Spinning to the Goal (Desert Ice Hockey #4)

Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

ZOMA

H oly fucking shit. There he was. Ace. I stared at him as he stood with the same two guys he’d had with him at the gay bar. Should I talk to him?

Nova tugged on my arm. “Isn’t that your goalie hookup?”

“Yes.” With a stuttered step, I twisted around and brushed my hand over the back of my head. I should at least say hello. I didn’t want to be an ass.

“Zoma, what are you doing?” She came in close, her gaze searching my face. “Say something.” She darted her gaze away and focused on me. “He’s watching you.”

“He is?” I looked at the stage, the band running across it, playing their hearts out, and then all the people packed in front of it, jumping up and down. I could lose myself in the crowd and pretend I hadn’t seen him if he found me later. “Let’s go get drinks at the other bar over there.” I ticked my head toward the other side of the pool, where a line of people waited to get drinks.

“No, there are fewer people here.” Grabbing my hand with both of hers, she stepped away and pulled. “Come on, Zoma. You’re acting like a baby. Just say hello to the guy.”

“But I ghosted him. What if he’s mad at me?” My chest tightened. I’d thought the only place I’d see him would be at the hockey games I had to attend with our figure skating team.

“If he’s mad, you deserve it.” She stopped pulling. “Oh, he left with his friends.” Huffing a sigh, she said, “You can look now.”

I snuck a quick peek in the direction of the bar. She was right. I was a fucking baby, and I needed to pull my head out of my ass.

Ace and his friends strolled toward the stage and were swallowed by the crowd.

The ghost of an ache crept through me. “Looks like he doesn’t want to talk to me either.” I’d lost any chance of making things right with him.

“Come on, I need a glass of wine.” Nova tugged my arm again, led me to the bar, and ordered two white wines from the bartender.

After we paid, we picked up our drinks and turned around, walking toward the crowd.

She threw me a sharp glare. “You really screwed that up. You could be apologizing and getting to know that guy better. You might even have had a good time with him.” She arched a brow and sipped her wine.

“Too late now.” I fisted my free hand as my gut clenched. I scanned the crowd. I needed to find someone to take my mind off Ace and this stupid situation.

A few people walked off and Ace stood with his side to me, chatting up a smaller man in a cropped shirt and tight-as-hell jeans. Heat flickered through my chest. Under my breath, I said, “Fuck me.” I couldn’t take my eyes off the scene in front of me.

Ace tilted his head, smiling at the smaller guy, and brushed his fingers down the guy’s arm.

The guy laughed, throwing his head back and covering his mouth with the back of his hand.

Dramatic much? Wrinkling my nose, I shifted my weight.

“What now?” Nova studied me over the edge of her wine glass as she drank.

“Nothing.” I pursed my lips. What did I care if he found another hookup who was…sort of like me?

Ace hooked his arm around the smaller man and leaned close to his ear.

The man edged into his side.

Fuck, hadn’t Ace made that same move on me last weekend? A shiver worked over my skin. His touch had lit me on fire. Was that guy feeling the same? I took a gulp of my wine and forced it down my throat with a hard swallow.

Turning the man’s back to me, Ace kissed him, and his gaze locked on mine.

Was he doing this on purpose? With a scowl, I glanced away and back at Ace. I couldn’t stop looking. “Fuck, let’s get out of here.” I tugged Nova’s arm.

“In a minute.” She smiled at someone in the crowd.

Ace broke the kiss, stepped to the side, and tossed me a smirk before lifting his beer to me.

“Did you see that?” Snatching Nova’s hand, I hauled her through milling people to the other side of the pool area.

“What the hell? There was a hot chick I had my eye on over there.” She shook her arm free and stopped, stomping her high-heeled foot. “What is wrong with you?”

I drew in a deep inhale. “Ace was kissing a guy. I can’t?—”

“You’re jealous. You don’t want him, but you don’t want anyone else to have him.” She poked me in the chest. “You’ve lost him. Get over it.”

“Damn, girl, you are harsh tonight.” With a shake of my head, I huffed a snicker. But this was why she was my best friend. She never sugarcoated a thing. But she was wrong. I did want him.

“Yeah, whatever.” As her gaze softened, she drank more wine. “Ooo, there’s another hot chick.” She patted my arm. “Look, you think she’s my type?”

“Never know unless you go find out.” Swaying, I eyed the woman, her long blond hair in a tight ponytail on top of her head and her blue dress hugging all her curves.

