming up a lot more. Suddenly, she was smiling and laughing like I’d never seen before.

When I looked at her now, I could barely see the girl I’d known back in seventh grade, who cried herself to sleep every night and hardly ever spoke.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” Adelynn said, sitting up again. “Avi and I are going to try to convince Mom to drive us up for Archer’s game this weekend. So I might see you at the resort.”

That was another thing that had changed recently. Adelynn was talking about Avianna more, and I’d even seen them hanging out on campus together. I was happy she was reconnecting with her sister, but I also couldn’t help wondering what exactly had changed there to cause it. The petty side of me couldn’t let go of the view I’d had of Avianna for the past few years—a girl who had completely ignored her sister’s pain and left her to pick up the pieces of her family’s broken life while she went off to do whatever she wanted. Sometimes, I felt like I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop with her, like I was preparing myself for the moment Avianna was going to abandon Adelynn again, and I would have to be the one there to comfort her. I was always happy to do it, to be there for her, but I wished for her sake that it wasn’t necessary. I didn’t want to see her break apart like that again.

“Awesome,” I said. I wouldn’t express my thoughts out loud. She didn’t need that weight on her shoulders, the pain of wondering whether her sister was going to abandon her again. She trusted her, and that was all that mattered. “I can’t wait.”

* * *

I snuck into the rink one more time before we left for the competition, feeling like I needed to get just a little more skating in before we left. Because it wasn’t at our usual time, Archer wasn’t with me, but I thought maybe that was for the best. Lately, skating with him had become rather distracting—and while I loved that when we were there for fun, right now, I felt like I needed to practice. Remind myself that I could do it.

I went through my routine twice—managing to get through it each time without falling, thankfully—before I really needed to leave if I wanted to get to the bus on time.

I sighed in relief as I walked into the locker room and pulled my hair out of my ponytail, letting my hair fall down my back again. I didn’t think there had been a single time I’d come off the ice without my head aching from the tension of my ponytail being pulled tight.

“You know, it’s really unfair that you got the better change room.”

I gasped and spun around. Archer was leaning against the wall right next to the door. He looked way too at ease with his arms crossed and a casual smirk resting on his face.

“What are you doing in here?” I hissed. I opened the door a crack so I could check that nobody was around in the hallway. To my relief, it was empty. I grabbed Archer’s wrist and tried to pull him forward, but he wouldn’t budge—and the jerk laughed, as if this wasfunny. I wrapped my other hand around his wrist as well and put all my weight behind it, but as hard as I pulled, I couldn’t get him to move at all. I huffed and let go, stumbling back a couple of steps.

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re giving up that easily, Ice Princess.”

“Don’t all me that,” I said automatically. It was becoming a reflex at this point. “And answer my question.”

“What question?”

“What. Are. You. Doing. In. Here?” I asked.

“Oh, I thought that was more of a rhetorical question.”

I sighed and rubbed a hand over my eyes, tilting my head away. How could he be the sweetest boy in the world one moment, and a total jerk the next? And, more importantly, why didn’t I totally hate him for it? Why did I return to the rink night after night, excited to see him? Excited for him to tease me and annoy me and show up in my locker room, totally uninvited?

“If somebody sees you coming out of here…”

He finally pushed off from the wall. I glanced at the door again, wondering if there was some way I could both hold it open and manage to trip him, so he fell out of it at the same time. Probably not, though. Plus, how would I explain his presence in here? He’d probably tell them I invited him in or something and I’d get in trouble along with him.

No,a voice said in the back of my mind.No, he wouldn’t do that to you. The other hockey boys, maybe… but not Archer.

“Who would see me, Ice Princess?” He asked.

“Anyone!” I said, waving a hand around wildly. “Anyone. Blair or Jess or?—”

I cut myself off as he stepped closer to me, just like that day on the rink. And much like then, my heart thumped faster with every step he took.

“Who else?” He whispered. Step. Thump. “One of the other girls?” Step. Thump. “The assistant coach?” Step. Thump. “Your coach?”

Could he feel the way my heart was pounding out of my chest? Could he sense the butterflies in my stomach? Could he see the way that his presence affected me? How much I equally wanted to push him away and wanted him to kiss me like his life depended on it?

Archer reached out to me and I struggled to stand still, wondering what he was going to do. To my surprise, he just tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. The tender gesture caught me off guard, but I couldn’t help but lean into his touch, craving the warmth of his hand against my skin.

“You worry too much, Ice Princess,” he murmured, his breath brushing against my cheek. I could feel the heat of his words against my skin, causing goosebumps to raise on my arms. My lips parted slightly, as if in anticipation, but my mind was fighting it, trying to resist the strong desire that coursed through me. I stared into his eyes, feeling like the world was falling away from us with every passing second. But still, I stood my ground, determined to push back against this intoxicating pull.

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