Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
XANDER
That pretty blush moves into her cheeks, and she shakes her head. She’s wearing a gray wool hat, but her red hair peeks out from under it, and my fingers itch to brush some strands behind her ear.
“This isn’t about me,” she says, and nibbles that kissable lower lip. “This is for you.”
“Look. If I’m out there teaching you how to skate, I have to go slow. If I don’t have you on the ice with me, I’ll be a rebel and you’ll be mad at me, and I might sustain a career-ending blow.”
“Don’t fucking say that!” She props her hands on her hips, and God, I want to kiss her. “That’s not funny, Xander.”
“I know. It’s fucking serious. So you’d better let me put these skates on you. Besides, you don’t want to waste these. They’re CCM.”
She blinks at me. “I don’t know what that means.”
“It means they’re damn good, now get over here and take your shoes off.”
Did I order my sexy physical therapist brand-new professional-grade skates? Fuck yes, I did, because I can’t wait to see her in them and on the ice.
It’s going to be sexy as fuck.
Reluctantly, Ivy sits and takes her shoes off, and I help her get the skates on, frustrated that I can’t kneel or squat in front of her so I can lace them.
“I’ve got it,” she assures me. “Just walk me through it.”
“I fucking hate being injured,” I mutter, but between the two of us, we get her ready to go, and she clings to me as we walk to the ice.
“I want to hold on right here while you skate for a minute,” she says, her voice not wavering at all. “Seriously, I need you to make sure that your knee is ready for this.”
With a nod, I step onto the ice, take a deep breath, and fuck, this feels good.
The cold air, the smell of the ice, the glide of my skates.
“How does it feel?” Ivy calls out to me.
“Like I could take on Dallas.”
I glance over and see her grin. She looks like a wet dream in her black leggings and blue coat. And I knew the skates would be sexy on her.
After taking a few minutes to simply glide up and down the rink, I return to her and hold out a hand.
“Come on, Red. Your turn.”
“I will make you fall.”
I snort. “Baby, I don’t fall. If I can’t hold you up on this ice, I have no business being in the league. Now get your pretty ass out here.”
“That’s a whole lot of unprofessional language,” she says, narrowing her eyes, but there’s no heat in it.
“Report me.”
She bites her lip and shakes her head, then reaches for my hand, and now she’s on the ice with me, those blue eyes full of pure fear.
“Okay, I’ve got you.” I move in and hold her face in my hands, making her look up at me. “Just look at me.”
“I don’t like trying new things,” she admits softly, and it makes my chest ache because I may not know her well, but I know that Ivy doesn’t like to let people in and see her underbelly.
“You’re great.”
“No, I don’t like being embarrassed. It never ends well for me.”
Frowning, my eyes dip to her lips. “It’s just the two of us.”
She doesn’t answer, and I try another tactic.
“I’m going to hold your hands, and I’ll skate backward and pull you with me. You don’t even have to do any of the work.”
She nods and takes a breath when my hands drift down her arms to her hands, holding her securely as I start to move backward.
Ivy bites her lip, but her eyes look determined now as we move, and this might be the most fun I’ve had on the ice.
Okay, winning the Cup was better, but this ranks up there.
“You have to breathe for me, Red.”
“Can’t. I’ll fall.”
God, she makes me smile. “Nah, no falling allowed, remember? Those are your rules.”
She finally takes a breath and starts to loosen up just a bit, until I drop one of her hands and she squeaks.
“You’ve got this, badass girl. Your balance is great, your posture is good. You don’t even have to push off yet.”
“Xander?”
“Yes.”
“If my ass lands on that ice, I will stab you with my skate.”
I let out a laugh, and now I can’t resist pushing her hair behind her ear and grazing my fingers over her cheek.
Over those sexy-as-fuck freckles.
“You’re doing great. Now, push forward.”
“I’m not pushing anything.”
She’s so fucking funny.
“Do you want me to show you how?”
“If that involves letting go of me, no. No thanks. You can pull me back to the side now.”
“No way. You’ve got this. Come on, wildcat, push off from your right foot.”
“What did you just call me?”
“You’ve got bite. You’re fearless. And I love it when you purr.”
“I’ve never purred in my life.”
You will.
I mentally shake my head.
“Come on, push off.”
She bites her lip, holds her breath again, and does exactly what I ask, perfectly. In fact, in less than five minutes, I’m skating beside her, holding her hand, and we’re making our way over the ice. She’s a little wobbly, but she’ll be an expert within thirty minutes.
“See? You’ve got this.”
“I do usually have decent balance,” she admits, and her face transforms from terror to smug pride, and I love it. Getting this look on her face is a new life goal, every damn day. “Okay, I admit. It’s not bad.”
“‘Not bad’? It’s the best. Breathe in that cold air.”
She tips her head back and takes a deep breath, exposing her perfect neck, and I want to nibble on that tender spot where I can see her pulse flutter.
