Page 1 of Christmas on Ice
1
Trask
Cold.The biting October wind cut into the heated cab of my new full-size pickup as I opened the door in the lot of Brewski’s Sports Pub & Grille in Palmer City, Colorado. I was grateful for the upgrade—especially its dependable heater—since the harsh winter was about to set in. With my new two-way contract with Denver’s NHL team, I’d be able to make the monthly payments without an issue and still send money home to my parents for Mama’s medical bills.
I pulled my knit hat low over my forehead and tucked my chin into the collar of my parka. Back home in Charleston, it was just starting to cool off, and I missed the warmth of the lazy fall nights and the salty scent of the ocean along the Battery.
Tonight, the team should be celebrating a win, but we’d come up short again. We’d lost two of our best players to the new expansion team, and the lines hadn’t fully adjusted to the changes. My former defensive partner and I had been able to read each other’s minds, and I hadn’t found that kind of chemistry with any of the other defensemen yet.
I scanned the lot for familiar cars and wasn’t surprised to see only a few players had shown up. I fell into step beside my roommate and our team captain, goalie Jason Dexter, who’d pulled in just ahead of me.
“Sorry about that last goal, man,” I shouted into the wind. “We left you exposed.”
“I should have blocked it. Rainoni knows my weakness is above my right shoulder. I should’ve expected that’s where he’d aim.”
“Still.” I stepped around him to open the door, and we entered the warm restaurant. “Trotter was in the wrong place, and I couldn’t get to you fast enough.”
“We’ll get ’em next time.” Jason shrugged and pulled his hood off. “I see Lauren.” He nodded to a table beside the brewing equipment that split the dining area down the middle. “Looks like she brought one of her teacher friends for you.” He grinned, and I shook my head. Jason’s girlfriend had tried to play cupid when I moved in with him, but unlike him, she’d given up when she realized I wasn’t interested in any of the women she worked with.
There was only one person here I really wanted to see, and a quick search of the restaurant came up empty.
Jason reached the table first and bent to give Lauren a kiss. I draped my coat over the back of the chair next to Lauren’s friend as the two women gathered up and stacked the papers that were strewn all over the table.
“I’m Trask.” I offered my hand to the woman next to me. “Do you and Lauren work together?”
“Alicia. Sort of. I’m her intern this semester.” The petite blonde smiled shyly as we shook. “Do you play for the Voltage, too?”
“I do.” I sat and turned to Lauren. “A grade change and an intern this year? That’s awesome.”
Lauren smiled. “It’s a gift, really. Without Alicia, I’d never get all these essays graded. It’s bad enough I had to miss the game for a staff meeting.”
“You didn’t miss much,” I grumbled, trying to look past her to the bar area.
Lauren caught my eyes wandering. “She’s in the snug with Ryleigh.”
I groaned. “Am I that obvious?” Next to the bar, the small room, called a snug, had a booth and table inside. Its door was closed, but its side window faced the bar and was a perfect corral for the three-year-old daughter of our favorite server.
As if my thoughts could conjure her, Kami Spencer opened the door and exited the snuggery. A flash of lime green raced past her and straight for our table. I put my arm out to steady the little girl as she tripped on her fairy costume and came to an unbalanced stop next to us.
“Mr. Tiggerman! Did you win?” The brown curls piled on her head bounced as she spoke.
Jason snorted, and I shot him a dirty look. The team had nicknamed me Tiger, since that was my college mascot. Ryleigh had heard one of them call me that and declared, as only a three-year-old could, that she’d call me Tigger because he was fluffy and not scary and I wasn't scary either.
I hadn’t had the nerve to ask why she thought I was fluffy.
“Not tonight, Ry.” I bent down to be eye level with her. “What are you doing up so late?” I glanced at her mother, who handed me a menu.
“Daddy had to work, so he brought me here. And Mommy has to work, so I get to watch Thinter Bale and Peetah Pahn in the little room!”
“Oh yeah? ‘Peetah Pahn’? Not Peter Pan?” I met Kami’s eyes, and she shrugged, tucking a loose strand of brown hair from her ponytail behind her ear. The casual gesture belied the worry in her eyes. Her ex-husband had been leaving Ryleigh here more and more often lately.
Ryleigh scoffed. “Wendy says Pee-tah Pahn,so that’s howIsay it.”
“Well, that makes sense. Sounds like fun.”
“It is! But Mommy said I have to go soon.” She pouted. “Auntie Brenna is coming to take me home and put me to bed.”
Brenna Brewer, the restaurant owners’ daughter, was good friends with Kami, and I’d learned they’d been roommates in college.
