Page 54 of Side By Side
“Nah. I got up at my usual time, got into my freezing cold shower, and decided to go for my run, as usual. But then, I changed my mind and grabbed my skates.”
“You take cold showers in the morning, too?”
“Yeah. You?”
Belle nodded and said, “For a few years now. Helps me wake up.”
“Me too,” Chandler replied with a smile. “So, do you need to be out there alone, or can you make some room for me? If you just want a solo skate, I’ll go.”
“No, it’s fine. I think I wanted to be out here alone, but by alone, I mean without your sister barking orders at me like, ‘Lift her higher,’ and my personal favorite, ‘That’s all you’ve got, Elrod?’”
“She’s very motivational, isn’t she?” Chandler joked.
“She should do a TED Talk soon.”
Chandler laughed and said, “Remind me not to watch that one.”
“Hey, do you want to learn some hockey?”
“In figure skates?”
“We can just line up and shoot.”
“I’ve never even held a hockey stick before.”
“So? It won’t bite.” She held up the stick. “Could be fun.”
“What if we get hurt?”
“How would we get hurt?”
“Did you not fall on your ass just a second ago?”
“Yes, and I got back up,” Belle pointed out. “I’m fine.”
“You’re all right,” Chandler said and stood.
Then, the woman winked, and Belle swallowed hard because she was pretty sure Chandler Wolfe had just flirted with her – or, at least, had joked about Belle calling herself fine, which could be construed in certain circles as mild flirting.
“You’re hilarious. Come out here. I’ll show you how to shoot.”
“You’re a goalie. What do you know about shooting?”
“I wasn’t always a goalie. When I first started playing with the guys, they didn’t want me in goal because they thought I was a dainty lady who couldn’t handle it.”
“They thought you could handle being out there and getting slammed against the walls instead?” Chandler asked as she made her way out onto the ice.
“They didn’t think I could do either and suggested I find the women’s team hours away, but I kept showing up to practices. They knew me by then and understood how determined I was, so I was able to hang with them and get slammed against the walls, as you called it. I was more interested in stopping pucks than shooting them, though, so they gave me a shot in goal, and I did well in practice. Our starting goalie had to be out for a few weeks, so I subbed in, and he never got his job back.”
“How many bruises did you have in the beginning?”
“Oh, a lot.” She chuckled. “I had ice all over my body after every practice, but that was more because I hadn’t played any contact sport since I was a kid and needed to build muscle, which I did.”
“I can see that.” Chandler looked Belle up and down. “And it’s helping you now.”
“So, do you want to shoot around with me or not? It’s okay if you just want to skate. I’ll move the net.”
“No, leave it. Show me how it’s done, Elrod.” She took Belle’s stick and set it on the ice, looking like every rookie with a hockey stick that Belle had ever seen. “Where did you even get this? Did we have it in the closet? I thought we only had stuff for the kids in there.”