Page 8 of Fear of Love (Falling #3)

LYDIA

“ J ust be quick, Lydia. In and out,” I mumbled to myself as I stared at the front doors to Landon’s ice rink, Hockey Haven.

As long as he behaved and wasn’t a complete asshole, this wouldn’t be that bad. If we didn’t kill each other, that was.

My hands fidgeted with the ends of my jacket. I decided to go business casual today—slim white jeans, a silky pink blouse, and matching light mauve coat since it was freezing outside. I paired it with beige heels to try and make it a bit more… fancy.

I also wanted to look good. Did I want Landon to eat his heart out at the sight of me? Yes. I was going to show him that his words didn’t affect me, and that I was a boss ass bitch.

Taking a deep breath, I grabbed the door handle and stepped inside. It was best to get this over with.

Having been here a few times, I made my way through the lobby toward the back where the rink was. I followed the sound of voices, my heels clicking loudly against the floor—there was something about it that boosted my confidence.

As I walked through the lobby, I looked at all the trophies showcased from Little and Junior League hockey teams winning here at Hockey Haven . Pictures of the teams, kids, families, and even photos of The Knights hung on the walls.

Walking out into the rink, I was hit with cold air.

I always forgot how chilly this place got.

Paired with outside, I was glad I wore a thicker coat.

As soon as I walked around the corner of the rink, my eyes landed on the figures on the ice.

I knew which one was Landon instantly by his big frame.

He stood in the middle with a handful of little kids surrounding him.

“Can I help you?” I didn’t realize I was staring until a voice jerked my head to the side. A girl who didn’t look much older than nineteen stood behind the rental desk, regarding me curiously.

“Just looking for Landon.”

“He’s finishing up with practice. Should only be a few more minutes,” the girl said.

“Thanks.” I sent her a small smile in return. Seeing as he’d be a little longer, I slowly made my way toward the side of the rink where parents hung around to talk as their kids finished practice.

Unable to help myself, my eyes went back to the ice. I watched as Landon squatted down, little kids surrounding him in their adorable uniforms. Whatever he was saying to them had them nodding. I tried to ignore the flutter in my stomach at the sight of him.

No, stay strong, Lydia. It doesn’t matter how cute it is that he’s sweet to kids, or how great his ass looks squatting like that.

To distract myself, I grabbed my phone and pulled up the questions Josie sent over last night. There were twenty questions, so it should only take about twenty minutes, if not less, if we were quick about it.

The sound of children yelling had me looking up. My lips twitched as the group waved their hands in the air. A couple of them took off skating down the ice, pushing and shoving each other. It was clear as day that they loved coming here.

I moved off to the side as kids stepped off the ice, greeting their parents loudly. The smiles on their faces were contagious as they talked animately about practice. Their parents nodded along to everything they said as they moved off to the side to help them with their gear.

When I glanced back to find Landon, I wondered if Josie told him I was coming today. A plus to having parents and kids here was that Landon couldn’t make a scene about it. As if feeling my eyes on him, Landon’s head turned in my direction, surprise flitting across his face.

Feeling slightly out of my element, I fiddled with my phone. It’s not a big deal, Lydia. It’s just Landon. Don’t let him intimidate you. I’ve never backed down when it came to him, and I wasn’t going to start now.

I watched him say something to the parents before skating toward me. I leaned against the boards casually, as if my heart wasn’t beating a million miles a minute.

“What are you doing here?” were the first words out of Landon’s mouth. Paired with the confused look on his face, Josie definitely didn’t tell him I was coming.

“Josie had some wedding stuff to take care of, so I’m here to ask you questions for the magazine,” I said, my tone indifferent, like I was talking to any other client.

“For what?” His tone was more confused than angry, which I took as a good sign.

“Your tournament thing?”

“Oh, Hockey for Kids. Forgot that was today.” His hand came up to rub the back of his neck. The movement drew my eyes to his arms, the muscle bulging under the thin long-sleeved shirt he had on. I knew he was muscular, but I swore he got bigger since returning from Australia a few months ago.

“It’s only a few questions, then I can be out of your hair.”

“Let me take off these skates,” Landon said with a nod.

While he stepped off the ice, I opened my voice recording app and took a seat on the bleachers. I was already mentally counting down the minutes until I could leave. Being around Landon was dangerous for both my head and libido, the two constantly at war with each other when it came to him.