The woman’s gaze stopped on me, and she gave me a coy grin, fluttering her lashes. She walked toward us, holding a pink drink in her hand.

“Uh, nope. She’s into dick.” With a huff, Nova slumped her shoulders.

Shit, I was attracting the wrong sort of attention. I straightened my shoulders and gave the woman a warm grin.

“Hi, name’s Melody.” She looked me up and down. “You ever see this band before?” She glanced at Nova and sipped her drink.

“Uh, no, I haven’t.” I had to think of something quick. Wrapping my arm around Nova’s shoulders, I said, “Well, Melody, I’m Zoma, and this is my girlfriend, Nova.”

“Oh.” Lifting her brows, Melody covered her mouth with her fingers. “Shoot, I’m sorry. You two didn’t look like you were together.”

With a twist of her lips, Nova shot me a glare.

Go with it. “Yeah, sorry.” I freed a quick chuckle.

“Well, have a great night. I’ll leave you two to enjoy it.” Raising her drink to us, Melody walked off.

“What the hell was that?” A sharp huff burst from Nova’s throat as she faced me. “You’ve lost your mind tonight.”

With a shrug, I said, “What? It was the easiest way to let her down.” I drank my wine. Yeah, I’d become a spineless idiot. Maybe I should just go home.

“And what are you going to do if either of us finds a hookup tonight and she sees us with other people? We’ll both look like asses.” Shaking her head, she blew out a breath.

“I have a feeling I won’t be hooking up with anyone tonight.” My traitorous gaze flicked toward the other side of the pool. Fuck, I had to look.

Ace stood with his arm wrapped around the smaller guy’s shoulders, and they both bounced to the beat of the music.

He’d found someone for sure. My chest pinched. “Nova, how pissed off would you be if I went home?”

“What, now?” She stared at me. “We just got here.” She looked toward Ace. “Let’s get far enough away from Ace that you can’t see him anymore.” Grabbing my arm, she guided me through people and toward the stage. Leaning into me, she shouted over the music, “Watch the band and drink enough to forget all the other shit.”

“Yeah, fine.” I downed my wine and eyed the busier bar. “I’m going to get another one. You want one?”

“Yes, I’ll be right here.” She grinned at a girl in front of her who’d twisted around and smiled back at her.

Rolling my eyes, I said, “Oh, here we go.” She was definitely getting some tonight. Everyone was, except for me.

The next day, I sat on the bench at the Ice Den, wound my skates tightly, and tied them off. I couldn’t wait to see what Darla had in store for me. It was time I had her practicing her crossovers and mohawks.

“Hey, Zoma. I have a treat for the kids today.” Judy, already in her skates and wearing a chic black turtleneck with leggings, stopped in front of me.

“Yeah? What’s that?” Slapping my hands on my thighs, I stood up.

“A family I’m friends with back home has a son on the hockey team here at ASU, and we convinced him to come see us today as part of their community outreach program.” With a warm smile, she placed her hands on her hips.

My heart stuttered. “Oh? And who’s the family you’re friends with?” It couldn’t be anyone from Ace’s family. Ace was from Montana, and Judy was from Chicago. I could calm the hell down.

“Oh, it’s the Hodge family. You know, the older brother plays in the NHL with the Rangers? The younger son, Tyler, plays with ASU and will be coming—” She looked behind me. “Oh, there he is now, and he brought a friend with him.” She beamed and clapped her hands over her chest.

A…a friend? Tyler? God, no. As my heart flipped, I slowly turned around. My breath caught as my gaze crept to Ace’s. This wasn’t happening, not after the torture I’d endured last night.

Ace and Tyler strutted to me in their ASU sweats with their skates tied over one of their shoulders and large duffels slung over the other. They stopped at Judy and me.

With a smirk, Ace’s wide gaze raked over me, and his jaw dropped.

“Hello, Tyler.” She gave Tyler a swift hug and turned to Ace. “I’m Judy.” She held out her hand to him.

“Hey, Judy.” Tyler’s gaze found mine, and he smirked.

“Hello, ma’am. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Ace. I play goalie on ASU’s team.” He shook her hand, his gaze winding to me again.

Judy held out her hand to me. “This here is?—”

“Zoma. Yes, we’ve met.” Ace stepped to me, his eyes narrowing. “Nice to see you again, Zoma.”

