Page 23 of One Good Puck (Denver Bashers #5)

Gavin

“ I t’s conga line time, boys!” Xander yells as he flies past me on the ice.

Blomdahl, Sam, and Theo skate ahead and join Xander to form a conga line. They skate slowly around the rink, careful to avoid all the little kids around them.

“Dirty Del! You gotta join us!” Xander hollers.

Del, who’s skating with Ingrid, glares at him. “No way.”

Ingrid giggles. “Oh, come on. That looks fun. And it would make great content for the Bashers’ social media accounts.”

Del rolls his eyes, but I don’t miss the way the corner of his mouth quirks up.

“Do it for me?” Ingrid asks sweetly.

A small smile breaks free when he looks at his fiancée. “Okay.”

He kisses her cheek, then joins the conga line. She laughs as she films the guys on her phone.

“Hell yeah! Conga line!” Camden yells. He skates ahead and grabs Del’s hips, joining the end.

Del turns and glares at Camden. “Watch your hands. ”

“And your mouth,” Ryker says as they skate by him. “This is family and friends skate. There are kids around.”

Camden winces through a smile. “Sorry.”

“You gotta join us, St. George!” Xander says.

“Yeah, Georgie! Be part of the conga line!” Theo hollers.

“Nope,” Ryker says. “And don’t call me that.”

“How about you, Coach?” Xander hollers.

I shake my head. “No way.”

“Aww, come on!” Theo hollers as they skate by me.

I fight a smile. They’re ridiculous, but they’re having a good time.

I glance over at the entrance of the rink and see Abby and Emma walk in. I skate over to the edge of the rink, then hop off the ice to meet them.

“Hey. Glad you made it,” I say.

“Sorry we’re a little late. Emma had a friend’s birthday party before this.”

“No problem.” I look down at Emma. “Are you ready to learn how to ice skate?”

She beams wide. “So ready!”

“Ice skating was all she could talk about at her friend’s party,” Abby says.

I chuckle at how excited Emma is. I ask Abby their shoe sizes and run and grab skates for them. They take a seat on a nearby bench, and I crouch down to help Emma put her skates on.

“So what did you do at your friend’s birthday party?” I ask Emma.

“Played with lizards and snakes.”

I look at Abby.

“Her friend Tiana is a reptile fanatic,” Abby says. “Her parents had a pet party at their house with lizards and snakes that they rented from a local reptile sanctuary.”

“Wow. That’s very different from the kids’ birthday parties that Sophie used to go to. The wildest thing I can remember was a trampoline park.”

Abby chuckles. “It’s a whole new world of kids’ birthday parties these days.”

I shake my head and laugh. “I guess so.”

The three of us head to the ice. “Hold my hand when we get on the ice, okay?” I say to Emma.

“Okay!”

I catch Abby looking between the two of us, smiling.

“So, have you ever gone ice skating before?” I ask Abby.

“Yeah, a few times. It’s been a few years,” she says.

“If you need to hold my other hand, feel free.”

Judging by her smile, she picks up on the teasing lilt in my voice.

It’s been a week since we hashed out the aftermath of our almost-kiss at Bella and Blomdahl’s engagement party, and thankfully, things haven’t been awkward between us. We’ve seen each other at home a few times, and everything is normal, not weird at all.

As disappointed as I was that we didn’t end up kissing, Abby was right about not crossing that line as friends.

Just the thought of things being so awkward between us that she’d want to move out upsets me.

I like having her and Emma around. The house feels a million times more like a home with them there, and I’d hate for them to leave.

But they’re going to move out someday, remember?

A disappointed feeling settles in my chest. I don’t want to think about that, not right now.

We hit the ice, and I go slowly while I hold Emma’s hand and carefully lead her by my side. She takes small steps, slipping a little here and there, but her balance is good overall.

“Wow. You’re a natural, Emma,” I say.

She smiles up at me. “I am?”

“Yeah. You’re doing way better than I did the first time I ever went ice skating.”

Her smile widens, and I can’t help but grin too.

“Want me to hold your other hand, honey?” Abby asks.

“Nope,” Emma says confidently.

“Very independent,” I say.

Abby chuckles as she skates on the other side of Emma. We make it around the rink once, then Emma asks if she can skate on her own.

“As long as that’s okay with your mom,” I say. I turn to Abby. “I think she’d be okay to try on her own.”

She hesitates for a moment before flashing a nervous smile at Emma. “Okay. But not too fast. You need to stay close to Gavin and me.”

“Okay!”

I let go of Emma’s hand, and she skates ahead of us a couple of feet. She transitions from steps to short strides on the ice.

I watch her, impressed. “I wasn’t kidding when I said she’s a natural,” I say to Abby. “She’s picking up on this really fast.”

She beams at her daughter, then looks at me. “You think?”

“Definitely. She has great coordination for her age. Have you thought about getting her into sports?”

Abby shakes her head. “She hasn’t been interested, but that’s a good idea. Maybe it would be fun to get her into figure skating or something.”

I raise my eyebrow. “Or hockey. ”

Abby chuckles, her melodic laugh like music to my ears.

“I don’t know about that. Hockey can be pretty rough,” Abby says.

“They don’t allow body checking or fighting for kids Emma’s age who play.”

“Ah. Then maybe.” Her lush mouth curves up in a soft smile. My breath gets stuck in my throat at how beautiful she looks when she smiles. Will I ever get used to how pretty she is?

I already know the answer to that.

“There are a ton of people here,” Abby says as she glances around the rink. “These are all the family and friends of the team?”

“And the team staff, too,” I say.

“She looks familiar,” Abby says as she watches a young woman skate by.

“That’s Madeline Macer. The figure skater.”

Recognition flashes in Abby’s face. “Oh my gosh…she won bronze in women’s figure skating at the last Winter Olympics, right? She’s the one who had that breakdown on camera when she didn’t get gold.”

I glance over at Madeline as she glides around the rink on her own, a blank look on her face.

“Yeah, I heard that was a pretty rough moment for her,” I say.

I think back to her meltdown, all of which was caught on camera because it was live, the whole world watching. She was sobbing and yelling at her coach, then stormed off. When she made it out for the medal ceremony and to stand on the podium, some of the crowd booed her.

“Do you know her?” Abby asks.

I nod. “She’s the daughter of the Bashers’ team owner,” I say .

“Wow, really?”

“I’m surprised she showed up today. She hardly ever comes to team events. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her at a Bashers game.”

Just then, Dakota skates up to us.

“Hey! I didn’t know you’d be here.” Dakota hugs Abby, then looks at Emma.

“Whoa, look at you go,” Dakota says.

“I love ice skating!” Emma says.

“It’s her first time. She’s doing so well, isn’t she?” I say.

Dakota’s brow lifts, clearly surprised. She looks back down at Emma. “Wow! Great job.”

She high-fives her. Sam comes over and says hello to Abby and Emma, then skates with us.

After another lap around the rink, Sam and Dakota say they’re going to get some hot chocolate.

“Can I have some too?” Emma asks Abby.

“We can take her with us,” Dakota says. “That way, you and Gavin can skate a bit longer.”

I could swear I see a glint in Dakota’s eye when she smiles at Abby.

Abby just chuckles. “Okay, thanks.” She crouches down to retie Emma’s ponytail. “Dakota and Sam will take you to get hot cocoa. You be polite and say please and thank you, okay?”

“I will,” Emma says. Dakota takes her by the hand, and they skate off.

Abby looks up at me. “Looks like it’s just you and me.”

I smile at her. “Looks like it.”