Cope was quiet for a moment as he studied me. “That’s cool if micromanaging rules and regs is her thing, but it sure as shit isn’t cool if she’s using backhanded compliments to make you feel bad about having a job. One you should be fucking proud of because I heard you turned that bakery around. And those cupcakes are some of the best I’ve ever had in my life. And I’m not a stranger to sweets.”
An odd sensation swept over me. Discomfort. As if my skin was too tight for my body. “It’s not like that?—”
“It is,” Cope cut in. “And you shouldn’t let anyone talk to you that way. I’m sure as hell not.”
“Cope—”
“Warrior, remember? That means not letting idiots put you down.”
A burn lit somewhere deep—the pain of remembering how long it had been since someone had reminded me of my worth. I wasn’t sure it had happened since my grandmother passed.
It wasn’t that I didn’t have good friends. I did. But with them, I tried to make it seem like I had it together. Like nothing fazed me.
So why was it that the bad boy of hockey was the one to see through it all? Why was he the one who saw…me?
6
COPE
Coach Kenner placedthe whistle between his lips and blew. “Okay, team. Let’s finish today out strong. One last skating drill.”
Two days in, and we were already seeing who had a gift for the ice and who would likely stay in the hobby lane. That sort of thing could change somewhat,ifa kid really got a taste for the sport and worked their ass off to get better. But there were certain things you couldn’t teach.
Instinct. A feel for the ice. The uninhibited lack of fear.
I’d spotted a few already. A twelve-year-old named Eddie was already playing at a seriously competitive level. Jayden, a nine-year-old, had a gift for puck handling. And one of the few girls in the camp, Shannon, was kicking some serious ass.
But it was Luca who had me awestruck. The kid couldfly. It was like he’d been born on the ice. No fear. Only sheer joy every time he got to skate full-out. And after a couple of demonstrations, he could stop on a dime. The puck handling would come as he got more and more comfortable skating with the stick in his hand.
“Reaper, you want to walk them through it?” Kenner asked.
I nodded. “Think of it like an obstacle course on ice.” I gestured to the squat orange cones on the rink set apart at different intervals. “We’re focusing on adjusting footwork at greater speeds. Go as fast as you feel comfortable with while trying not to disrupt any cones.”
“Let’s go,” Kenner yelled and blew his whistle again.
The kids formed a line and began working their way through the setup with varying degrees of success. One boy was so determined to make it at record speed that he tripped and took out the whole line of cones. I braced for tears, but when he sat up, he shot both arms up in triumph, sending everyone into fits of laughter.
Luca was the second to last kid to go. I hadn’t missed how he’d intently watched everyone else, seeing where they struggled and how they succeeded. Smart little dude.
Kenner blew his whistle again, and Luca was off. He took the course in half the time the last kid had. Absolutely flying. He rounded the ice, taking the second leg even faster. The campers went silent as they watched, but just before he reached the end of the course, his stick hit one of the cones, sending it flying.
Luca skidded to a stop, his shoulders slumping in defeat. His face scrunched in a mixture of frustration and the effort it took to force back tears. God, the kid was going to kill me.
I pushed off, skating toward him as Coach Kenner reset the cone for the final kid to skate. I reached Luca in five long strides. My hand landed on his shoulder with a couple of pats, the same way my dad and coach had always done with me. I crouched lower so we were at eye level. “Don’t let one cone wreck a stellar run.”
Luca stared down at the ice. “I almost had it.”
“Want to know the most beautiful thing about that run?” I asked.
Luca’s eyes lifted to mine, so similar to his mom’s. They were older than his years, too. Wisdom lived there. “What?” he whispered.
“You went for it. You didn’t play it safe. And you absolutelyflew. You have a gift, Speedy.”
Those turquoise eyes widened, shock and pure pleasure filling them. “I do?”
“Damn straight, you do.”
Luca fought a giggle. “Mrs. Engel will be real mad if she hears you say the d-word.”