“Yeah, uh, nice to see you too.” With my pulse racing, I up-nodded him. Shaking his hand seemed weird after how intimately we’d known each other. I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my joggers.

“Where are the kids?” Tyler looked around the rink.

“They’ll be here any minute.” I rolled my lips. This was so fucking awkward. I snuck a peek at Ace, and his gaze snapped to mine. Fuck. I stared at the floor. I had to get out of here somehow. “I’m going to, uh, warm up a bit.” I stepped through the gate in the boards to the ice and took off, taking long strides. At least out here, I could clear my head and settle my nerves.

While Judy chatted with Ace and Tyler, I skated a wide circle around the ice, crossing my skates in the corners. Throwing a glance at Ace, my gaze met his again. Fuck, he was watching me like a hawk. As I held my arms out, I jumped and twisted around, skating backward. Usually, I’d get a quick practice of my current short routine in before the kids got here, but I didn’t want to look like a showoff. Oh, fuck it. A little couldn’t hurt. I sped across the ice, turned a few times, held my leg out, and then jumped and landed a double salchow. After, I rounded the corner of the boards. That was easy enough.

A whistle blew through the air. “Nice, Zoma. I had no idea you were a figure skater.” Ace stood at the boards, his forearms lying across the top of them, his gaze chasing me around the rink.

“I’m on ASU’s team.” I skated to him. If I did something stupid and fell on my ass, I’d feel like an idiot. I skidded to a stop. “What’s the plan?” Yeah, we were both behaving like nothing had ever happened between us.

“I’m going to get suited up, and we’re going to show the kiddos what playing hockey looks like, maybe give them a few pointers.” He gave me a sly grin. “We’ll see if we can recruit some of them into hockey players.”

“Huh.” I bit the corner of my lower lip. Yeah, right, wasn’t going to happen. I knew my kiddos.

A flood of children walked into the rink, ranging in age from five to twelve, all smiling and holding their skates.

“Here they come. We’ll see what they think of your hockey moves.” I patted him on the shoulder, skated off the ice, and stepped to the benches. Darla always needed help with her skates.

“Hi, Zoma.” Darla looked around. “Who are those guys?” She sat on a bench and kicked off her shoes.

I crouched in front of her and took her skates. “Hockey players. They’re going to show you some things about how they skate.” And no way in hell was he recruiting any of my kids. I worked the skates onto her feet.

Ace got on his knees next to me. “I’m Ace. What’s your name?”

“Darla.” Her eyes grew wide. “You’re really big.”

“I’m the goalie for ASU’s hockey team. It helps to be big. I can cover the net better.” With a wink at her, he hopped onto his feet. “Time to get suited up.”

After an hour or so, Ace and Tyler had shown the kids how to shoot a puck and the basics of goaltending. I stood at center ice with Darla at my side, her tiny hand in mine.

“Zoma? How did they get so fast?” She looked up at me.

“Practice, Darla. You could be fast like that someday. Just have to keep at it.” I gave her a warm smile.

Tyler shuffled the puck on his stick, speeding toward Ace, and shot the puck at him.

Ace dropped a padded knee to the ice and picked the puck from the air with his netted glove. “Gotcha again, Hodge.”

I cupped my chin, watching them. For a big guy, Ace was crazy flexible and quick. Flexible… God, the positions we could try in bed. A shiver flew up my spine. No point in thinking about it. It would never happen.

Judy skated to my side. “Anyone want to try pushing a puck around?” She held up some smaller hockey sticks.

“Me, me, me!” Darla raised her hand.

“Where did you get those?” I furrowed my brows. I’d been doing lessons here for a few months and should have seen them by now.

“I brought them. A coach was looking for a place to donate them on Facebook, and I contacted him. We’ll keep them here at the rink.” She handed them out to the kids.

Tyler and Ace skated to the children, tossed their gloves to the ice and went through to each of them, showing them how to properly handle the stick.

My gaze floated to Ace, working with Darla on her stick handling. He was even bigger with all his pads on.

Admiring him, I sucked my lower lip between my teeth. Fuck, he was good with the kids too. He’d make a great hockey coach. Was that something he’d even consider? It had sounded like he was a shoo-in for a top NHL team.

Glancing at me, he smiled as he stood behind Darla and helped her swing.

She slapped her stick to the ice, spun, and smacked Ace in the leg pad. “Oh no!” With wide eyes, she dropped the stick and held her hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry!”

