Spinning to the Goal (Desert Ice Hockey #4)

Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

ACE

I hoped I wasn’t making a mistake here. I eyed Zoma. He always looked so well put together, even in an athletic shirt and joggers, it was like they were made custom for him and all ironed and shit. Did he iron his athletic gear after he washed it? He didn’t look broken anyway. “So, tell me more about yourself.” I bit into my sandwich, the bread perfectly crunchy, the cheese melty, and the fucking pesto to die for.

“Like what?” He unwrapped his sandwich and bit into it.

“Like, how long has it been since this break up and shit?” I licked pesto off a finger. And who was this hockey player? Did I know him? We’d tackle that later.

He winced. “It’s been a little over a year.” Shifting in his chair, he said, “We were both going to the University of Colorado Springs. He was a year older than me, and after he graduated, he took an offer with Buffalo and…” He huffed. “And he just left.”

“So, you graduated from there last year and came here for your master’s?” I had so many questions now. I ate another bite of my sandwich.

“Yes, I needed to get out of Colorado Springs. Too many memories, I guess.” He rounded his eyes. “My best friend Nova was coming here too, so that was a factor.”

“I see.” I narrowed my eyes at him. This relationship had really affected him. “Where are your parents?”

“Colorado Springs. It’s where I grew up.” He pursed his lips. “Figure skating is big there. The World Figure Skating Museum is in the area, so it wasn’t hard to pick up the sport.” His gaze dipped to his half-eaten sandwich. “I wanted to make it big in figure skating someday and maybe go to the Olympics, but I didn’t make it.” His shoulders slumped.

“Nothing is stopping you from still living your dream, Zoma.” Hell, what would it be like if I’d given up on my hockey dreams when I’d failed? I looked him up and down. He had the right physique for figure skating, and damn, if he hadn’t looked good on the ice today. “What makes you think you can’t?”

“Number one, I’m past my prime. Competitive figure skaters retire right around my age.” His gaze met mine. “Plus, Brody always said I wasn’t cut out for it, and I failed every time I tried out for Team USA.”

My chest heated. “Who the fuck is Brody to say? I’m guessing he was the ex who cheated on you and broke your heart?” If that fucker got close to my crease in a game, I’d risk a stint in the sin bin to take him out.

“I don’t know. After I failed the last time, he was the one who pushed me to give lessons to kids and coach.” His eyes lit up. “He saw how good I was with them and knew how much I liked it. I’d thought at the time he was doing it to make me feel better.”

He had a point. I was still going to take the fucker out. “Yeah, okay. So, you’re on the team here at ASU, and this is your first year here?” That explained why I hadn’t seen him before at our hockey games. The figure skating team sometimes entertained the crowd between our periods. I ate the last of my sandwich. “How does that work? I don’t know much about it.”

“It started as a club by a student, and we have a student board who runs everything and sets our competition schedule.” He ate a bite of his sandwich.

I had the poor guy talking so much he barely had time to eat. But he seemed a lot calmer talking about figure skating than his ex. “Have you won any competitions?” I drank my coffee.

He swallowed his food. “Sure. I’ve medaled in a few. Everyone on the team has.”

How would things work with our schedules? “When do you practice and have competitions?” It would be nice to go to a few of them. I relaxed into my chair.

“I practice nearly every day. We get time on the ice after your morning skate, and competitions are usually on the weekends.” He wiped his mouth with a napkin and set his partially eaten sandwich on the table. “I’ll take the rest of that home.” He sipped his coffee.

“I have games on Friday and Saturday nights.” Pretty much straight through to Christmas. I twisted my lips. If we were going to do this, we’d have to find time to see each other. “So, when are you free this week?” I lifted the corner of my mouth. Yeah, I was about to ask him on another date.

A grin teased his lips. “Uh, I’m free most nights this week. I don’t work outside of my skating lessons, so I can study in the afternoons and?—”

“Go out to dinner with me Tuesday night?” I straightened in my chair and grabbed his hand, resting on the armrest of his own chair. My heartbeat quickened. Would he say yes?

“Um…sure.” His cheeks flushed, he dipped his gaze and then raked his teeth over his lower lip.

God, he was adorable. I couldn’t wait to get him in bed. Which, could I have more of his time today? “I think you said you live alone?”

“Yeah, I have a one-bedroom apartment just off campus.” He focused on my lips, then licked his own.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” I squeezed his hand. Fuckin’ A, did I want to kiss him.

“I am, but I’d like to get to know you better before we make good on our promise at The Club.” He peeked at me from under his brows. “You’ve hardly told me anything about yourself.”

