Page 63 of Blindsided By the Enforcer

“I’m a friend of Cade’s,” I explain.

“He’s the best. My David didn’t want to play. He was lacking the confidence and Cade had the patience to help him get on the ice,” she says.

“We’ve been lucky with Coach,” another dad chimes.

As I stare out to the ice, I see Cade in a different light. The kids really look up to him and he’s so patient. He divides the kids into groups and gets them to work on different techniques. One corner of the ice is dedicated to a group who needs to stickhandle the puck around the back of the net and then shoot to the net. It makes me wonder what Cade is like when he is playing one of the games for the university.

A kid wipes out and falls.

“Shit, that was my kid. This is going to be embarrassing,” the dad complains. I feel like it’s a shitty statement coming from someone’s dad. I know my own dad always encouraged me to get up and continue when I failed.

Cade is at the kid’s side and helps him remove his helmet.

“He cries every game,” a mother whispers.

I feel sorry for the kid. The dad is a real ass as he hisses at his kid’s response to falling. But it’s when Cade gets down on one knee, so he is eye level with the kid and gives him a quiet pep talk, that my heart stutters. I don’t know what he is saying because he is too far away for me to hear. The kid bobs his head and Cade hugs him.

“Coach is one of a kind. He’s easy on the eyes too,” a mother says to a lady sitting beside her. They both laugh.

“Are you his girlfriend?” one of the dads asks.

It takes me a moment to answer. I don’t want to lie to these people. I also don’t like that they are looking at Cade like he is a piece of meat.

“Yes,” I say. I’ll need to tell Cade I told the parents we’re dating.

“Sorry.” The mom who said he was easy on the eyes winces.

For some reason I feel protective of Cade. He’s a good guy. He’s taken the time out of his busy schedule to coach these kids. It’s admirable. These women shouldn’t be gawking at him.

After the hug, Cade places the helmet back on the kid’s head. He gives it a little pat and tells him to get back to his training.

When the whistle blows at the halfway mark, Cade divides the team into two and they start a friendly game. It’s amazing how all the kids look up to him and listen.

After about half an hour, Cade is blowing the whistle and the teams line up and shake each other’s hands. The parents get up and head down to the rink. Some of them tell me it was nice to meet me.

I wait for the parents to clear out and make my way down to Cade.

“I hope you weren’t bored out of your mind.” He winces.

“It was my first hockey game. I enjoyed it very much,” I say. “I actually told the parents I was your girlfriend.” Now it’s my turn to wince. I hold his jacket in front of me.

“Yeah, one of them told me my girlfriend is really pretty and nice.” He grins mischievously.

I feel my eyes bulge. “Oh no, what did you say?”

“I agreed with her. She isn’t wrong.” He shrugs.

A flush crawls up my cheeks.

A group of teenagers come in. They look like they may be juniors or seniors in high school.

One of the guys recognizes Cade. “Holy shit. Cade Price, it’s an honor.” He shakes Cade’s hand.

Cade shakes his hand and smiles to the kid. “Are you playing now?” the kid asks, looking confused.

“I was just coaching peewee hockey,” Cade explains.

“Damn, lucky kids,” the guy says. “Our coach is running late. Can you run some drills with us. Give us some pointers?”

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