I roll my eyes as I lean into him. I really don’t want to talk about my brothers, but I should have known he’d ask. My heart speeds up in my chest and I’m unsure if it’s because we are talking about my family, or if it’s because I’m about to go on another date with this guy.
“Avery?”
“Oh, sorry. Yeah, they are good. We were all in skates the moment we could walk.”
“So you play?”
“God, no. I suck and can’t skate very well.”
He smiles. “I’ll teach you.”
“I’m good.”
When we turn the corner, I should have known his special place was the ice rink.
It is a short walk to the rink, and as soon as we walk in, I look over at him. “I should have known.”
“Yeah,” he agrees, taking my hand and leading me through the lobby.
“We aren’t skating, are we?”
He shakes his head as he goes through the doors that lead into the actual rink. “No.”
Thank God.
I may come from a very hockey-driven family, but this girl does not skate. I like my feet on the ground, thank you very much. Following behind him around the rink, I notice someone is on the ice, shooting a bucket of pucks, but I’m too taken with all the banners hanging from the rafters. Bellevue is new in the hockey world, but it’s hard not to know they are a force to be reckoned with. The guys who come out of this school go into the NHL. I had even told Matty that, but he was hell-bent on going to Boston.
As I look around at each banner, I see one with his name in the middle of it. Above it, it reads Leading Scorer along with the number of goals he scored and last year’s date.
“So you’re badass?” I say, cocking my head to the banner.
He grins back at me at me proudly. “Um, yeah. The best. Didn’t I tell you that?”
“A few times.”
He laughs. “I got hurt last year and still had the most goals of the team. I’m a sniper.”
I raise a brow, hiding how impressed I am by the fact he scored sixty-two goals, as it says on the banner. I may not like the sport, but I know it inside and out. I’ve never met anyone who has scored that many goals in a season. “Is that right?”
“You know it, baby.”
“Dork,” I say, leaning into him. “Is that why you didn’t go into the draft?”
He nods. “Yeah, broke my clavicle from a hit I took trying to protect that woman right there,” he says, pointing before pulling open the rink door. “Hey, Moore! You playing by yourself ’cause that’s the only way you can score?”
I’m completely confused until the person on the ice pulls off their helmet and a bunch of blondish brown hair falls to her shoulders. Shocked, I watch as the gorgeous girl with bright red lips glares over at Jace.
“Dude, please. I can skate circles around you, and I have.”
He holds a finger up, pointing to his banner. “Um, see my banner? It’s new,” he adds with a boyish grin.
“Did your mommy sew it for you?”
He glares. “Don’t talk about my momma.”
“What, you gonna tell her? Be a crybaby?” she calls at him as she skates over.
“Shut it,” he yells at her as they hug. “What are you doing?”