Page 58 of Off The Ice

“Considering she walked out on me that night at the bar, I’d say the plan for making her fall in love with me is going to takea bit more time than I was anticipating, but don’t you worry, I’m no quitter.”

“Glad to hear it.” I chuffed out a laugh.

And to be honest, part of me was.

Maggie didn’t really date, at least not in any serious way, and part of me wondered if she was just scared, the same way I was. I wondered if maybe our dad had screwed her up more than she let on.

If so, then I really was a dick because I’d left her alone to suffer with the same things that tormented me when I should’ve been there for her this whole time.

It might be too late to repair all the ways that I screwed up with her, but if she was willing to give our father, of all people, a second chance, then maybe she would with me, too.

“Hey, by the way,” Brody said, nudging my arm. “Your girl’s here.”

My heart surged at his words, and damn it, if I didn’t picture Cassie’s face before I even saw her sitting there.

She looked up at me, a smile on her lips as I walked over to her. She was wearing a big pink jacket and blue jeans with a rainbow scarf wrapped around her neck. She waved to me as I approached her, showcasing an equally colorful mitten.

Clearly, she’d remembered how cold it was from her last visit and decided to overcompensate for this one.

“Hey,” I said cooly, even though my mind was racing at what she might be doing here.

“Hi.” She beamed, jumping to her feet as I got closer. Her smile was wide and genuine, feeling like a blast of sunshine in my direction that I didn’t deserve.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, grip tightening on my hockey stick.

“Oh,” she said, smile faltering slightly, and I missed it immediately. “Sorry. I probably should’ve asked you first. Or texted. Or just not come at all.” Her eyes darted away.

“No,” I corrected, wanting to fix whatever feeling was bubbling up inside of her, causing her to shut down on me. “No. You don’t have to ask. I’m glad you’re here.”

“You are?” Big blue eyes peeked up at me.

“Yeah.” I laughed. “I am.”

“I’ve sort of had a crappy day.” She sighed and held out her arms.

“Yeah.” I nodded in agreement, not understanding what that had to do with her being here and not caring in the slightest as long as I got to keep looking at her. “Me too.”

She gave me a half smile.

“Do you want to go get some pizza?” I asked, feeling the weight of the day leaving my chest as I stared down at her.

She nodded up at me—that smile returning to her face as if I’d just offered to take her to the moon rather than a little joint down the street from the apartment.

“I’d like that a lot.”

“I don’t mean to brag,” Cassie said, bells chiming as we walked through the door of the restaurant, “but I’m sort of a pizza connoisseur.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked, grinning down at her.

“Mmhm.” She nodded. “I can probably put away more slices of pizza than you and your hockey team combined.”

I snorted. “Doubtful.”

Her eyes flared with the challenge.

“I mean it. There’s a hundred percent chance I’ll outeat you tonight.”

At that, I let out a deep, genuine laugh.

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