Spinning to the Goal (Desert Ice Hockey #4)

Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

ZOMA

W ith my phone buzzing in the pocket of my sweats, I skated to the edge of the rink. “That’s it, Darla. Try it again, but I think you’ve got it.” She was so darn cute. I smiled at her in her little pink leggings and matching sweater. She was only five but already doing so well. I loved my Sundays at the Ice Den with my students.

“Okay, Zoma.” Darla took off on her skates, dragged her toe, and twirled around a few times.

Tapping on my text message, my heart flipped. Fuck, Ace. He’d broken the seal and texted me. Cupping my chin, I read and reread his message. I wasn’t going to text him back. I’d already decided he had the potential to wreck me, and I wasn’t going there again. No matter how nice and hot he was.

I glanced at the other volunteer teacher, a statuesque older woman with cropped gray hair who had also run a ballet studio before she retired. “Hey, Judy, I need to take a call.” I held my phone up to her, and she nodded at me. I really needed to make a call. I needed to make sure I was doing the right thing. I was, wasn’t I?

Skating to the gate in the boards, I hopped over the ledge, stepped to a bench, sat down, and dialed Nova. The phone rang a few times and clicked.

“Hey, Zoma, what’s up?” She smacked her lips.

“Are you eating?” Maybe I caught Nova at a bad time. Throwing a quick peek at Darla, getting more direction from Judy, I fisted my hands on my thighs.

“Yes, I’m eating. I do eat from time to time.” She giggled. “I have to keep my stamina up.”

“You do.” I smiled. Skating burned some serious calories and she’d probably been practicing already since the hockey team was off the ice today. Fuck, the hockey team. “Anyway, I called because?—”

“Ace texted you and you don’t know what to do.” She huffed. “I told you that you were being stupid. You have no idea if you’d last long enough for him to dump you at the end of the year.”

“I know, but I really liked him. He was so…” I inhaled deeply. “Perfect for me.” Which was why I had to cut it off now.

“You seriously have to get over Brody. He was such an ass. I mean, he fucked around on you how many times? And you took him back.” She scoffed.

I rolled my eyes. I’d heard it all before. “I am over him. How could I not be? It’s been over a year.” And I’d dated…some. Okay, I’d hooked up, occasionally dated, found something wrong with them, and ended it. Every time. But no one had caught my attention the way Ace had. “Maybe I only like Ace because he’s a hockey player.”

“Yeah, but he’s a goalie. He’s nothing like a center. He seemed, I don’t know, more laid back and proper,” she said.

“Proper?” He’d said he wasn’t a cowboy, but he still gave off those aw - shucks vibes. I could see it in him. I pinched the fabric of my maroon-and-gold ASU sweats.

In a low voice, she said, “Are you still looking at his pics on Instagram?”

“Whose? Ace or Brody?” I worried the corner of my lip.

“Either one.”

“I haven’t looked up Ace’s profile yet.” And I was sure it would be easy to find, since he was ASU’s star goalie. “But I did look up Brody’s a few weeks ago.” My chest tightened. I was so weak.

“Are you serious? You have to stop doing that. How are you ever going to get over him?” She tsked before clanking and rushing water sounded through the phone.

She must be done eating. She was like me and cleaned her dishes right away. No leaving dishes in the sink. “I just want to see if there’s any news with his family. You know how much I loved his niece.” As I breathed through a stitch in my gut, I clenched and unclenched my fist over my thigh. She was right. It wasn’t good for me to look at Brody’s pictures. Most of the time.

“I know, Zoma, but you have to stop. Maybe seeing Ace for a little while will help you get over it.”

“What, use him for a rebound? I couldn’t do that to him. What if he started to really like me?” I tipped my head back, glancing at the metal piping in the ceiling. I wasn’t built to be mean, not like Brody. Which was why cutting it off now with Ace had to be done.

“Just see where it goes,” she said with a huff. “I looked him up, you know.”

“No, you didn’t.” Fuck, I should have known. My heart fluttered and my gaze darted around the room. She wasn’t exactly helping. I had to get off this call before?—

“He’s made records here at ASU. Most shutouts, longest winning streak,” she said. “And he’s part of the squad, all those queer players that were on the team last year? And he loves his family and seems like a great guy, according to IG.”

Shit, of course, he was. “Yeah? He was the goalie for last year’s championship win.” I flipped the phone to my other ear. “He’s going to get a contract at the end of this season, and his friend said even the Bruins are looking at him. That means he’ll be moving to the other side of the country.” There was no way for it to work out.

“You can coach from anywhere, Zoma. Just saying.” She giggled. “I see you living in a posh apartment in Boston, getting top dollar coaching figure skaters headed to the Olympics, having a star goalie for a husband, and maybe someday, you’ll have little hockey players and figure skaters of your own.”

Under my breath, I said, “Jesus Christ, Nova.” I chuckled and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Don’t you think you’re taking this too far? I met the guy last night. We danced, we had…a fucking hot hookup, and that’s it.”

“It doesn’t have to be it.”

“Yes, it does. He’s too…” My gaze wandered around the rink, the stark lights glinting off the ice. “He’s too perfect, and it’ll only end with me being heartbroken again.” With a breath, I lifted my chin. “Because I can tell he’s not a cheater, and there’d be no reason for me to hate him when he takes that high-dollar contract.”

“You need to think better of yourself, Zoma. Maybe he’d fall so hard, he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere without you.” She sucked in a breath. “Fucking Brody broke you. Until you heal from that, you’ll never find love and happiness.”

I sucked my upper lip between my teeth and released it. She was right. Deep down, I knew it, and she never held back. Again, that was why I loved her so much. “Yeah, well, maybe I’m not ready to heal. You have to be ready for it, right?”

“What, like a drug addict has to be ready to stop?” she asked, her voice raising.

“Yeah, like that.” My gaze caught on Darla, working on her bunny hops. “I gotta go, Nova. I should get back to my student.”

“Who is it today? Darla?” Her smile carried through the phone.

“Yep.” Warmth flickered through me. “She asked about you when I got here. Wants to know when you’re coming back with me.” Darla had thought Nova was an Olympian the day she’d come and practiced her latest routine. “She wants to be just like you someday.”

“God, no. I failed my tryouts. Tell her she wants to be better than me,” she said.

“Yeah, we’ll start with being as good as you, then I’ll make sure she leaves you in the dust.” I freed a soft snort. That would get her.

“Grooming my competition, huh?” She huffed a laugh. “Anyway, I gotta go read some shit for class tomorrow. Text Ace back. Please?”

Shit, I thought she’d forgotten about the text. “I’ll think about it.” I wasn’t sure if I had any more clarity on the situation after talking to her.

“Do it.” She ended the call.

I pulled the phone from my ear and stared at it. She hung up on me? With a grin, I stuffed my phone into my pocket and hopped up from the bench. Time to get Darla to jump a little higher, then maybe more spins.