Page 20 of The Puck Stops Here
She nodded as she found her feet, stroking a karma-led hand up his shoulder.
‘I am.’ She blinked up at him, purposefully breathy and grateful. ‘Thanks to you.’
‘Glad I could be of service.’
His eyes were glazing over, his pupils flaring… Was he – was he about tokissher?Already?
‘Astrid?’
‘Yes?’ she whispered, heady on success – an early leap in the Ice King takedown!
‘Could you get off my toe please?’
‘Huh!’ Her eyes flared wide as she registered the spongy surface beneath her heel. His foot, not the ground. Shit! She leapt back. ‘Sorry!’
‘Hey, it’s fine, but I need these bad boys in one piece, they pay the bills.’
His smile was full of good humour, but she wasdying. Like kill her now and forget she ever existed,dying.
She pressed her fist to her lips. ‘Are yousureyou’re okay?’
Though the devil in her figured he deserved a little impaling…
‘I dice with blades every day of the week; I can handle one lethal heel. Now come on, the rookies are due on the ice for drills, you can see them in action.’
She followed him through the double doors ahead, his soft, ‘And there she is…’ making her frown.
‘She?’
He gestured to the ice, the pride in his gaze unmistakable. Oh, right, the rink.
She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the bright white surface gleaming in the overhead lights. At its heart was the red and blue crest of the Titans, a fist punching through ice. Ha! Much like her karma mission.
‘You been to a game before?’
She dampened her smile. ‘Can’t say I have.’
He tutted. ‘You don’t know what you’re missing.’
And then he was in his element, taking her through every detail of the rink. From the players’ benches to the penalty boxes, to the viewing galleries and the four-sided Jumbotron currently switched off… And as he went through every detail, and she meanteverydetail, the rookies spilled onto the ice, their red and blue kits a blur as they swept around.
Music started to pump through the overhead sound system and Aiden smiled. ‘We don’t like to train in the quiet.’
‘Why is that?’
‘I don’t know. I guess the beat helps you to push out whatever’s going on off the ice and focus on the puck and your team and whatever Coach has to say. It also makes it less of a shock come game day when the whole place reverberates with noise…’
‘It sounds intense.’
‘It is. You’ll have to come see it for yourself. We play the New York Knights in a couple of weeks, and nothing beats a game between local rivals.’
‘I’d love that.’
‘I’m sure the boss will see you get a seat in the luxury box.’
‘I’d rather stay in the thick of it, soak up the atmosphere.’
His eyes sparked. ‘I’ll see you get tickets. You could bring a friend.’
