Page 66 of Her Goal
“You weren’t too much of anything, Leah. Hunter was stupid.”
She snorts as if she disagrees or doesn’t see it that way.
“Cara says once you get to know me, you get a friend for life. That didn’t work out with Hunter. Maybe I want more than a friend.” She pauses and then looks away, breaking the moment. “Why am I telling you this?”
“Because you can’t tell him,” I answer when what I want to tell her is that maybe she had the wrong brother.
Leah exits the dark Zamboni garage into the well-lit rink. Brushing off her hands, she says, “And that’s how it’s done.”
It’s then I make a connection. “You said one of your uncles works security here. What does the other one do?”
“I have nine uncles, so you’ll need to be more specific.”
“Did one of them take his nieces and nephews for rides on the big blue beast?”
She laughs and that does it. I have a crush on the sound of Leah Smith’s laughter. Is that possible? Apparently so.
Even though exhaustion from my early morning training creeps closer, I still don’t want the night to end. But it has to.
“Thanks,” I say when we reach the Ice Palace exit.
“For what?”
“For giving my mental muscle a workout.” I tap my temple.
She erupts with the biggest smile and squeals like I just told her we’re billionaires and are going to Disneyland and it’s Christmas and well, I’m not sure what Leah likes the most in the world, but I’ve never seen her so gleeful.
She launches herself at me with a hug, but not just with her arms. It’s a full-body experience. Her legs wrap around my waist. I’m gripping her hips and she’s carrying on loud enough to get us in real trouble.
But I don’t care.
It feels like we could spin and spin into an alternate world where this is us.
I look up and our noses brush slightly before our eyes meet.
As if suddenly aware of how close our adventure here brought us, though we already did share a seat on the Zamboni, she drops to standing. She wears a quirk-filled smile of pride that I figured out her plan.
“You taught me a lot tonight, Leah.”
“That I can drive a Zamboni?”
“Among other things.”
Her gaze searches mine as if she knows I’m not going to tell her what, but if she looks hard enough, she’ll see. I hope she does. I hope she feels it.
Expanding on just how deeply I now understand her intention, I say, “In athletics, flexing and using the mental muscle means stamina and endurance. To push and then push some more. To not give up. To keep going when your competition gives up. To throw it into fifth gear when you only thought you had four speeds. I may not win every game. I’ll probably let in some goals. But in the big picture, I only lose if I quit. Another way to put it is, I’ll win if I keep going.”
And I’m going to win this woman over. I’m going to pursue her until she’s mine.
20
LEAH
When I lookinto Hudson’s eyes. I’m not sure what I see. Longing, lust, intrigue? But I like it even though it scares me. The guy I thought he was collides with the man I’ve been spending time with and the outcome could be messy for me.
I figure the late night that started at the park across from our old duplex and led to the arena would end when we both walked to our cars, but we talk, leaning against the tailgate that Hudson lowers. Seated side by side, our legs dangle off the back and our conversation flows for hours.
Hunter comes up several more times and it’s hard not to study the contrasts between the two of them. I’m afraid to admit that I had Hudson all wrong. He reminds me a bit of his brother, but everything he says is more meaningful and not irreverent like the world owes him something.
