Page 24 of Fear of Love (Falling #3)

LANDON

“ G ood morning, Boss,” one of my favorite employees, Emily, greeted me as she walked into the ice rink on Friday.

“Morning, Emily,” I replied, looking up from the paperwork on my desk.

“What’s on the schedule today?” the nineteen year old asked as she leaned against the doorway. She’s worked for me for the last two years, coming in everyday, staying later than needed, and keeping the rink in tip top shape. I made sure to pay her well so she could afford her textbooks.

“We have a team practice at two o’clock for the Junior League since we have a game Tuesday. And then around four, we have practice for Little League,” I said as I sat back in my chair. While the bigger kids had actual practice, the little ones were here to learn to skate and hold a stick.

Since I opened the doors at nine this morning, only a handful of people came in to skate on their own, but in the next two hours, this place was going to be packed.

The mornings were typically quieter with students in school, but during summer and winter breaks, there was a constant stream of people coming and going.

“Should I get the sticks and pucks ready?” Emily asked.

“That would be great. If you can put the cones on the ice, too?” I gave her a small grateful smile. I had so much going on with practices, games, and Hockey for Kids coming up soon.

“Got it, Boss.” Before she left, she peeked her head back into the room. “Who was the pretty blonde that was in here the other day? You two seemed cozy.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, which only made her smirk. “Were you watching us?”

“You two were right in front of the desk. Of course I watched.” She gave me a look that of course she did. “So?”

“None of your business.” I crossed my arms, leveling her with a look that did nothing.

“She’s really pretty.”

Yes, she is.

I can still see her bent over my couch as I fucked her. The way she moaned my name when she came. Just thinking about the way she took everything I gave her, made me hard.

Now is not the time, I mentally scolded myself.

“And?” I asked, trying to keep those dirty images out of my head. Thinking about fucking Lydia was the last thing I needed to be doing. Not when I had Emily in front of me and an ice rink about to be filled with kids.

“Nothing.” Emily shrugged. “You two look cute together.” Without another word, she turned on her heel and left my office. I stared at the space she just occupied as her words sunk in.

Did we look cute together? I wasn’t sure if I was ready to look too closely at that question. What Lydia and I were doing was fun. It was a no strings attached situation that was working for both of us. The sex was phenomenal. Probably the best I ever had. But that’s all it was.

Pretty sure that was how Lydia viewed it as well. I could tell she had her walls up. Something happened to make her closed off from people, relationships included. So no, I didn’t think she was seeing this as anything more than sex.

Why did that thought fill my stomach with lead?

I didn’t want anything more, either. Relationships and I didn’t go together.

I was fine having one-night stands occasionally.

Living my life the way I wanted without worrying about disappointing anyone.

This arrangement worked perfectly for both of us.

I knew I was kidding myself, but I had no plans of making this more than it was.

Not letting myself think more on the subject, I turned back to the paperwork on my desk.

Running the rink was a full-time job. Constantly answering calls from parents whose kids played on the teams, scheduling practices around games, and keeping up on maintenance.

There was always something to do. While it was a lot of work, I liked it.

I loved my job. Loved opening this rink for people to use and enjoy.

When I quit the job I hated almost three years ago, I wasn’t sure how this would turn out, but its been the best thing for me.

I was finally doing something I enjoyed.

And while it took a lot of time, money, and effort to get this place ready, it was worth it.

I hated to admit that the feature Lydia and Josie did for the rink in Fusion Weekly really helped with business.

When I first opened, we got some people coming in but now people knew where we were.

We grew faster than anticipated. To the point that I was going to need to hire a couple more people before summer came.

What started as one hockey team turned into three, with more kids coming in every month wanting to play. I even had a few figure skaters that wanted to rent out the ice to practice.

The paperwork stared back at me, the piles taunting. But with two teams coming in today, it’d have to wait another day. With a sigh, I grabbed a clipboard and stood, ready for practice.

“Hey, Lan,” Nathan Lewis, my assistant coach for the hockey teams, greeted as he came up beside me.

