Page 14 of Lost on Ice
“Still know all the rules, huh?” he says.
I try to avoid making eye-contact with him. It’s extremely frustrating how he’s right behind us. “Why wouldn’t I?”
He shrugs. “Just surprised, that’s all. I forgot how into hockey you are.”
I scoff. “I find that hard to believe. That’s one of the reasons we were… friends.”
We’d lie together in bed after sex and go over hockey stats and talk about how his season was going. He knows that. If he forgot, it just goes to show how little I actually meant to him, despite how badly he seems to want me to acknowledge him now.
He smirks. “You never actually came to any of my pro games, though, even when we were “hanging out”.”
“Why would I? I wasn’t your girlfriend.”
His jaw ticks, and he sits back, folding his arms over his chest. “You weren’t my girlfriend in high school either.”
I keep my voice casual. “Sophie played in high school, so I went to all her games.”
He arches an eyebrow. “Is that the only reason you came to my games too?”
I sigh, irritation bubbling up inside me. Why is he digging into this now? “Well, you were on Carter’s line. It made sense. Best friend obligations and all. I went to support Sophie while she supported him.”
Except that’s a lie. I totally went to the games for him.
But he’ll never know that, just like he’ll never know how hurt I was when he ghosted me.
The game starts up again, and our short-lived conversation dies. Thank god. Even as I focus on Jordan racing across the ice, I’m painfully aware of the sexual tension radiating off the man sitting next to me, as much as he infuriates me. My body reacts to him as if no time has passed. I can smell his pheromones and the memories streaming back to me are actually getting me so hot and bothered I can barely focus on the game.
Goddamn it.
Chapter Six
ABBIE
Once the game ends,I’m determined to avoid Jake for the rest of the evening. We all head back to the hotel with the team to have pizza and hang out in one of the larger conference rooms. Round tables are set up throughout the space and several of the team’s moms have set out pizza, sides, and drinks buffet-style so we can go through and grab what we want.
“You go sit, Angel,” Carter tells Sophie, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll grab you a plate.”
“Okay.” She smiles up at him, her eyes shining with adoration. I don’t think she even realizes how often she looks at him like that. They really are so great together.
“I can get you a plate too,” Jake offers, sidling up next to me. “You go relax…”
“I can get my own, thanks,” I snap, more startled than offended by his offer. I’m not falling for that easy charm again. I have to keep my guard up.
He looks taken aback, and then frustrated. “Suit yourself.”
Turning, he stomps away and I release a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. It’s going to be a long, long night. I jump into line behind the team to grab food then hurry to join Sophie again. We move to one of the empty tables in the corner of the room to wait for Carter to bring her food too.
“You okay?” she whispers.
I blink, then quickly slap on a smile and laugh. “Okay, take it easy Mom. That’s about the billionth time you’ve asked me that. Yeah, I’m good, don’t worry about me.”
She doesn’t look convinced, especially when I can’t seem to keep my eyes from tracking Jake throughout the room. I catch sight of him talking with Jordan, Bodhi, and Theo over by the room’s door. No doubt, the boys are grilling him about the NHL. Damn, why does he have to look so good? He looks relaxed, and he's smiling as the boys excitedly talk at him, which warms up his face and makes my insides tingle a bit.
“If you keep staring at him like that, you’re going to burn a hole in the side of his face,” Sophie warns me with a chuckle.
Tearing my eyes from Jake, I turn to her with a frown. She’s smoothing the jersey she’s wearing, an old one of Carter’s, as she leans back in her chair.
“I’m not staring,” I insist.
