Page 60 of Snowballed

“Thanks. That’s so nice of you.” But I can’t ask Noah to go for a sleepover before we’ve actually had sex. He hates to be pushed.

“Well, I haven’t forgotten our mission.” She makes the O hand symbol.

I groan. I’m already so turned on by Noah that I don’t think an orgasm will be a problem. “Let’s change the subject.”

“I mean, who hasn’t fantasized about Noah? But we can stop talking about this if you want,” she says.

“I want.”

There’s silence as she does up her skates. Then she adds, “Well, don’t forget my offer. If you had privacy, then you could relax and enjoy.”

“What are you two talking about?” Helen is a lot closer than I realized.

“Nothing,” I say at the same time that Rocky says, “Zoe’s going out with Noah now.”

Helen’s eyes widen. “NoahGoodwin?” she asks like there’s an ark full of Noahs on campus.

“Yes,” I admit proudly.

“That’s ridiculous. You hate him. Besides, aren’t you taller than him?” she asks.

Ouch. I am an inch taller. Noah doesn’t seem to care though, and he’s bigger in muscle terms.

“It doesn’t matter when they’re lying down,” says Rocky, which is the best answer ever. If only we were lying down together.

Luckily, Helen has to rush to get ready, so she can’t continue to ask questions. I’m happy to be going out with Noah, but I don’t like Helen’s attitude. I’m already aware that I’m not the type of girlfriend that you’d expect Noah to have.

We’re doing shooting drills at practice. Lately, I’ve been feeling better about hockey. Noah has given me visualization exercises as well as the dryland training. And with the cold weather lately, I’m hoping that we’ll be able to skate on the pond soon.

Bonnie crashes into me. “Girl, you and Goody? Woohoo. He’s a cutie-pie.”

The news that we’re dating goes through the team faster than Noah’s slapshot. My teammates all tease me, except Helen of course.

Coach Dubé skates over to me during a water break. “Looking good, Meyers.”

“Thanks.”

“Are you still working out with Noah Goodwin?” she asks.

I blush bright red because while she’s not talking about sex, that’s all I can think about. “Uh, yes I am.”

“You’re lucky. I’ve been hearing good things about him from Magnus.”

I don’t know if I’m more surprised to hear that the men’s and women’s coaches discuss players or that blunt Caroline Dubé is friendly with new age-y Magnus Garfunkle. “He’s in the education program. Noah’s a great teacher.”

Jeffers skates by and leers. “And what’s Noah teaching you these days, Zee?”

Coach Dubé either doesn’t notice or pretends not to understand. “Well, you’re playing in Friday’s game.”

“That’s great. Thank you so much.” Playing Friday means I have a chance to play both games.

She shakes her head. “You don’t have to thank me. You earn your ice time yourself.”

I can sense a shift. My teammates are treating me differently—not with envy but maybe admiration. For a long time, people felt sorry for me. First, I was the girl whose dad died. Then I sucked at hockey, so I didn’t feel like a good teammate. But once Noah began helping me, my hockey got better. And now that we’re dating, I feel really lucky. I leave practice on a cloud.

21

Noah

---