Saturday morning, Astrid arrived at the rink just before seven and Joey, the security guard, let her in. He was a sweetheart, always ready with an eye-crinkling smile.

‘Good morning, Ms Sinclair. Ready for your lesson?’

It didn’t surprise her that he already knew; Aiden would have added her to the visitors’ list.

‘My head is. My body not so much.’

‘Ah, you’ll get there, give it time.’

She smiled. ‘I appreciate the vote of confidence, Joey. Am I okay to go on down?’

‘Sure are, he’s already down there.’

‘He is ?’

She shouldn’t be surprised at that either. Aiden was nothing if not punctual… save for the photoshoot morning when she really could’ve done with him sticking to form.

‘He’s been here an hour already; you’re his second lesson of the morning.’

‘I am? I didn’t realise he made a habit of it…’

‘Sure. He’s been bringing little Leo here for a couple of years now. The kid’s a huge fan.’

Leo? The kid in the photo? Aiden was teaching him too!

And if that was the case, why hadn’t he just said that to her when she’d asked?

Unless… was there more to the connection? More than a simple case of tutoring a local kid… And why put it on Blake to explain?

‘Thanks, Joey!’

She hurried off, yanking open the heavy doors to the rink and diving in…

‘I did it, Mom!’ a kid’s shout echoed through the empty arena. ‘I did it, Blake!’

Astrid froze mid-step. Blake?

The door swung shut, smacking her on the arse and propelling her forth. Ouch!

‘Did you see?’ the kid said.

Astrid could see nothing yet, they were hidden by the seats, but she heard a man chuckle. Awareness pulsed, warm and fuzzy, through her veins. Blake.

‘I saw,’ she heard him say over the gentle hiss of their skates. ‘You aced it, buddy.’

She edged closer, eyes following the cones laid on the ice until the people weaving between them came into view.

The blond kid from the photos and Blake.

Her heart erupted with a thousand flutters – nerves and something else at work.

She tugged her sleeves into her fists and wrapped her arms around her body.

Yes, she had watched the game against the Dallas Stars that week. Yes, she had devoured the postgame press conference he must have been coerced into attending after he’d delivered a record-scoring match. But nothing could beat seeing him in the flesh.

He wore his trademark black. From his jeans to the woollen beanie on his head to the same aviator jacket he’d wrapped around her just a few weeks ago. His cheeks were pink, and his stubble was back. God, how she’d missed him!

‘That was amazing, Leo!’

Astrid followed the female voice to see a young blonde woman spectating off to the left, her red bobble hat as bright as her smile. She clapped her hands, her red mitts muffling the sound as the kid skated up to her and hopped out of the rink, straight into her arms.

‘I’m so proud of you.’

‘I’m getting good, ain’t I, Mom?’

She was his mum. Either she looked amazing for her age or she’d been incredibly young when she’d had him.

Not that Astrid was judging her. No, she was now battling the waterworks that wanted to spring at the sight of Blake teaching this child and the obvious connection they shared – to witness in the flesh what Fin had caught on camera…

‘You really are.’ Then his mum grinned up at Blake. ‘Thanks to you.’

‘Nah, this is all on him for putting in the work. He’ll be a Titan one of these days, you mark my words.’

‘You really think so, Blake?’

‘I know so, buddy.’ He ruffled the lad’s blond hair and Astrid pressed a palm to her chest. Her heart felt fit to burst, her own smile watery as the girl suddenly spied her watching. She nudged Blake and Astrid sucked in a breath. Held it as he turned.

Her bubble of a heart gave a painful pop as his eyes found hers. Hot. Hard. Angry .

She tried to smile, raised a hand to wave but he’d already turned his back to her. He spoke to his companions, his words too low for her to hear. The girl sent Astrid a smile-cum-nod and led the lad away, while Blake… Blake watched them go.

Was he about to follow them out? Ignore her altogether?

Please, God, no…

She took a tentative step forward, freezing when he spun to face her, his blisteringly blue gaze pinning her in place as he crossed the ice at speed.

‘What are you doing here?’

He stopped just short, spraying her in ice and she hugged her middle, wincing against the chill that was all him.

‘I’ – she swallowed the wedge in her throat – ‘I was supposed to have a lesson with Aiden.’

She gestured to the skates hanging over her shoulder.

His frown deepened. ‘This morning?’

‘Now.’

‘ Fuck me.’ He shook his head, his eyes drifting away in disbelief.

‘What is it?’

He dragged his gaze back to her, his chin jutting with annoyance. ‘Aiden ain’t coming.’

‘He is,’ she insisted. ‘He said 7a.m. sharp.’

He was shaking his head again.

‘I don’t understand… Why would he organise a lesson if he wasn’t?—’

‘Because I’m here.’

