Chapter 3 #3
“He’s got a charity event planned with the United Way this weekend. He’d like the entire first line to attend.” I ate more food. “I’m sure we’ll hear more about it as the week progresses.”
“The dude thinks we can scrap our weekend plans at the last minute for his charity work?” Mason huffed a laugh.
“What weekend plans?” Jett wrinkled his forehead.
“It was a joke, babe. The only plans we had involved our bed.” With a snicker, Mason drank his wine.
“Okay, enough of that.” Shaking my head, I smirked. These two had it all—amazing careers and the perfect marriage. Maybe someday it would happen for me.
By Wednesday, the rookies had gotten into a flow. As we played rooks versus veterans, I skated across the ice with the puck, tossing it between my blades. It was an important part of camp and allowed the coaches to gauge the skills of the new players effectively.
Hopkins skated to my right. “I gotcha Volkov.”
Taking a glance at Gagnon, spreading wide inside the net, I shot the puck to Hopkins. “Take it away.” I glanced toward the coaches lined up at the boards on skates.
Julian stood beside Coach Henderson, gripping the top of the board as if his life depended on it. Had he never skated before?
Hopkins sped down the ice with Jarvis following close behind. As he neared the net, he shouted. “Take it, babe.” He slapped the puck at Jarvis, who dunked it into the net behind Gagnon’s skate.
“Fuck.” Gagnon sat onto the ice with his legs spread. “You two are tricky.”
“Yeah?” Skating around the back of the net, Hopkin’s attention drew toward Julian.
“That’s because me and Jarvis are a team.
On the ice and off it.” As he skated by Julian, he said, “See, when you’re married to your teammate, you know them better than anyone and can pull off the impossible.
” He hockey stopped at Julian, throwing shaved ice his way.
“Hopkins, behave and get your ass back out there.” Coach huffed and shook his head.
Julian swayed, and his arm flew out while his skate-clad foot slipped away from him.
“Damn it!” As he fell backward, I sped toward him and caught him under his arms. “Don’t you know how to skate?
” As I held him against my stomach, my heart pattered, his stunning brown-green eyes staring up at me.
He looked…vulnerable in that moment, and warmth spread across my chest.
“Not really.” He fought to stand, but his skates kept sliding out. “Just put me down.” He flopped into my hold, and I placed him on his ass on the ice.
“Volkov, please teach Mercer how to skate. We can’t have him breaking something.” Coach snickered.
Julian’s cheeks flamed red, and he crawled onto his hands and knees. “I’ll figure it out. I don’t need—”
“Coach’s orders.” I hooked my arms around his waist and hauled him to his feet.
This was priceless, and I couldn’t pass up this chance.
“Come on. Just let me pull you.” Grabbing both his hands, I skated slowly backward, watching the wobbling of his ankles while his skates glided along the ice.
Coach had cleared the other end of the rink for us.
“Addison, I want you to replace Volkov, and let’s give Ace a break. We’ll see what Gagnon can do.” Coach called out.
“Didn’t you tell Coach you couldn’t skate?” I snuck a glance into Julian’s wide eyes, gazing at me as though I were his savior. I was though, wasn’t I? He might have hit his head and gotten a concussion.
“I’ve skated.” He bit his lower lip. “When I was five.” He tsked and wavered off balance, tumbling backward. “Shit.”
I wrapped an arm around his waist, holding him against my chest pads. “Got you. I won’t let you fall.” My stomach somersaulted. What was he doing to me? I didn’t like this, I didn’t.
“Volkov, you’re supposed to teach him to skate, not slow dance. It’s not a high school prom.” Ace cackled and then squirted water into his mouth from a bottle on the net.
“Shut up, Ace.” The chirping never ended. “Did you find your balance?”
Julian’s gaze darted across my face and stopped on my lips. With a hard swallow, he said, “Yeah, I think so.”
“Okay, I’ll let you go, but hang onto me.
” I skated a foot backward, putting space between us.
“Let me lose the gloves. It’ll be easier that way.
” I set his hand on my jersey, and he gripped it while I tossed my gloves onto the ice.
“Now, I’ll skate backward while you skate with me.
” Grabbing his hands, I bent at the knees and pushed my skates out in a “V”, drifting across the ice.
His hands were so soft and warm in mine. He definitely had white-collar hands.
He watched his feet as they glided. “Thank you for doing this. I know you didn’t have to.”
“Coach’s orders. If you haven’t noticed, we don’t question the coach.” I moved a little faster. He was catching on quickly.
“What if he’s wrong?” His gaze met mine.
My heart stuttered. He was so close. Why did he have to be so damned attractive?
“He’s not wrong. He sees things we don’t and knows things we can’t.
Trust is a big part of a great team. Not only do we trust the coaching staff, but we trust each other to get shit done, to make plays, for backup and support… ”
“That’s why everyone keeps calling this a family.” The corner of his mouth lifted. “Should I move my feet now?”
“Yeah, I’ll free one hand and we’ll skate side by side.” I scanned around me. “Let’s turn first. Turns are harder than going straight.” I made a wide turn and freed his hand. “Now skate.”
He pushed off on each foot, still wobbling but finding his balance with each glide. “I’m doing it.” A smile graced his lips as his gaze crept to mine.
“Yeah, you’re skating. You’ll need to practice, but if you invest an hour a day out here, you’ll be fine.
” I glided across the rink with him and slowed to a stop at the boards.
“Now, turn around here and we’ll go back.
” I glanced across the ice at Hopkins and Jarvis, laughing and cracking jokes at our expense, no doubt.
“What are they saying about us?” He pushed his lips into a tight line. “They must think I’m incompetent.”
“No, they’re just chirping. It’s what they do.” I tossed Hopkins a glare. “Mason is basically harmless, but the guy loves to tease.” I skated with him across the rink again.
“Why do you use the term chirping if it’s teasing?” He glanced at me, stumbled, and as I tightened my grip on his hand, he caught himself.
“Hockey has a shit ton of slang. Chirping is just one term. You’ll learn it, eventually.
” His knowledge was so limited. I skated easily across the ice with him, our speed picking up.
He really hadn’t understood what he was getting into when he came here.
“You never know, you might end up liking hockey.”
Scoffing a laugh, he said, “Yeah, right.” As his breath snagged, he stopped skating and swung his gaze to mine. “I’m sorry, I know it’s basically your life. You’ve been playing since what, you were four or something?”
“The first time my dad introduced me to skating, I was two, but almost three. We were at an outdoor rink in St. Petersburg.” I wished I could remember the moment, but all I had was a photo my mom had taken. There’d been dilapidated high-rise buildings behind us and the sky had been so grey.
“You’re talking about Russia, not Florida, right?” He eyed me. “You grew up there. Or were born there?”
“We left when I was four. My mom had dual citizenship, and she sponsored both of us for US green cards. With Dad playing hockey here, it didn’t take long.” How had the conversation gotten so easy between us? I peeked at the players, now drilling pucks at Gagnon.
“That’s, uh, pretty amazing.” His gaze dipped to our entwined hands. “Do you speak Russian?”
“I do.” I chuckled. It came in handy for chirping at the Russians of opposing teams. “But I only speak it with my parents.”
“I can speak Spanish, but I’m not fluent.” He twisted his lips. “It was useful for directing our landscapers and the maid when I lived with my parents.” He released my hand and took a stride.
Julian could skate on his own now. A tiny ache crept through my chest. He could be pleasant when he wanted to be. Who knew?
“Volkov, try your hand at Gagnon.” Coach Henderson waved me over.
“Yes, Coach.” I sped toward the other side of the rink.