Page 2 of The Love Comeback (Glaciers Hockey #3)

Chapter Two

Kade

“What’s wrong with you?” Cam asks. “You’re sweating bullets.”

“Yeah, I have that skate lesson today,” I tell my best friend, my voice coming out gruff.

Everyone knows about my one that got away , but no one knows it was the pretty brunette that showed up at our game last week.

I haven’t been able to get Ella out of my head, especially after everything she told me. She’s taken on a lot .

And it pairs so well with her resilience.

“You never give skating lessons.” Cam raises a brow. “Did you just feel sorry for that kid, or?”

“It’s not like that at all…” I pause, leaning against the rink’s railing, recalling the concern on Ella’s face ov er the cost of skating lessons.

But the truth is, I’d do just about anything for the chance to spend more time with her.

Even if it means giving her adorable nephew free skating lessons.

I made a huge mistake breaking up with her, and I haven’t stopped thinking about her after all these years.

“I just want to help out,” I say with a shrug, trying to play it cool. “And Colton seems like a great kid.”

Cam smirks at me knowingly. “Right. It’s all about the kid.”

He’s onto me. And he’s not wrong. The fact that Ella is now living in my town—and she’s single —feels like a second chance. But also, finding out that Colton lost his parents crushed me. Skating lessons are really the least I can do.

Before I can say anything else to Cam, Ella and Colton enter the rink, and I’m left with the sight of Ella in a pair of dark wash jeans, Converse, and an olive sweater that brings out her hazel eyes.

She looks as beautiful as ever.

Though I’m not sure she’d be open to me telling her that. She was so closed off at the game, and my guess is that, given everything she’s been through over the past nine years, she might be that way with everyone. But that doesn’t mean I won’t shoot my shot by asking her to dinner.

“You know, you can just explain it to me later.” Cam chuckles, shaking his head and making his way to the locker room. Practice has been over for a solid hour now, but I wanted to make sure the ice was fresh for Colton when he got here .

“You ready?” I call out to Colton, who looks so giddy, he might burst at the seams.

“I’m ready!” Colton calls out, and I catch Ella smiling from behind him.

She takes a seat on the bleachers and crosses one leg over the other.

I meet Colton at the rink entrance. My eyes keep bouncing to Ella every chance I get, even as I teach Colton how to lace up his rental skates and make sure they’re secure.

He eats up the information like he’s starved for it, and Ella’s smile remains pleasant, though the look in her eyes is distant. I wonder if she still feels the spark between us that I do—or if my mistake of ending us put it out. I suppose it could go either way, but the way I’m feeling…

If she gives me a signal that she’s still interested, I’m not letting her get away this time.

I teach Colton the basics of skating. He’s not steady at first, and it becomes pretty clear that he hasn’t spent much time on the ice. It’ll put him at a disadvantage to the other kids that have been skating since they were toddlers.

But he’s got talent and athleticism on his side. It comes out quickly as I work with him on the basics of starting and stopping.

Ella’s face shows some surprise, and I chuckle.

Colton’s forehead is beaded with sweat as we start the slow process of skating around the rink, adjusting speeds as we go. The concentration on his face is one that mirrors a younger me. I had my mind made up at his age that I was going pro, and fortunately for me, I did.

My twin brother Nate, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky. He quit playing when we were juniors in high school due to a shoulder injury.

“You know,” I tell Colton as we come to a stop, “the whole point of this hockey thing is to have fun. It’s fine to be serious, but we can also just have fun.”

He peers up at me thoughtfully. “Yeah, I know. But I want to be really good like you guys are. My dad played hockey.”

I swallow hard at the mention of Brett. “Yeah, he was great at hockey. Almost went pro, actually. He was better than some of the guys who did.”

“Yeah, I know. But he quit because my mom got pregnant with me.” Colton laughs. “I don’t know why that meant he had to stop playing hockey though, ’cause I know he could’ve been rich.”

“Yeah, well, when you’re in college, things aren’t always easy to navigate,” I say carefully. I know that Ella’s older sister was twenty-one when she got pregnant with Colton—Katie and Brett had only been married a year, both still in college.

“Do you think I’ll be good?” Colton asks, his brow pinched with worry.

“I think you’re showing some really great promise.” I reach out and squeeze his shoulder. “You’re a natural on the ice. ”

“Did you hear that?” Colton shouts out to Ella, his voice booming with pride. “Kade said I’m a natural on the ice!”

“That’s great!” Ella calls back, a bright smile on her face.

“When’s our next lesson?” Colton peers up at me as we make our way toward the exit.

“Two days.” I grin and open up the gate for him.

“You think I’ll be good enough to play hockey?”

I shrug. “I don’t see why not. We’ll have to work hard, and practices might need to be longer than an hour.” I glance over at Ella, noting that she’s listening intently. “If that’s okay with Ella.”

“If he wants to have a longer skating lesson, that’s fine … as long as you’re okay with it,” she answers. “I don’t want to put you out.”

“You’re not going to put me out. I don’t think you could ever do that.”

Ella narrows her eyes. “I’m not so sure about that … but thanks for taking the time to give him lessons. It really means a lot.”

“Yeah, of course, anything for you,” I say, knowing just how strong my language is coming on. I want her to know that she still matters to me … and that I’m not mad at her for the way she shut me out of her life after we broke up.

“Well, thanks,” she says flatly .

