10. Keira
CHAPTER 10
KEIRA
I peer over the top of my book, not wanting Dan to know I’m watching him. He’s teaching Benny how to move on the ice as he nudges the puck with his stick, giving him encouragement and pointers. Every time I watch them together, my heart fills to the brim. I can’t help it. The man who once meant so much to me—the man, I admit, who still means so much to me—helping one of my other favorite humans to realize a goal? Well, it can’t but tug at my heartstrings like an eager dog on its leash.
As I watch Dan congratulate Benny after he hits the puck into the goal, I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t help imagining that Dan is mine and he’s helping Benny learn to play hockey because he loves his nephew and wants the best for him.
His nephew.
Argh! Stop! I’ve got no business thinking about Dan in that way. No business whatsoever. It’s totally reckless, and it’ll only hurt that much more when he leaves Maple Falls to go back to his life—a life that doesn’t include me or Benny or the town or anything I hold dear.
He leads a life I don’t even understand. A life of glamour and excitement, of travel and new people. Of beautiful women, shamelessly flirting with him.
A knot forms in my belly as an image pops into my mind of a woman dressed in his jersey, tied up into a knot to show off her perfectly formed, curvaceous figure, her long hair falling seductively around her gorgeous face. She’s leaning on the table, close enough to Dan to reach out and touch him, seducing him in broad daylight.
As if it’s not hard enough to see Dan back here in our hometown, now I have deal with the way women respond to him being thrown in my face by Miss Perfect Butt.
Yup, I noticed her perfect behind. It was hard to miss, encased as it was in those skintight pants of hers, sitting at the top of her long slim legs like a peach.
I blow out a breath, giving up on my book.
I can’t compete with women like that. I’ve never been able to compete with women like that. Not back in high school with the perky cheerleaders and pretty girls, and certainly not today. They’re so glossy and shiny and perfect looking. I’m none of those things.
I’m … well, I’m just me.
When it comes to a man like Dan, I know that’s not enough. Not when he’s got women like Miss Perfect Butt showcasing her wares in front of his very face, like a sexy neon sign.
I pick up my book once more, but the words dance before my eyes .
How bad have I got it when I can’t even concentrate on reading a book? And not just any book. It’s the latest Emily Henry, which I put on preorder with Emmy months ago, and I’ve been so looking forward to reading it.
But then I remember the way Dan told me his Ice Breakers number represents my birthday, and my silly heart leaps with hope, asking, what about the way he looked at me at the pumpkin carving? Instantly, an image of Dan’s face fills my mind. His eyes soft, his voice intimate, and we sat so close I could smell his scent, an intoxicating cocktail of spice and musk and that unique, undeniable scent of him . The one I remember from high school.
Was I imagining it? Was he about to say something to me? To act on his feelings?
Whatever his feelings might be.
I chew on my lip and try to focus on reading a line. I fail, the words bouncing around like balloons on a string. I look up to see Dan kneeling down to Benny’s eye level saying something before straightening up to demonstrate a simple maneuver. Benny, bundled up as he is in a little jersey and helmet, nods seriously, his small skates already moving with confidence, a determined expression on his face.
As Benny slices across the ice, Dan calls out, “That’s it, buddy! You’re getting it!”
A couple of men so big and bulky they can only be hockey players skate onto the ice. I recognize one of them as Noah Beaumont, the player who once had a bad reputation, but seems to have settled down over the past couple of years. The other is Cooper Montgomery, Blair’s client, and I’m excited to see her round the corner into the arena.
I lift my hand in a wave. She notices me and waves back before she says something to Cooper and climbs the steps to where I’m sitting. She’s looking her usual corporate self in a pencil skirt and blouse, high heels on her feet. Blair always was the much more glamorous one of the two of us, and I can’t help but feel like a teenager next to her grown-up put togetherness.
“Hey, stranger. How are you?” I ask as we greet one another with a quick hug.
“Sorry, Kiki. I’ve been super busy,” she complains as she takes a seat next to me. “My client isn’t exactly easy.”
“Cooper Montgomery?” I ask as I eye the bulky Travis Kelce—minus the smile—lookalike guy on the ice. “What are you talking about? He looks like a total comedian to me, B.”
She lets out a laugh. “You can tell I’ve got my work cut out, right?”
“Oh, yeah.”
She focuses on the rink, and I know she’s watching Dan and Benny. “Is that Dan Roberts out there with a kid?”
“Sure is. He’s teaching hockey to my nephew, Benny.”
Her eyes widen as she turns to me. “Is he, now?”
“I didn’t ask or anything like that. He offered and Benny so wants to be a hockey pro … so, you know,” I reply hastily, trying not to allow the heat that’s rapidly climbing my neck to bloom in my cheeks. I just know it’s a mission doomed to abject failure.
“And why would he go doing a thing like that, I wonder,” Blair says, tapping her chin as though she’s deep in thought.
She’s such an actress.
“As I said, Benny wants to be a hockey pro someday, just like Dan. He’s being kind, I guess.”
“Uh-huh.” Her eyes are still on me, and I can’t keep up the ruse.
“Look, I’m trying not to read anything into it because what will that do? It’ll only get my hopes up and then I’ll come crashing back to Earth when Dan leaves town again. I’m not going to put myself through that, B. Not again.”
“Have you ever thought that maybe Dan’s teaching your nephew so he can get close to you?”
I chew on my lip, a knot forming in my belly. “It had occurred to me. He told me his number for the Ice Breakers is my birthday.”
Her eyes widen. “Girl, if that’s not a sign the guy wants to be with you, I don’t know what is.”
I chew on my lip. “He could just be being sentimental?”
She rolls her eyes. “Sure. NHL stars are such a sentimental bunch. What would be so terrible about exploring how he feels about you? You could just tell him how you feel and see what he says.”
“Are you serious?” I splutter, my eyes at risk of popping out of my head they’re so wide. “You want me to go up to him and say, ‘Hey, Dan, you know how we broke up a lifetime ago and you’re this big, famous NHL star these days, living in Chicago, and I still live in a small town in the middle of nowhere? Well, I wondered if you might want to, you know, get back together.’” I blanch at the mere idea. “I would rather volunteer to play goalie for the Ice Breakers.”
She returns her attention to Benny and Dan. They’re skating side by side, following a puck toward the goal. Dan’s patience is obvious as Benny shoots for a goal and misses by a good eight feet.
“I don’t know about you, but I don’t see any of the other hockey pros teaching kids to play in their free time.”
“I’m trying not to read too much into it,” I say again.
“But?” she leads.
“But you’re right. Dan’s the only one teaching a Maple Falls kid, even though he’s busy with practices and media things, not to mention the games starting up soon.”
Her grin stretches from ear to ear. “Open those pretty blue eyes of yours. Dan Roberts wants you back. I would stake my reputation on it.”
Knowing how seriously my career-oriented friend takes her livelihood, that’s a bold statement.
She presses her hand to my forearm. “I know you’re scared. I get that. But he’s giving your nephew free lessons, turning up at your house, giving you his jersey, choosing your birthday as his number. The guy has feelings for you.”
I worry my lip some more. “Maybe.”
She shakes her head at me. “Tell him how you feel. What’s the worst that can happen?”
I watch as he skates over to the edge of the rink, trailed by Benny, signaling the end of the lesson.
I know what the worst is that could happen. I could put myself out there, really out there, and he could reject me, leaving me alone again, here in Maple Falls.