Page 41 of Goalies Don't Date Ice Princesses

“Loving hockey and loving being on the hockey team are two different things.”

Archer looked down. “I don’t…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter if I don’t like it. It’s what he wanted. And what good am I as a son if I ignore that?”

I dropped down from my spot and moved to sit next to him on the bench. His hand immediately found mine, squeezing it tight.

“Think about how the team if affecting you,” I said softly. “You can’t sleep. You skip practices. You don’t even like all your teammates.”

“Nobody likes Donovan,” Archer muttered.

“Be that as it may,” I said, because I couldn’t really refute the point. “Your dad wouldn’t want this for you.”

“You didn’t know him,” Archer said. “You don’t know.”

With how much Adelynn had spoken about her dad, I felt like I actually did know him.

“But I do know enough that he wouldn’t want this for you,” I said. I put my hand on his cheek, turning his face toward me. “Nobody who loves you would want you to suffer like this, Archer.”

Archer sighed deeply and stared at the floor. Feeling like he needed a break from this, I stood up and said, “Let’s go.”

“But you haven’t skated yet,” Archer said.

I shrugged. “It’s less fun without you, anyway. Let’s do something else.”

He was still frowning but he got up and followed me. We probably looked like quite a pair, me in skates and him struggling with his crutches. I led him to the girls’ change room, glancing around quickly to make sure nobody was in there. Not so much being careful of any other students, but any cleaning staff other than Zach who might not be expecting us to come in there. Once I was sure, I gestured for Archer to follow me and led him over to the back wall of the room, where we had some tables with mirrors set up.

“What’s all this for?” Archer asked.

“Doing stage makeup,” I said. We rarely had any shows or competitions here, but it was still helpful to have. “Sit.”

I expected him to sit down on the chair, but he sat down on the table instead, which was at a better height for him. I went over to my locker and pulled out my makeup bag. I’d accidentally left it in my skating bag when we came home from the ski lodge and hadn’t noticed until after curfew tonight. I pulled out my face mask cream and walked over to Archer.

“What is that?” He asked.

“A face mask,” I said. I opened it up and he made a disgusted face.

“It’s green.”

“It’s good for your skin,” I said. I scooped some onto my fingers and swiped it along his face. He pulled away.

“It smells gross.”

“ It smells fine. Just shut up and sit still,” I said.

“You’re very bossy today,” Archer said, but he stopped squirming. I laughed and continued putting it on until it covered his whole face.

“There,” I said. I held my makeup mirror in front of his face so he could see his reflection. “Don’t you look great?”

“I look like a monster,” he said.

I put the mirror back on the counter. “Yeah, well, that’s part of the fun. Now, I need to do mine.”

“Here,” Archer said. He hopped back onto the ground, landing on his unbroken leg, and tapped at the counter. “Sit.”

“Thanks, but it’s easier to do when I can see myself,” I said. He grabbed my hips and moved me in front of the table, facing him. “What?—”

“You did it for me so now I have to return the favour,” Archer said. I was a little taken aback, but watched as he grabbed the small container and scooped some cream onto his fingers. It was clear he didn’t do this much as he had a look of deep concentration on his face, like he was going to mess it up somehow. It was cute.

Closing my eyes, I felt the cool cream being spread delicately across my skin. Archer’s touch was gentle yet firm, his fingertips grazing along the contours of my face. I couldn’t help but feel a rush of warmth spread through me, his presence and his touch intertwining in a way that made my heart flutter. “There. Done.”

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