“Let’s get to it,” I said the second Landon’s butt hit the bench beside me. With my phone balanced on my lap, I started.

“What exactly is Hockey for Kids?” I asked.

“Well, this is only our first year doing it, but Hockey Haven has teamed up with The Toronto Knights to do a mini-tournament of sorts, as well as skill drills with the team,” Landon explained. “It’s similar to the charity event we did a few months ago with the team but with more focus on the kids.”

“What can people expect when they come to the event?” I asked.

“There will be a minimum of ten games that will last between ten and fifteen minutes. Each team will be coached by a player on the Knights. Then, there will be skill drills of puck shots, speed races, and target shoot-outs. We’ll also have food trucks, the Knight’s mascot, and setups for pictures,” Landon listed off.

I looked at him in surprise, not fully knowing the scope of the event. From the sound of it a lot was going into this, more than I expected.

“We want to encourage and grow the kids’ enthusiasm for hockey. All the tickets sold will be going to help them pay for hockey equipment if they can’t afford them.”

That was… incredible? Selfless? Amazing? That annoying voice in my head said.

“Uh…” It took me a second to gather my thoughts. “When is the event?”

“It’ll be on May 30th, which is a Saturday. We wanted to pick a day that would work for the most families. Tickets are fifty dollars a family and limited, so we suggest people get them before they sell out.”

I made a quick note on my phone to make sure we put this in the following issue so people had a heads-up, even though the event wasn’t scheduled for a few more months.

If it was going to be anything like the last event Landon held, it would sell out insanely fast. Which usually happened when one of the best hockey teams in the league was going to be in attendance.

As I continued asking questions, I could feel Landon’s eyes on me.

I was trying my best not to feel self-conscious under his gaze, but the weight of his stare made it difficult.

I couldn’t tell if he was confused or upset that I was the one interviewing him.

Maybe he was like me and just wanted to get it over with.

Thankfully, the rest of the questions went by fast, and Landon answered each one without some snide remark. Before I knew it, we were done. Hitting the stop button on the recording, I pressed save so I could go back later and write down his answers.

“I’ll make sure details about the event are on the front page of the magazine to help with ticket sales,” I said as I grabbed my purse and stood, Landon following my lead. “Josie already took pictures so we’re all done.” That went a lot smoother than anticipated.

I dared a glance at him as the two of us stood side by side. He had a strange expression on his face, like he wanted to say something but couldn’t. I found myself looking into his blue eyes, enraptured by them.

I forced my gaze to look away. I was not going to get distracted by them.

“I’ll let you get back to it.” Giving him a little dip of my head, I stepped around him and started toward the exit.

Now it was time to head back to the office and get some more work done even though it was after four o’clock. I only made it a few steps when Landon called out my name.

“Lydia, wait.” Turning on my heel, I found him walking toward me, a pained expression on his face. Almost like he ate a lemon and didn’t like the taste.

“Look, I…” Landon tugged at his bottom lip with his teeth as he rubbed his neck a second time, eyes looking anywhere but at me.

When a good minute passed without a word, I crossed my arms, heel threatening to tap against the floor.

Finally, he let out a sigh and looked at me. “I wanted to apologize for Sunday.”

Time seemed to stop around us as my eyes widened at his words. Did Landon Boone just say he was sorry?

“I shouldn’t have said what I did.” He shifted on his feet, shoulders up by his ears, looking uncomfortable, which I would have found funny if I wasn’t so floored.

“You’re sorry?” My eyebrows were almost at my hairline.

“Yes,” Landon said through clenched teeth. “Mateo told me I needed to say sorry.”

“Oh, so this is your brother’s doing, not yours.” I rolled my eyes, having thought this apology was too good to be true. “You shouldn’t be told to apologize, Landon.”

Shooting him a glare, I turned on my heel and stomped off. Did he even understand that what he did was hurtful? That words festered and grew minds of their own?

“Lydia.” A hand on my elbow pulled me to a stop after I made it a few feet.

I whirled around, suddenly livid. With narrowed eyes I took one step closer to him so the tips of my heels met his shoes.

“If you’re going to apologize, Landon, at least make sure you mean it,” I spat, poking a finger into his chest.