‘But…’ And then it clicked into place, her eyes widening with realisation. ‘Oh!’

‘Yes. Oh.’

‘He knows we’ve fallen out?’

Blake nodded.

‘And he’s forcing us to talk?’

He hesitated, eyes breaking away from hers. ‘He’s doing a lot more than that.’

Her heart fluttered. ‘Like?’

‘Like forcing me to explain Leo to you.’

‘Why would he have to force you to explain Leo?’

‘Because he knows I wouldn’t tell you about him.’

‘Why?’

‘Because it’s personal and private and he’s just a kid! Will you quit with the questions!’

Astrid flinched. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘No, I’m… I’m sorry. I’m just…’ He fell silent, his jaw twitching for several strained seconds until, ‘He’s a fan, okay?’

‘A fan you’ve been teaching to skate?’

‘Yes.’

‘And his mother?’

‘Also a fan. Why?’ He searched her gaze, the intensity of his blue eyes making her lean back as her body urged her to do the opposite. ‘Did you think she was something more?’

‘Huh?’ she practically squeaked.

‘Did you think she was an ex?’

She coloured. ‘I didn’t know what to think.’

‘Of course you did. Bad Boy Blake. Bound to have left a trail of kids in his wake?’ The bitterness in his voice was laced with something else. A sadness. A self-loathing. A wish for something different, while she wished she’d kept her suspicions better hidden.

He moved to lean back against the boards, his head turned away, his sigh heavy and weighing her down with it.

‘Blake, I’m sorry. I didn’t…’

‘I met Chantelle at a homeless shelter two years ago,’ he said quietly, surprising her with the soft admission.

‘When Leo was five. I recognised her from the occasional game. She was in a bad way after her parents had kicked her out. Her father was much like mine. Her mother wasn’t much better than him. And I wanted to help.’

Astrid eased closer, hooked on all he was telling her.

‘I wanted to do something more than the usual – clothing, food, a roof over their head. I wanted to give them something to truly smile about. And they loved the game. But time on the ice doesn’t come cheap and I thought…

I thought if I can make him into a player, I’d give him the drive and the determination to make something of himself and then one day he could help his mother too. ’

‘Just like you and your brother helped your mum?’

He flicked her the briefest look. ‘Yeah.’

‘So you started to bring him here on your own time?’

He nodded. ‘It’s tough during the season but I try to get him here once a week. And I know it’s just one kid among millions but…’

She blinked back tears. ‘I think it’s amazing.’

‘ He’s amazing. He works hard and he deserves to get there.’

‘And you deserve to be praised for it, Blake. Don’t you see that?’ She padded onto the ice so she could face him. ‘This is why your brother brought Leo to the photoshoot, isn’t it?’

‘Aiden claims he just ran into them.’

‘But you don’t believe him?’

‘No.’

‘He saw an opportunity and he took it, knowing I wouldn’t be happy about it, but doing it anyway… the story of my life.’

‘Leo looked happy though. Fin said he was buzzing and the photos he captured… they truly are special.’

‘Yeah, well.’ He edged away. ‘They’re not getting used.’

‘Why?’

‘Because what I’m doing, I’m doing for Leo. For him and his mom, not for me.’

His words came back to her. In my experience, people only care when there’s something in it for them.

He didn’t want people thinking he’d done it to gain from it. That the world, or worse, Leo and his mother, would think it a selfish deed when it had been anything but…

My God. Could she adore this man more?

‘What you chose to do that came from here…’ She dared to place her palm over his heart. ‘Just because the world learns of it, doesn’t mean it suddenly becomes all about you, for you. It doesn’t change what you did, what you are doing.’

He lifted her hand away, the gesture as cutting as any verbal attack.

‘It changes it for me.’

‘It shouldn’t, and you should let them decide. Leo and Chantelle. Because if I were them, I’d want to do this for you. I’d want to give something back. I’d want to give the world an insight into the real you, not the media’s sensationalised version, but you. Good, kind, you .’

He fell silent, eyes tumultuous but softening.

‘Just think about it, Blake. Please.’

Silence, then, ‘I’m not making any promises, and I’d need to talk to them first.’

‘Works for me,’ she said gently, grateful to have him consider it, grateful all the more to sense him thawing towards her. ‘And FYI, you must be a great teacher because that kid… if I had a smidge of what he has, I’d be in my element.’

He gave her a hint of his lopsided grin. ‘It helps to have a student who listens and follows instruction.’

‘Are you suggesting that’s not me?’ she teased, pouncing on the opportunity to lighten the mood.

The smile crept into his eyes, their sparkle everything in that moment.

‘Ask me again after our hour is up.’

She did a double take, expecting something cheeky and getting something so much better. ‘ You’re going to teach me?’