Chapter 23 #2
Connor hugged her hello, waved to Roxie over Daisy’s shoulder, and led her to his car. Electricity filled the air, and Daisy could barely breathe, let alone make coherent conversation as Connor drew absent circles on her thigh with his thumb.
Daisy’s brain regained the ability to function with a table between them at an upscale restaurant.
“Who chose this place?” she asked.
Connor glanced at his menu and grinned. “This one is all Hazy. He says it’s a ‘peak first date spot,’ but I’m not sure he’s been on a real date since I’ve known him.”
Daisy laughed. “He has too much game for his own good. I bet he brings all his hookups here.”
Connor’s toes found hers under the table, the contact reassuring and gentle. “Ew, why would you say that? We’re supposed to be having a nice time.”
She shrugged. “They’re my boys. I want them to be getting everything they need in life, even if that means random hookups.”
Connor snickered. “Do you think Lover ever called that girl?”
Daisy couldn’t help her groan. “He hasn’t. I keep asking Mandy for updates, but she hasn’t heard from him.”
The waitress brought their food and drinks, and Daisy forced herself to bring up what she needed to talk about.
“I owe you an explanation about Patrick.”
Connor reached across the table to squeeze her fingers. “I expect an explanation. Later. This is a three-part date. First food, then fun and explanations, and then dessert. Fair?”
Daisy nodded. “I can wait. Where are we going next?”
He grinned at her. “The next part is my pick. Bet you can guess.”
She shook her head. “I can’t skate. Patrick tried to teach me for years. I’m like a baby deer out there.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall. It gives me an excuse to touch you.”
God, he was so cute. She nudged his foot with hers. “You don’t need an excuse.”
He placed a hand on his chest. “Excuse me, I’m a gentleman. There will be no inappropriate touching on our first date. This is far too important to muck it up.”
Daisy laughed and rolled her eyes. “We’ll see.”
When they arrived at the rink, the building was dark and abandoned.
Daisy felt like a teenager breaking and entering.
She’d be lying if she said that didn’t add to the appeal.
He got her a pair of skates, and they sat on the benches beside the rink lacing into them.
If she fell, Connor would get a full view of her ass.
A little teasing could be fun, but that was a bit much.
He led her onto the ice, skating backwards and holding her hands to help her balance. When she’d gained confidence, he skated beside her and held her hand. “Okay. You can’t run away now. If you’re ready to share, I’m ready to hear why you’ve been so weird.”
Daisy eyed the exit, wondering if she could escape before squaring her shoulders.
“I don’t know where to start.”
Connor gave her time to sort her thoughts.
“Do you know why Roxie broke up with you?” She took her eyes off her feet to look at him and found him frowning at her.
“Roxie prefers women.”
Daisy nodded. “And did she explain to you how she came to that conclusion?”
Connor seemed bewildered. “She… realized she liked women. Is that not how it works?”
Daisy shrugged. “For some people it is, I guess.”
“But not for Roxie?”
“I started in the wrong place.”
Connor remained quiet as they did another lap around the rink.
“I told you about my relationship with Patrick. We were childhood friends and dated for years because we thought we should. We were never attracted to each other.”
“What does that have to do with Roxie?”
Daisy was getting this wrong despite the extensive time she’d had to contemplate her explanation.
“You know I’m a fan, right?”
“Yeah, you’ve said that you’re a huge Freeze fan.”
She tightened her grip on his arm, enjoying the muscle under her fingertips before taking a deep breath and saying, “That’s true. I am a huge Freeze fan. But I’m a big fan of yours. I’ve been following your career since high school.”
“I guess I knew that. You knew Patrick and have been going to his games since then, so you had to have heard of me. You can’t follow Patrick’s career without following mine.”
Daisy nodded.
“I followed your career in part because of Patrick. But I’m your fan specifically because you’re you. I’m a fan of you in the way that girls our age obsessed over One Direction and Justin Bieber.”
Connor flipped around to face her, making her wobble in her skates. She grabbed his arms, and he steadied her. He wore a cocky grin. “Are you saying I’m your celebrity crush?”
“You aren’t a celebrity.”
“But I am your crush?”
Daisy nodded, her blush making her face hot. “In a weird, problematic, obsessed teenage girl, parasocial way.”
“I guess that’s fine.”
