Page 15 of The Sweetest Risk

Dean glares at Tristan and then looks back at me. “I was just wondering if you were going.”

Tristan raises his hand to his scruff and laughs, “There is no way she is going. Brooke doesn’t go to team events like that. Never has.”

I squint at him.Game time, Lawson.

“As a matter of fact, Iamplanning on going.” Tess is finally back from dropping the kids off at the cafeteria. I yank her to my side. “With Tess.” I plead with my eyes and we have known each other long enough to understand nonverbal communication. “But I will look for you there,” I say in my best flirtatious voice I can muster.

“Uh, that’s right,” Tess plays along. Thank God for her. I’ll debrief with her later.

Tristan’s mouth is agape out of pure disbelief. “You cannot be serious.” I don’t blame him. He’s right. I would usually never go to these types of things.

“I am serious.”

“Sounds great. I’ll be looking for you, too.” Dean says, then pats his hand on Tristan’s shoulder. Tristan flinches and looks back at Dean like he wants to throw him into the wall and makea Dean-shaped hole in the drywall. “Ready to go, Lawson? We have practice in an hour. See you soon, Brooke.” Dean takes my hand and kisses the top of it.

I sheepishly smile while Tristan’s jawline is clenched. He’s really pissed off.

Good. I’m winning at this game.

11

Iwoke up stupidly excited for today. I always like when we have kids come by so we can instill the love of the game in their little minds. I remember the first camp I went to as a kid and it was one of the best days of my life. It gives this whole career more of a purpose to give back to the community. Plus, I get to terrorize Brooke today. One of my favorite pastimes.

“All right kids, let's file in and wait for Mr. Lawson to come and instruct what to do next,” I can hear Brooke’s coworker, Tess, tell the kids.

Then I spot the only woman on this earth who hates my guts. My stomach turns to knots and I notice that she isn’t wearing her usual knotted headband, but instead a bright pink beanie. Not a look I am used to, but I’m completely ready to embrace it.

Hastings skates up next to me, already complaining. “God, this hour is going to last forever. I can’t believe Coach dragged me into this. Where is Bradley, anyway? Don’t you two do everything together?”

“He’s busy with Jen today. Suck it up; it’s a good way to spend your free time. If and only if you get into a leadership position, you need to sometimes do things you don’t want to do. So I am going to say it again: Suck. It. Up.”

I plaster a smile onto my face and skate over to the other side of the rink. I can sense that Hastings is doing the same.

“Hi guys! Are you all excited to do some skating today?”

All the kids say in unison, “Yeah!”

“All right, that nice man behind the counter over there,” I point toward Josh, the rental skate attendant, “will get you all set up with some skates and I’ll see you out here on the ice. Parent chaperones can go ahead and get some skates as well.”

Brooke is standing in the back with her arms crossed. She looks miserable. Even though she might be putting on a slight smile, she is clearly uncomfortable. I mean, I know she hates me, but I hope she lets go a little bit and has some fun. For some reason I can’t get over the way she looks in a beanie. It’s just so uncharacteristic about her and I am not hating it.

It’s been ten minutes since the kids, the chaperones and Tess come out onto the ice. After a quick lesson, I let Hastings take over. Where the hell is Brooke? I take a lap around the rink and notice she is sitting in the stands taking pictures of the kids, with a wide grin on her face. I take a mental note of that smile since it’s a rare sight for me. I get off the ice and walk over to the bleachers. Her posture shifts and smile fades but she still has her phone up and takes one more picture. “Can I help you, Hot Shot?” She clicks the side of her phone and puts it away in her puffer jacket pocket.

“Aren’t you going to get out onto the ice with your students, Cupcake?” I say, leaning against my hockey stick.

“Nope, all good sitting right here. Don’t worry. I’m monitoring. And Tess and the chaperones are out there anyway. They’ve got it all handled.” She looks out into the rink. She’s acting strange.

And then I get a weird suspicion that she has never stepped foot on ice. It’s a look I’m all-too-familiar with. I help out with camps with young kids to teach them about hockey, most importantly how to skate. Brooke has the same scared, doe-eyed look in her eyes that those kids do.

“Cupcake,” I say in an accusatory tone.

“Hot Shot…” She mimics.

“You’ve never ice-skated before, have you?”

She purses her perfect lips and then bites her bottom lip and says, “No.”

“Okay, I’m officially disowning your brother for not teaching you.”

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