When I first started the hockey team for the older kids, Nathan would show up to every practice and every game to see his son play. He had a lot of good ideas, so before our very first game, I asked him to be my assistant coach.

Come to find out, he played back in uni before he became a dad, so he knew what he was doing.

We mixed different coaching styles, and we’ve made a pretty great team for the kids.

There was a ten-year age gap between us, but it was nice to have another adult around when I was surrounded by kids constantly.

One thing the two of us completely agreed on was making this place, these teams, a place where kids could come and have something to do. Something to be excited about. Some kids just needed a place or an activity to be a part of where they felt included and wanted.

“Hey.” I put my clipboard down and tapped his shoulder. “Ready to kick these kids’ asses in practice?”

“Let’s try not to make them throw up this time.” Nathan laughed as kids slowly skated onto the ice, talking to one another.

“First off, that was once. The kids said they wanted to be pushed like the pros,” I said.

A few months ago, one of the kids asked how professional hockey players trained.

When I told them they couldn’t handle it, the group of thirteen to fifteen year olds wanted to prove me wrong.

They practically begged me to put them through some of the drills I’ve seen Wyatt’s coach do.

They quickly changed their tune when half the team started throwing up about twenty minutes later.

“Do you see them complaining about our training now?”

“Eh, true.” With his arms crossed, Nathan looked out at the ice. “Think we’ll win our game next week?”

“We’ve been playing well. Will is doing great and so is Hudson. If we can get our defense playing more confidently, I think we’ll be fine.” I followed his gaze to the two players bullshitting on the ice.

“Should we practice the fly formation?” Nathan asked.

“Yeah, so far that’s our weakest.” Grabbing my clipboard, I stepped out onto the ice, clapping my hands. My whistle hung around my neck as I called out to the team. “Line up, boys!”

It only took a moment for all twenty-three kids to line up on the ice in front of me. They were dressed in their gear, helmets on, arms hanging by their sides as they looked at me with eager eyes.

Being a coach wasn’t something I ever really saw myself doing. Sure, I taught Wyatt and Mateo how to skate, but it wasn’t part of the plan to actually teach the sport. Getting to see the kids grow up and become better versions of themselves made it worth it, though.

“Good afternoon, fellas.” Nathan skated to a stop beside me.

“We have a game next week. We’re coming off of a loss but that’s okay.

It just means we have to push harder and practice more,” I said as I looked at each of the boys.

I remembered the expressions on their faces when we lost earlier this week.

Their spirits were low, but we weren’t going to win every game we played.

And that was okay. As long as we came back stronger and better than before.

“Today for practice, we’re going to work on our feet and puck work before focusing on the fly formation. So let's warm up, gentlemen. Six laps around the rink.” I brought my whistle up to my lips and blew. “Go!”

As one, all twenty-three took off around the rink, pushing and shoving each other as they went. While they did their laps, Nathan and I moved to the center of the ice where the pucks and cones were located. Per usual, our top two players were the first to finish, the others following behind.

We weren’t exactly the best in our Junior League but we were good. The boys tried their best every game and were getting more confident with each win. Our two best players, Will and Hudson, were only fourteen, but if they took this seriously, I could see them playing in uni.

“Okay, boys. We’re going to work on handling the pucks as well as our feet. See these cones?” I gestured to the ones Emily helped put out earlier. “Each of you will take a puck from one end of the rink to the other while weaving in and out of the cones. We want fast feet and fast handling.”

As I spoke, I grabbed a stick and a puck.

I didn’t play professionally, but I knew my way around the ice.

The boys watched as I skated in and out of the cones all while moving the puck over the ice.

Reaching the end of the cones, I brought my arm back and snapped it forward, sending the black circular disk into the net.

I held back a grin as the boys yelled behind me. Skating back over to the group, I leaned against my stick.

“Easy peasy. Hudson, how about you start us off? The rest of you line up behind him.” While Nathan stood with the boys on the other end, I went by the net to get a better look at how they did.

“Ready?” I called out. Lifting my whistle to my lips again, I gave them all another second to get ready before blowing.