“What the hell do you mean, ‘that’s fine?’ That’s not fine. I feel like I know everything about you! I’ve watched every single interview you’ve done! I know every goal song you’ve ever had, and more about your career than most of your teammates. Doesn’t that freak you out?”
Connor shrugged. “Not really.”
“Look, I’m an adult and perfectly okay admitting I have a crush, but I’m worried you aren’t understanding the consequences my crush has had on our lives.”
“Daisy, you’re not making sense here. You’ve followed my career, so what? There are fifty-year-old men who have followed it just as closely.”
“God, Connor. You’re making this hard. It’s not a simple crush. I’m so ridiculously attracted to you. I blew up my relationship with Patrick over it, started your career rivalry, and made Roxie break up with you.”
Connor burst out laughing. He led Daisy over to the bench, where he took off his own skates and started untying hers while she pouted. “I think you’re catastrophizing, but let’s break that down. How did your crush on me blow up your relationship with Patrick?”
“Patrick and I dated for years. When I saw you for the first time, my eyes opened to a whole new world of possibility. Teenage Daisy had a vivid imagination, but I never had those fantasies about Patrick. I tried to ignore it, but when we got to college and Patrick’s game schedule meant seeing you more, it got harder. ”
“You wanted to jump my bones, and it made you realize things weren’t working out with Patrick.” Connor was still kneeling in front of her, pulling off her second skate. His thumb grazed the bridge of her foot, and she let out a gasp that encouraged him to repeat the motion.
“Yeah, that’s a good way to put it.” His light touches continued on her foot and the inside of her ankle, heat filling her belly with every stroke. She itched to touch him, reminding herself of her plan to turn him on for a change, but if she moved, he might stop.
“Okay,” he said. “We’ve covered part one. Tell me about part two. How did your crush start my rivalry?”
Her voice came out breathy and foreign. “Patrick and I were always close. We had crushes on other people while we were together, and we talked about them. It made us feel mature to have those kinds of conversations. But my infatuation with you went on too long. At first, he messed with you to make me laugh and show me you weren’t this perfect person I had on a pedestal in my head.
But it kept going, and when we tried to go beyond kissing, and it never worked for either of us, he blamed you.
He admitted to being jealous, although if you ever mention it, I will swear to my death I didn’t tell you.
We were trying so hard, and he did nothing for me.
All you had to do was be there, and I got amped up, coming out of my skin.
After each game things would be tense between me and Patrick. That started his animosity toward you.”
When she stopped talking, Connor was quiet for several endless seconds. “You guys have a weird relationship.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“He let me get that last goal. I know you don’t believe it. But he did. And he was nice at the last game. It freaked me out.”
Daisy tried to wrap her head around the idea. “He’s trying. Some stuff in his life has softened him lately. Plus, by the time we were broken up, and he had Sophia, you guys were already in deep. But for me, he’ll try to do better, if you let him.”
He pulled her to her feet. “Fans won’t be happy to lose our rivalry. We’ll have to work something out. But I’m willing to try if I can’t convince you to ditch Patrick.”
“No shot.”
“Didn’t think so.” He opened the door for her and ushered her out into the cold, leading the way to his car so they could move on to the treat portion of their evening.
When they got in the car, Daisy decided to flip the script on him, resting her hand on his thigh this time. She brushed her fingers over the tight muscle through his jeans. He placed his hand over hers, stopping her exploration.
“How does Roxie fit into all of this? It’s not like you turned her gay.”
Daisy laughed. “No, I didn’t turn Roxie gay.”
“Then how is her breaking up with me your fault?”
“I met Roxie at a hockey game in college. She sat next to me, wearing your sweater while I wore Patrick’s.”
“Wow, what a traitor! She knew you were a Patrick Mills fan and still befriended you.”
“Yeah,” Daisy smiled at the memory. “We got to talking about being hockey girlfriends and all the weird quirks you two had. You were starting to emerge as rivals. Fighting on the ice every game hadn’t started yet. We exchanged phone numbers and started talking all the time.
I let it slip about Patrick and me having issues with the physical aspect of our relationship, and she asked me if maybe I didn’t like men, which prompted me to admit my attraction toward you.
I may have brought it up more than I should have after that.
You’d have to ask her for the whole story, but she told me my obsession with you made her feel guilty because she didn’t feel that way about you.
She knew you deserved someone who was that into you and broke up with you because of it. ”