I lean against the wall, unable to help myself. “So, what’re you up to these days? You didn’t stay long after we sorted out the skating lessons.”

“I just got a job as the head of mathematics at Meadowlark Middle School,” she answers. “So, basically, I’m a glorified math teacher with more responsibilities.”

“That’s cool.” I smile, thinking of the way she was always so nerdy. “And what about your personal life? Are you dating? The dating scene sucks around here…” I’m trying to play it cool, but I don’t know if it’s coming across that way. However, Ella seems unbothered by it.

“I don’t date. I have Colton.” She gestures to the kid as he throws his now-empty water bottle into a black bag. “It never really works out, and I’m pretty careful about who I bring into his life, especially after…”

“Her dumb ex-husband,” Colton quips, rolling his eyes.

“Well, okay then.” I raise my brows, sometimes forgetting how much a ten-year-old knows.

“I’m starving.” Colton turns to Ella. “Can we get some food?”

“How about pizza?” I offer. “My treat, since you guys were nice enough to come hang out with me.”

Ella scrunches her nose. “We’re just here for skating lessons.”

“Yes!” Colton’s shout drowns out her comment. “That would be so cool! ”

Ella sighs. “Um, okay. Yeah, we can. But then we’ve gotta get home. It’s a school night.”

Colton huffs, but grins while doing it. “Sweet!”

“There’s a really good place just a couple of blocks from here. In my opinion, it’s the best in the city. I’ll send you the pin, and we can meet there?” I dig my phone out of my hoodie pocket and then look across to Ella, who pulls her own phone out. “Is your number still the same?”

She shakes her head. “I changed it years ago.”

Maybe that’s why none of my apology texts ever got answered.

“Okay, here.” I hand her my phone, letting her add her new number in place of her old one. She stares at my phone screen for a moment, and I realize it’s probably because her old contact picture is the same—her senior picture. She’s changed in a lot of ways, but in a lot of ways, she hasn’t.

Ella clears her throat as she hands me back my phone, and I quickly send her the pin with the location of my favorite pizza joint, The Wedge.

“I’ll meet you guys there in about twenty minutes—sound good?” I ask.

“Sounds good.” Ella stands to her feet and slings a messenger bag over her shoulder. I hold her gaze a little longer, and something flickers in those pretty hazel eyes of hers, the emerald shifting to gold in a flash.

It draws out the old feelings …

The ones that I’m pretty sure are gone on her end, given how monotone she is with me.

She used to be full of life, bouncing off the walls in the same way that Colton does. The change makes my heart ache. As I head for the locker room to rinse off and grab my things, a cascade of memories flood back into the forefront of my mind.

I recall the way she would arrive at my high school hockey games, long before they began. It was a ritual as sacred as any pre-game strategy—her good luck kiss.

One particular memory surfaces. It was a crisp autumn day when our team faced off against our biggest school rival.

Tensions were high. Ella had arrived almost an entire hour early that day, covered head-to-toe in our school colors.

She hid behind the concrete pillar of the arena’s entrance, waiting for the right moment to reveal herself.

“Hey goalie!” She shouted with exuberance, sprinting toward me and jumping in my arms. I caught her mid-air and spun her around, her laughter echoing through the empty arena.

Ella always knew how to make me smile, even when the pressure of the upcoming game loomed over me like a storm cloud. Those moments with her were like a soothing balm to the nerves, washing away any doubts or fears.

As I set her down gently, she leaned in, her hazel eyes sparkling with mischief. “Good luck out there today, Kade. Knock ’em dead.”

I grinned, already feeling invincible with her by my side. “I’ve got my lucky charm right here,” I replied, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

The memory fades as quickly as it came, leaving me standing in the locker room alone with the sound of the shower running in the background. I strip off my sweaty gear and let the warm water wash away the remnants of the day.

It takes me less than fifteen minutes to get to the pizza place, and when I park my truck, I see Ella and Colton heading for the front doors.

I jog to catch up with them, ensuring that I’m there to pay for the buffet.

I don’t want any part of our night to feel like a burden to Ella beyond just her time.

“Thank you for dinner,” Ella says as the three of us take a seat with full plates.

“Yeah, thank you,” Colton echoes.

“You’re more than welcome.” I smile and scoop up a piece of cheese. “I’m just happy to have some cool people to hang out with.”

“You’re a pro hockey player,” Colton chides. “You probably have all the coolest people in the world to hang out with—and like, models, too.”

Ella rolls her eyes. “ Colton .”

“Well, quite frankly, it’s not all that glamorous,” I say, noting the watchful look on Ella’s face. “And I don’t bother with models, anyway. They’re not really my type.”

“Huh,” Colton hums. “Well, my new friend Aaron says that all hockey players date models and stuff.”

“Nah, definitely not true.” I laugh, shaking my head. “We’re not NFL players. That’s what they do. Not us.”

Ella lets out a soft but timid laugh, and just the fact that she found anything coming out of my mouth remotely funny makes me feel like I’m on cloud nine.

She picks up a slice of pizza. I can’t help but stare at the way her perfect pink lips part to take a delicate bite, her eyes briefly meeting mine before flicking away.

Colton continues to hammer me with questions about hockey.

I answer him to the best of my ability, trying not to get distracted by the woman sitting across from me that I was once madly in love with.

I can’t for the life of me figure out why my eighteen-year-old self ever let her go, but based on the way she’s acting toward me…

She really is gone.