What am I, a fucking vampire?
“I hope you don’t mind, but we have to run an errand on the way back to Silver Springs.”
“What kind of errand?”
“I have to go to—” Shit, the word just flew right out of my head. “You know, where you go to get on a plane.”
“Airport.”
“Right, I have to go to the airport.” Today’s been a shitty memory day, and I fucking hate it.
But Ivy nods, staring straight ahead, concentrating hard.
“To pick up Cooper and his wife.”
Her head whips over in my direction, and she almost face-plants, but I have her firmly in my grip.
“Oh.”
“He’s bringing his wife.”
“Oh. Wait. You said that.”
Right. I said that.
“If you tell me that Coop is really your favorite and you’re sad that he’s married, I’ll let you fall on your face.”
She smirks. I don’t know why the thought of any of my teammates being her favorite doesn’t sit well with me.
Yes, you do.
Because you’re attracted to her, you want in her pants, and you want her to like you.
I’m not wrong.
“We need to finish up,” she says, not out of breath at all. “I don’t want you to overdo it, remember?”
“All right. Come on, let’s get off the ice.”
I lead her to the side and help her walk to where our shoes are, and when she’s seated on the bench, I sit next to her and take a breath.
“You okay?” She frowns up at me. “Is your knee hurt? Shit, did we do too much?”
“No, the knee is fine.” I bend over and start to unlace my skates. “It just felt good to be out there. I missed it.”
“I understand.” Her voice is soft and soothing. “We’re going to get you there. Your form was good. You didn’t seem to be favoring your leg.”
I take her skates and put them in the bag I bought for her, then do the same with mine and zip them up, and we head out of the rink. The drive to the airport only takes a few minutes, and as we pull up I see that Cooper and Britney are already standing on the sidewalk.
“You’re late,” Coop says as he offers me a fist bump.
“I was skating.” I grin at him, and he raises an eyebrow. “So, not sorry.”
“Hey, handsome,” Brit says in that southern accent that charmed her husband, and wraps me up in a hug. “You’re skinny.”
I snort and step back, then scowl when Ivy’s not next to me.
“Hold on.”
I walk to the passenger side and open her door.
“Oh, sorry, I’ll sit in the back.”
“No, I want to introduce you.” She looks confused. “To my best friend, not your favorite player.”
That has her rolling her eyes as she pushes out of the car and walks with me to where Cooper’s loading their things in the back.
“This is my physical therapist, Ivy. Ivy, this is Britney and Mark Cooper.”
“Pleasure,” Ivy says with a smile and shakes their hands. “Sorry to interrupt your time together. Xander should have let me bring my own car.”
“No,” is all I say and guide her back to the front passenger side. Cooper raises his eyebrow at me, and Britney simply winks before climbing into the back.
“So—”
“Get in the car,” I say, cutting my best friend off, and he smirks.
“Where’s the Maserati?” Coop asks as I drive us away from the airport.
“In the garage. And no, you can’t drive it.” I shake my head and glance over just in time to see Ivy twisting her fingers in her lap, as if she’s nervous.
She has nothing to be nervous about.
“We should have rented a car and stayed at a hotel,” Britney says. “So we stay out of your hair.”
“My house is big enough that I’ll hardly know you’re there,” I assure her. “Don’t worry about that. And you can take the car whenever you want. Not the Maserati.”
“Damn,” Coop mutters, making Brit and I laugh.
Ivy has hardly breathed since everyone got in the car.
“Are you okay?” I ask her quietly.
“Great.” She nods quickly, those hands still clasping and unclasping in her lap. “You know, you can just drop me off—”
“I’ll take you home,” I reply, keeping my voice down. I feel like an ass. I didn’t mean to make her uncomfortable, and I can tell by her body language and the way she’s gone pale that she’s not okay.
Britney is a chatterbox on a bad day, so she fills the silence on the way into town, and soon I pull up to Ivy’s house.
She pushes out of the car before I even come to a full stop.
“It was nice to meet you,” she says, and I have to hurry to catch up to her on her porch.
“Whoa, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing at all. You did well today. We can take a few days off so you can enjoy your friends, and pick up therapy on Monday, and—”
“I don’t want days off.” I scowl and block my guests’ view by stepping in front of her, then grip her chin and make her look up at me. “Why are you upset?”
“I don’t like new things,” she repeats slowly. “But I’m fine. They seem nice. Honest, have fun with them. Now, I should go because I need to get over to the bar.”
I don’t like this at all, but I don’t have a choice, so I let her go and step back, waiting until she opens the front door and goes inside.
When I get back in the car, Cooper’s frowning.
“Did we say something wrong?”
“No, I think Ivy just has some quirks.”
“Honey, we all have quirks,” Britney replies easily. “And not all of us are good with strangers. She’s beautiful.”
Yeah, she’s fucking gorgeous.
“She’s smart too,” I add as I pull away.