Page 97 of Breakaway

She froze. Her fingers tightened around themselves and she held his gaze.

He’d stopped talking and then the coach turned his head to see what Jase was staring at. He said something to Jase, who nodded, eyes still on Remi.

Her stomach flipped and flopped and her hands shook.

“Okay we’re done!” the coach yelled. Some of the players ignored him and kept skating around, one of them gave another a playful body check and another fell to the ice as if exhausted and lay there spread-eagled. Remi smiled faintly.

Jase took his gloves off and beckoned to her. She slowly stepped down the wide concrete steps, watching him, until she was right at the boards beside the bench.

“What’re you doing here?”

“Looking for you.”

“Oh.”

He was even huger than usual, the skates adding inches to his height, the equipment adding bulk to his body.

“I wanted to talk to you, but this probably isn’t a good time.” Seeing the intensity of the practice reminded her of the importance of the game tomorrow night. She probably should have just left him alone until the playoffs were done.

“We’re done.”

“Yeah, but the game tomorrow…I don’t want to distract you…”

A glimmer of a smile passed over his mouth. “Yeah. That’s what Coach just said to me. Don’t get distracted.”

“I’m sorry.” She turned to leave.

“Wait.” She paused and turned back to him. “I’ll be more distracted if I don’t know why you came here. Gimme fifteen minutes to change and shower.” He lifted his arms and his mouth quirked up. “You don’t want to come near me until I shower. Trust me.”

She nodded.

“I’ll meet you on the concourse. By the donut shop. Okay?”

His eyes regarded her watchfully and she noticed his fingers were shaking too when he stuffed his gloves under one arm to skate off the ice.

What was she doing? She might be crazy. But she had to tell him some things. Some important things.

She ordered a coffee that she didn’t want and sat alone at a small table sipping the tasteless liquid. She heard the Zamboni rev up and drive onto the ice, its motor humming as it circled the surface. A couple of guys walked past, bearded and damp. Looked like nobody shaved during the playoffs. That wasn’t a tradition she was completely in favor of, but oh well.

Then Jase came out, his face darkened with his beard, longer than stubble now. On him, it looked good. Remi shook her head.His hair too was damp from shower. He wore his leather jacket and a pair of jeans and sneakers.

She watched him look for her, then spot her, and she swore he was relieved when he did. He started toward her with his long athletic gait. Her heart swelled in her chest so big it hurt. God, she loved this man.

Her eyes smarted and she blinked hard. She was not going to cry any more. Dammit.

He stopped in front of her so she had to look way up in to his face. “D’you want to stay here and talk? Or go somewhere else?”

“Um…maybe we could go somewhere else.”

“My place is close. We can walk.”

“Okay.” She’d just leave her car. She could come back for it later.

They emerged into afternoon brightness, blinking a little after the gloomy arena, the downtown streets busy with traffic and pedestrians. They started down the sidewalk toward Jase’s apartment building, only a few blocks away.

The sun warmed them with increasing strength and the breeze that lifted Remi’s hair felt gentle like spring.

“So what did you want to talk about?”

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