I shrugged a shoulder. “What’s to know? I’m the oldest of four from a ranching family in Montana, which you already know, and I’m a goalie.” I smirked. “But I’m not weird.” Not yet, at least.

“Are you sure?” He freed a soft snort. “How can you be as good of a goalie as you are and not be weird?”

I bit my thumbnail, raking my gaze over his slender body. Waiting for him was going to kill me, but we should do this right, and I was sure his fears were getting in the way. I had to prove myself to him. “Okay, I like my fries with French’s mustard. Does that make me weird?”

He choked out a laugh. “A little bit.” Twisting his hand, he twined his fingers in mine. “What else? Do you have any superstitions, like most hockey players?”

“Of course.” This might be a little embarrassing, but what the fuck. He’d see it when he came to the games. “I have to hit the goalposts three times with my blocker before every game. Once on the left post and twice on the right.” Warmth flooded my cheeks. Only the squad knew about that, and when we lost one night because they bet me not to do it, they shut up about it.

“Seriously? Now I’m going to have to watch for it.” He chuckled and drank the rest of his coffee. Exhaling a sigh, he said, “Anyway, I have to write a paper that’s due tomorrow.” He stood up. “It was nice having lunch with you. I’m glad we talked.”

“Even if I’m not going to see you more tonight, I’m walking you to your car, and you can’t stop me.” I rose and tossed my empty sandwich bag and coffee cup into a garbage bin.

“Sure.” He threw his cup in the bin, grabbed his leftover sandwich, and held his hand out to me.

Snatching his hand, I brought it to my lips and kissed his knuckles, my stomach fluttering. I had it bad already. I strolled with him to the door.

“By the way, and you don’t have to answer this, did you go home with the guy last night from the Knot Me show?” He opened the door for me.

I stepped onto the patio. “No, I did not.” I did, however, fuck with Zoma by making sure he saw me kiss the guy. In hindsight, that was sort of a dick move, especially when we’d ended the night as friends. “Why, were you jealous?”

He stepped out and stopped beside me, locking his gaze on mine. “Yes, and don’t ever do that again.”

Damn, I liked the assertiveness. “Now we’re dating, no games, no bullshit. I promise.” Grabbing his nape, I pulled him close, pressed my mouth to his, and slid my tongue between the seam of his lips. He tasted of cinnamon and spice, and holy fuck, I wanted him.

He broke the kiss and grabbed my arm as if steadying himself for a moment. “Kissing you without the numbness of alcohol is on a whole other level.” He bit his lower lip and gave me a sheepish grin.

“Can’t wait for Tuesday.” I tugged on his hand and led him into the parking lot. I was going to kiss him again before he left. That had ended too soon.

He led me to a newer red Honda Civic and stopped at the driver’s side. “I suppose you drive a big-ass Ford truck?” He leaned his ass against the car.

“I do. So?” I glanced around us. Not many people were around. I didn’t give a fuck anyway. Pressing my chest to his, I leaned in and claimed him in a hungry kiss, wrapping my hand around the back of his head. He was going to think about me nonstop until our dinner date in a few days.

With a soft moan, he slanted his mouth over mine, slapped his hand on my ass, and pulled our hips together, his hard dick grinding on mine through our pants.

As heat rolled over my skin, my body shuddered, and my balls tingled. Fucking hell. I was going to be thinking about him nonstop until Tuesday. As I left his mouth, I said, “You sure you want to wait?” My gaze found his darkened eyes, his lids heavy over them.

Between quick breaths, he said, “Yeah. Even more now. The more I get to know you, the more you light me up inside.”

I gave him another hard kiss and stepped back. I had to force myself away from him, or I’d never stop. “Good to know.” Brushing my fingers down his cheek, I gave him a warm smile. “See you Tuesday.” I turned. “And text me back this time.” Because I was for sure going to be texting him before our date. Thank God I hadn’t deleted his contact information from my phone.

“I promise I’ll text you back. Who knows, maybe I’ll even text you first?” He gave my ass a playful slap. “See you soon.”

“See you.” I fished my keys out of my pocket and strutted to my big-ass truck.

Monday night after dinner, I sat at our dinette in the squad house and finished my assignment for my accounting class. God, I loved me some numbers when there was money behind them. Eli and I were similar like that, except he was more into the practicality of running a business and not just interested in how the money was handled. I closed my laptop.

Myles strolled to the kitchen from the bedroom hallway, opened the refrigerator, and shifted his weight.

