Heat it Up: Off the Ice - Book One

by Stina Lindenblatt

  They continue the drill for a few more minutes. Once they’re finished, Nik gets them to form two lines. I ask Kai to help me demonstrate the drill. I suspect my reaction time is currently a lot sharper than Nik’s.

  I have Kai hold the clear plastic ruler at the top. I place my hand so the ruler is between my thumb and index finger, but they’re not touching it. “Drop it whenever you want and I’ll catch it.”

  Kai does exactly that, and I quickly bring my finger and thumb together, effortlessly gripping the ruler. I calculate the distance between where my hand started and where I caught the ruler. I’ve done better, but it’s been a while since I’ve performed the drill.

  “During a game, you need to pay attention to so many different things. The puck. Your teammates. The opposition. The blue lines. The faster you can react to the appropriate stimuli, the better. We’ll be working on that for the rest of the month. But first, Nik and I will measure your reaction times, so we have a before and after picture of your progress.”

  Nik translates for those who didn’t quite get what I was explaining, then we proceed with the test. Afterward, I have the boys line up on the sideline and give them each a euro.

  “Extend your arms with the coin clenched in your hand.” I demonstrate and drop the coin. Then catch it. “The goal is to catch it before it hits the ground.”

  By the time the morning training session is over, I don’t feel so drained and sluggish, and my brain is no longer pounding. Thank God for that.

  The boys head to their summer school classes, and I finally have a chance to check my emails. First, I send Sofia a text.

  Thinking about you.

  Which is true. While the boys were busy with the drills this morning, I thought about her—and about how she feels with her legs wrapped around me.

  Refocusing my thoughts, I read my family’s emails. My original plan of coming to Finland for a break from their watchful eye hasn’t worked nearly as well as I had hoped. Mom’s email involves the usual mom questions. Am I getting enough sleep? Am I eating well? All the standard crap. I email her back and tell her the abbreviated PG version of what I’ve been up to. I haven’t mentioned Sofia to her and I’m not about to start.

  Next is my father. He’s as subtle as a pissed off bull in a china shop. He tells me about a junior level marketing job I should apply for. “Great,” I mutter, “if I’m interested in gardening supplies.”

  I avoid mentioning the two positions I did apply for. There’s no point saying anything about them. I’m not the only qualified candidate, and I’m up against candidates who are more qualified than I am. Plus, I don’t want to risk him saying anything to Mom and Cody.

  Most of the remaining emails can be deleted unread. The one from Brian Prescott grabs my attention.

  Kyle,

  If your friend is interested, and depending on her grades, the Bears organization would be willing to grant her a practicum for the fall as an athletic trainer. Just have her email me in the next day or two so we can move forward with this.

  When I had originally asked him for help, the last thing I expected was for the Bears to offer her a position. Sofia’s going to be shitting herself when I tell her.

  Even though my phone hasn’t indicated an incoming text, I check to see if she has responded to my last one. Nothing. And there’s nothing several hours later when Mikko shows up so I can tutor him in physics.

  “What are you guys working on?” I ask him after we find an empty table in the corner of the local café, sodas in hand. The place is noisy, but not to the point where it’s hard for him to hear me.

  “Force.”

  We discuss force and work and how to calculate them. “Think of it this way,” I say. “If you’re playing a game of hockey and you’re chasing the puck, but want to get to it before the opposition, what do you need to do?”

  “Um, skate faster?” He shrugs.

  “Exactly. The question comes down to how do you skate faster, and this is where we apply physics.” I draw a dotted line with an arrow aiming to the top of the page. “This is the direction you want to travel.” I draw two short lines at an angle to the arrow line. One is further ahead of the other. “These are the skates. The above one is the gliding skate, and the other one is the skate you’re pushing off the ice with. As you move forward, the pattern is reversed. Does that make sense so far?”