He patted her head. “It’s okay. I get hit with things all the time and can barely feel it with all this padding on.” His gaze cut to mine. “But I’ll accept your apology anyway. It’s always good to apologize when you’ve done something wrong.” He fixated on me for a beat.

Shit, that was a direct hit. I worried my lip. He was right though. I owed him an apology.

“I always say I’m sorry when I need to. It’s the right thing to do.” Darla peeked at me.

Did she sense there was something between us? God, I was an asshole. “All right, let’s see what I can do with this thing.” I held out my hand to our oldest student, Jeffrey, who I was pretty sure was on the queer spectrum, and he gave me his stick. It was a little small for me, but…

“No, dude, use mine.” With a smirk, Tyler handed me his stick and gave Jeffrey’s back to him. “Go ahead and try to sink one on Ace.”

“Seriously, Hodge?” Shaking his head, Ace picked up his helmet from the ice and dropped it over his head, then skated to his gloves and slid them on. “Let’s go, Zoma.” With a snicker, he took long strides to the end of the rink.

I had no idea how to use a hockey stick. “Uh, how do you hold this thing?” I hadn’t paid enough attention when he’d shown the kids.

Tyler skated behind me and wrapped his arms around me, his pads resting against my back. I’d rather have Ace showing me this, but he probably didn’t want to have anything to do with me.

“Put your hands here and here.” Tyler placed my hands on the stick and slowly swung it back with me to make a mock shot. “You got it?” He chuckled softly in my ear.

“Yeah, I got it.” I skated away from him to a puck and tapped it with the stick. I could do this. I set my sights on Ace bent forward at the boards at the end of the rink. We didn’t have a net, so he guarded an imaginary space.

He tapped his thicker stick to the ice. “Come on, Zoma. Show me what you’ve got.”

I pushed the puck with the stick, skating behind it, and lost it. “Fuck.” I twirled around and slid the stick against the puck. “How the hell do you skate with this?”

“Toss it back and forth.” With a wide smile, Tyler motioned with his hands.

“Oh.” I pushed the puck back and forth and slowly made my way down the ice. This was way harder than it looked. Tyler had made it look like a no-brainer. As I approached Ace, I bit my lower lip. When should I shoot? What if I hurt him? I glanced his way, all crouched like a cat ready to pounce.

With a peek at Ace, I wound the stick back and shot.

The puck smacked the boards a few feet away from him. “Dude, not even close.” He snorted, straightened, and came at me, sprinting on his skates.

What the fuck? I stared at him. What was he doing?

Tackling me, he wound his arms around my back and softened our landing as we fell to the ice.

A puck zinged past my head and bounced off Ace’s leg pad, just over his skate.

His gaze met mine through his face mask. “You okay? I saw that coming just after you took your shot.”

I did a mental scan of my body. My ass hurt, but as a figure skater, that was nothing new. I gazed deeply into his brown eyes, his dark hair peeking through the helmet against his forehead. God, he was gorgeous and right here on top of me. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Hey, sorry about that. Jeffrey got a little overzealous.” Tyler stood over us and tilted his head. “You two, uh, having a moment?” A wry grin teased his lips. “You know there are little kids around, right?” He sniggered.

“Uh, sorry.” With a huff, Ace lifted off me, hopped onto his skates, and threw off his gloves, then held out his hand. “Here.”

I grabbed his hand and stood, wiping ice off my ass. “Thanks.” Pressing my lips together, I inhaled through my nose. We were away from everybody, and he’d saved me from an injury. Now was my chance. “Look, I’m sorry about, uh… about not texting you back.” I gauged his reaction, my pulse thrumming in my ears.

“Yeah?” His gaze darted between my eyes. “Why, uh, why would you do that?”

I sighed. “It’s a long story.” I hung my head. I was a coward.

“Long story, huh? I’d like to hear it. How about we get a coffee after this?” He slid off his helmet, his messy dark hair falling around his face.

I dropped my mouth open. He was still interested? Even after I’d ghosted him? “Uh…” Say yes, dummy. “Yeah, okay.” What could it hurt? We could be friends, right?

“Good.” He patted my shoulder. “Let’s get back to the kids.” He ticked his head in their direction. “Jeffrey looks a little upset. You better let him know you’re okay.”

“Oh, right.” With a nod and a soft chuckle, I turned around. Holy hell, what had I done? There was no way I’d be able to keep my head on straight with Ace. He was proving to be too perfect in every way. All green flags, not a red flag in the bunch.