“What are you looking for?” I leaned back in my chair, balancing it on the back legs. Myles tended to go for something sweet after dinner, no matter how much I fed the bastard. “There’s still some chocolate in there.” Because cold chocolate was better than warm, almost melting chocolate.

“Yeah?” He plucked out a bar of dark chocolate and made his way to the table. “So, you hear from Zoma yet?”

Tyler had told him all about my little coffee date as soon as he’d come home from the rink yesterday. “Not yet.” I glanced at my phone, resting next to my laptop. I’d been sort of waiting to see if he’d text me first, but he hadn’t. Didn’t I tell him we weren’t going to play games?

“But you guys are going on a date, right?” He dropped into the chair beside mine and cracked off a chunk of chocolate. “Want some?” He held it out to me.

“You know what? Don’t mind if I do.” With a grin, I grabbed it from him and bit into it, the sugar and bitterness melting on my tongue. We’d gotten this stuff from Trader Joe’s, like a lot of our food, and it was cheap and delicious. “Yes, we agreed to go on a date tomorrow night. A dinner date.”

“Where are you guys going?” He ate some chocolate and licked his fingers.

“Don’t know yet. Where do you think we should go?” Maybe he had some ideas. He was more of the dating type, though I hadn’t seen him with anyone for a while.

“What sort of food does he like?” He set the chunk down and studied me.

“I don’t know.” I twisted my lips. There was so much I didn’t know about Zoma, even though we’d spent the whole morning together between the skating lessons and the lunch date.

“Why don’t you text him and ask?” With his eyes lighting up, he smirked at me.

“Okay, wise guy.” With my pulse fluttering, I picked up my phone. Fuck, he wasn’t going to ghost me again, was he? No. I tapped a message on my phone.

Ace

How was your day? What sort of restaurant do you want to go to tomorrow night?

I set the phone down. If he doesn’t text back, then I’m a fool and he’s a real asshole. Fuck, why was I thinking this way? Of course he’d text.

“There’s this Italian place called Society by the campus. It’s very romantic with a plant wall and crystal chandeliers. He’d probably like that, eh?” He bit off another chunk of chocolate.

“Yeah? Romantic, huh?” I cocked my head, watching him smack his lips. Zoma seemed like a fancier kind of guy. He probably would like the place. “Maybe I’ll text him and tell him I have a place, and it’s a surprise.”

“Sure, if he ever gets back to you.” He ticked his head toward my phone.

“He’ll get back to me. Maybe he’s busy.” My gut tightened. But he would have practiced sometime after our morning skate and what else would he be doing this late at night? I’d have looked for him after our ice time, but I had a damn class to get to. I glanced at my phone. Text me back, Zoma, for the love of God .

My phone buzzed.

I huffed out a breath and picked it up, my heart soaring at his name on the screen. “It’s him.” Why was I doubting him?

Zoma

Had a good skate this morning and nailed a triple axel. I wish you could have seen it. I’m up for anything as far as a restaurant. You pick.

As a grin swept over my lips, I typed.

Ace

I have a restaurant in mind. Can I pick you up at six? It’ll be a surprise.

Zoma

Absolutely. I’ll text you my address. I’ll be waiting with bells on.

Ace

Great. Can’t wait to see you.

He sent me his address, and then…

Zoma

See you tomorrow.

“All right, Myles. I hope this place is as romantic as you say it is.” I Googled the place on my phone, all dark woods and mood lighting. Just the place for a guy like Zoma. “I like it.”

“You better make a reservation even though you’re going on a Tuesday. The place fills up fast.” He ate the last of the chocolate and sucked his fingers.

“Okay.” I made a reservation on their website and set my phone down, thinking over all the things I knew about Zoma and his asshole ex. “Do you know a guy named Brody who would have joined Buffalo last year?” It was worth a shot. I wanted to know what this ex was really like.

“Uh…” He furrowed his brows. “Brody Roth?”

“Did he graduate from Colorado Springs?” I sat forward, planting my elbows on the table. Hockey was a small world, so it wouldn’t surprise me if one of these guys knew him.

“Dude, we played them two years ago in the quarter-finals. Wasn’t he the guy who kept giving Mason a facewash until Mason almost punched him?” He snorted. “God, that was bad, but it was funny. I thought Mason’s head was going to explode. And why didn’t the refs stop him?”

“Shit, really?” I thought back. Maybe I hadn’t seen all that. I’d been doing my damn job and making sure nobody lit the lamps. “Good thing Mason controlled himself. We needed him playing, not suspended.” But this Brody character was a douche canoe. That much was certain.

“Didn’t matter. We lost anyway.” He ran his finger in a circle over the table and focused on me. “Why are you asking about Roth, anyway?”

