Page 43 of Snow, Ice, and Spice
The truth is that I really, really like Maya. I’m attracted to her for sure, but this is more than just physical. She’s been so kind and supportive ever since I told her that I wanted to start this hockey camp. When everyone else laughed at me, she actually believed I could do it and went out of her way to help me make it happen.
But it’s more than that too.
It’s the fact that when I held her hand while we were skating together earlier, I could swear I felt my skin tingle—that’s never happened before. I could swear that when I looked at her, I could sense a change in the way that she looked at me…like she could feel a shift happening between us too.
And if my teammates hadn’t barged in and interrupted us at that exact moment, I was going to talk to her about it.
Maya, I can feel something between us, do you feel it too?
“It’s just that I saw you two skating and you were holding hands. I guess I thought that maybe you two were a thing,” Xander says, yanking me back to the moment.
My jaw aches at how hard I’m holding this smile. Minutes ago, I would have bet my left nut that Maya was into me. But then I looked over and saw her laughing and talking to Xander during snack time with the kids. That’s when I felt that punch to the gut sensation. She was flirting with him, which meant that she wasn’t into me. I just dreamed it all up.
“We were only doing that because the kids wanted us to,” I tell Xander after forcing out a chuckle. “There’s nothing between us, I swear.”
Xander practically beams as he claps me on the shoulder and walks off. I walk behind him back out to the rink, fighting that surge of jealousy that’s settled like a needle in my side.
Xander is going to ask Maya out, I have no doubt. I clench my jaw at the thought. And then a second later, I catch myself.
Maya isn’t my girl. I have absolutely zero right to feel any of this. I just got caught up in the moment after spending all this time with her.
That’s what I tell myself over and over for the rest of the day.
* * *
“That was a cool surprise you pulled off.” Maya beams at me as we walk into Ingrid’s place.
I try to smile as I take off my coat. “It was nothing.”
“Wow, Theo Thompson being modest? Never thought I’d see the day.” She playfully nudges me with her elbow. “Seriously though, this is the one time you have a right to be full of yourself. The kids were so sad that we’d have to cancel camp because of the rain, but you turned it around. They had a blast at the rink today because of you. Did you see how much they were smiling and laughing? You made that happen, Theo.”
I take in the sincerity flashing in those beautiful brown eyes. “That means a lot. Thanks. And thank you for everything you did today—everything you’ve done to get this camp off the ground. I couldn’t have pulled it off without you,” I say.
Her full, tan cheeks flush as she smiles. “It’s my pleasure. It’s a blast working with you.”
Christ, that smile.
Just then her phone buzzes. When she pulls it out of her pockets and looks at it, she frowns.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
It takes her a second to answer. “Yeah.” She shoves her phone back into her pocket and walks to the kitchen and grabs a glass of water.
“You sure?” I ask as I walk over and stand on the opposite side of the kitchen island where she is.
She looks at me and bites her lip. I have to command my knees not to buckle because Jesus, it’s hot when she does that.
“It’s just…that’s your teammate Xander texting me. He invited me to watch the Bashers game tomorrow night and hang out afterward.”
“Oh.” I’m taken aback at how hesitant she sounds. When I saw the two of them talking and laughing earlier, she seemed pretty into him.
“You gonna go?” I ask, annoyed at the strain in my voice. I sound so bothered and I have no right to be. I turn and start loading the dishwasher to burn off this anxious energy coursing through me.
“I don’t know. Maybe. Would that, um, bother you?”
I take a second to fiddle with the silverware in the dishwasher before I turn back around to her. “Of course it wouldn’t bother me,” I say.
Her brow wrinkles like she doesn’t quite believe me. I catch my reflection in the nearby kitchen window and notice how angry my frown looks.