After our lessons with the kids, I agreed to meet up with Ace at a Starbucks not far from campus. We had to drive back down to Tempe so Ace could shower and grab his own truck anyway.

I strolled into the squarish building, all done up in brick with a metal awning stretching over a patio. The entrance was a wall of windows overlooking the busy street. I opened the door, walked inside, and scanned the modern retro wooden tables and chairs filled with students and older couples. Would Ace be here already?

Ace sat at a set of comfy-looking leather lounge chairs in the corner, giving me a smile and a wave.

My stomach flipped. He’d dressed in a nice black shirt and jeans, and man, was it doing it for me. As a grin stretched across my lips, I waved back and stepped to him. “Hi.” The coffee table in front of him was bare. Had he been waiting for me to order his coffee?

He stood up. “Let’s go get our drinks.” As he came to my side, he placed his hand on my lower back. “I’m hungry too, so I think I’ll get one of the sandwiches.”

Nodding, I edged into his side, the warmth of his hand tingling over my back. Why did his mere touch get to me like this? “I’ll get a sandwich too.” Now, it was more of a lunch date than coffee, wasn’t it?

We both ordered pumpkin-spice lattes and turkey, pesto, and provolone sandwiches at the counter and then waited for our drinks and food. I wasn’t sure what to say, and blurting out my shit here wasn’t what I wanted to do. But what the hell would I tell him, anyway? The truth? It sounded so stupid.

After getting our food and drinks, we made our way to the chairs and sat at an angle to one another. I opened my sandwich wrapper and steam floated out. “These things are always so hot.”

“I know. Let it cool off. I don’t want you burning your tongue.” His eyes popped open. “I mean, you know.”

I cocked my head. He’d left himself wide open. “Why, you got a use for it later?” I couldn’t help myself.

His gaze dropped to my mouth and then farther down, stopping on my groin. “I wouldn’t turn it down, that’s for sure.” He wetted his lips and rocked once. “Anyway, you had something to tell me?”

I sucked in a breath, my pulse quickening. I had to make something up. I couldn’t tell him I was afraid of liking him too much and him leaving me at the end of the school year. I’d just met him. But should I tell him about Brody and leave it at that? “So, I dated a hockey player back in Colorado Springs.”

“Yeah?” He sipped his coffee. “And?”

“And he cheated on me a few times, then left me.” As my chest pinched, I tightened my grip on my coffee cup. “I was, uh, heartbroken.”

With a slow nod, Ace said, “So now you think all hockey players are assholes, and on top of it, you’re still not over your ex.”

I clenched my jaw, staring at the coffee I held in my lap. “Sort of.” Yeah, he was spot on. “When I found out who you were, it triggered me.”

“Sort of?” He leaned in, resting his elbows on his thighs, holding his coffee with both hands. “Tell me what you mean by sort of. Like which part of my statement isn’t true?”

Sneaking a peek at him, I said, “I’m over my ex.” But was I though? Nova had said I wasn’t. I didn’t love him anymore, that much was true. But he’d broken something inside me. “But I’m a little broken by the whole thing.”

He furrowed his brows. “So I guess you’re not ready to date anyone right now.” He drank his coffee, sank into his chair, and looked out the window. “That sucks.”

Shit, I was giving him the wrong idea. But what did I want from him? “I didn’t say that. I’m, uh, I’m ready.” Was I? Maybe with the right guy. Maybe with him. But he was leaving in May, dammit.

His attention drew to me. “Are you?” He pursed his lips. “If you are, I bet I could show you not all hockey players are assholes.” He gave me a pointed look. “I want to take a chance on you. I’m not afraid of how broken you are. There was something between us last weekend. You felt it too, right?” He took a deep breath. “Or am I crazy here?”

“No, you’re not crazy.” I fought to calm my racing heart. Jesus, he was direct. Just what I liked in a person. “I-I felt it.” I pressed my lips together. “It’s probably why I was so triggered. I knew if, if…” Shit, was I really going to admit this? How was he getting this out of me so easily? “I knew there was potential.” There, I’d leave it at that. Narrowing my eyes, I focused on him.

“Good, then this is our first date.” With a grin, he unwrapped his sandwich, took a bite, and moaned. “God, this is so fucking good.”

“Yeah?” I sipped my coffee, the pumpkin spice filling my mouth with the taste of fall and the holidays. Would I be spending them with him? My heart lurched. Oh God, what was I getting myself into?