“He’s Zoma’s ex.” I pursed my lips. Should I be telling him this story? It wasn’t like Zoma had said it was a secret. “He cheated on him and left him heartbroken.”

“No way.” Myles straightened his shoulders. “Now I have to look him up.” He fished his phone out of his pocket and tapped.

Did I really want to see this? Yes, yes, I did. “Let me see.” I pulled my chair next to his and leaned in.

He opened his Instagram app and searched for Brody. “Ah-ha. There he is.” He tapped on the profile of a guy in a Buffalo jersey, obviously at a rink. “Look.” He held his phone out to me.

Tile after tile displayed images of a dark-haired man with stark blue eyes in hockey gear, working out, and in suits. The guy was damn good-looking. Zoma didn’t fuck around when it came to boyfriends. Did I measure up? Fuck yeah, I did. “Keep scrolling. I want to see if there are any photos of him with Zoma.”

“Okay.” He swiped up, over and over. “I don’t see any. They’re all pretty much hockey shit. Even back in college.”

I chewed my lower lip. Players pulled that shit. No incriminating photos to let a would-be hookup know you’re really taken. “I wonder what Zoma saw in that guy?”

“He’s hot. I’m sure he saw that.” Myles flicked his gaze to mine. “But not nearly as hot as you.” He threw an arm around my shoulders and pressed his forehead to my hair. “And he can’t possibly be as lovable.” He freed me. “You’re something special, Ace, and don’t you forget it.”

“Thanks, man. I needed that.” I patted his thigh. My friends were the best.

Tuesday, after our morning skate, I showered and headed back to the rink. I wanted to see Zoma in his element.

The figure skating team was just taking to the ice, about ten women and Zoma, all skating in graceful movements around the edge of the rink. Funny to think we’d been sharing the same ice for the last few months and had no idea.

Zoma jumped and turned backward, then his gaze met mine and a smile broke out over his face. He whipped around and skated to me. “Ace, you’re here.” He stopped in front of me at the boards, resting his forearms on top of them.

“Yeah. I wanted to see you do that… What did you call it? Axel thing?” I’d only remembered it because it was also the name of Leo’s guitar-playing brother.

As his cheeks reddened, he dipped his head. “I can’t do that with you here. I’d fall on my ass and look like an idiot.”

I wrapped my hand around his forearm. “You’ll never look like an idiot to me. Hell, you’re the most graceful man I’ve ever seen on the ice. The way you move out there…” Biting my lip, I looked him up and down. Yeah, his skating did it for me.

“You getting a little hot under the collar?” He gave me a coy smile. “Here, I’ll show you a little something.” He skated across the rink at an angle, spun a few times, and took to the air, twisting backward and landing on one skate with his leg out.

Nova skated by him. “Good one.” She clapped. “I see you’re showing off for your new man.” Doing a circle around him, she flashed me a grin.

New man? He must have told her about me. “He doesn’t have to show off. I already think he’s great.” I threw him my best smile.

Zoma and Nova both skated to me. With her eyes twinkling, she said, “I hear you’re taking my bestie on a hot date?” She stopped at the boards in front of me, and Zoma came in behind her.

“Yep.” Puffing out my chest, my gaze met Zoma’s stunning blue eyes, his hair mussed from the wind and his thick lips in a perfect pout. If it wouldn’t make me look stupid, I’d climb over these boards and kiss the daylights out of him.

Swaying and eyeing me, Nova said, “Tell me where you’re taking him.”

“Nope, it’s a secret.” I dipped my gaze and found his again. “I’m sure he’ll tell you all about it when it’s over.”

“Oh, please? Just whisper it in my ear. I won’t say a word to him.” She leaned in sideways and pulled her hair from her ear, exposing it.

“Nope.” I shook my head and pressed my lips together. Shit, the place better be as good as Myles said it was with all this build-up.

A slow grin played over his mouth. “I told her she wouldn’t get it out of you.”

An older woman called from the center of the ice. “Nova and Zoma, are you here to practice or socialize? We have a big competition coming up.”

“Crap, Coach is not happy with us.” Nova slapped Zoma’s shoulder. “Sorry, Ace, but we have to go.” She gave Zoma a pointed look.

“I’ll see you Tuesday night.” Zoma turned to go and then twisted back around, grabbed my arm, and tugged me in for a quick kiss. “Can’t wait.” Biting the side of his lower lip, he sped off.

“Shit…” With warmth flooding my heart, I watched him go. How did such a simple act of affection melt my insides? After dragging my gaze from him, I twisted and left with a pep in my step.