  Mikko nods. I go on to show him how to calculate the forward force depending on the angle of the pushing skate. His eyes light up as he gets it, and shit does that feel good.

  He shows me his homework assignment.

  “Can you translate it for me?” I ask. He does and we work through the equations. I don’t give him the answers. I just help him get there.

  By the time he’s finished the assignment, we’ve worked for over an hour. And still no text from Sofia.

  This doesn’t surprise me. She has two more hours of work to go, and it’s doubtful she’ll text me before then.

  I send her another text. Have great news to tell you. Call me ASAP!

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Sofia

  With my least favorite chore for the day finished, I scurry from the men’s room and collide into a wall of a person.

  “Anteeksi,” I say, taking a step back. Joni? “Hey, what are you doing here?” He’s dressed in tanned pants and a buttoned-up dress shirt. Not the casual look I’m used to seeing him in.

  “I need to talk to you, but it won’t take long. Do you have a break soon?”

  I shake my head. “I have lunch in thirty-five minutes. Can you wait that long?”

  “No, but I should be back by then. I’m on a work errand.”

  “I’ll meet you out front.” Before I can ask him what it’s about, he stalks off.

  I continue my morning routine, puzzling the entire time what Joni could possibly need to talk to me about. I come up blank. Hopefully it’s not about his soccer team.

  I finish with the last of the women’s bathrooms and head for the staff locker room.

  I enter to find Maija at her locker, fiddling with her lock combo. She turns to me. “How was your morning?”

  “Uneventful.” I scrub my arms and hands in the sink. “I’m meeting someone for a few minutes, but I’ll be back before the end of lunch.”

  “Would that someone be tall, dark, and wear glasses?” She wiggles her eyebrows. Ever since she figured out yesterday that I’d got laid on the weekend (translation: she guessed and my face heated up), she’s been super excited for me. I haven’t had the heart to tell her the truth about Kyle’s and my relationship.

  “No, it’s not Kyle. It’s Joni.”

  “That’s too bad.” From the way she says it, you’d think she’s expecting Kyle to come over so he and I can have hot sex in the sauna (pun intended).

  She does have a point though. It’s only been two days since I last saw Kyle, but I already miss spending time with him.

  I grab my lunch from my locker and walk to the main entrance. As I step out the door, Joni is striding along the pathway toward me. A thick blanket of gray cloud looms overhead, refusing to allow a single ray of light through. A few drops of water splash on my head and bare arms.

  “Hei,” he says. “Is there somewhere we can talk in private?”

  Good question. “We can sit over there.” I point to an empty bench overlooking the small garden and the half-full bike rack.

  “So what’s up?”

  “Did something happen between you and Kyle this weekend?”

  I squirm at the line of questioning. What Kyle and I did—and didn’t do—isn’t something I want to discuss with Joni. “Why are you asking?”

  “Do you care about him?” He leans back against the bench, appraising me as if trying to read my mind.

  “He’s my friend,” I say, “so, yeah, I do care about him.”

  “So that’s all he is to you? A friend?”

  I nod, confused where this is going.

  Joni releases a heavy
breath. “That’s good.” He taps the screen of his phone and hands it to me.

  On the screen is a picture of Kyle kissing some blond who isn’t me. It could be any of his one-night stands he hooked up with before he met me. Except why would Joni have it? “Where did you get this?”

  “I went out with some guys from work last night. I saw Kyle all over the woman. But since he’s not cheating on you…” He lets the end of the sentence hang.

  Staring at the phone, I shake my head. “No, he’s not cheating on me.” So why are my eyes tearing up as if he were? We agreed to being friends with benefits. We didn’t talk about being exclusive.

  Kyle has every right to kiss anyone he wants, just like I do. But knowing that doesn’t dull the pain clawing my heart. Stupid heart.

  Blinking away the tears, I plaster a bright smile on my face and give Joni back his phone. The few rain drops from earlier are met by their buddies and it starts raining hard.

  Joni curses under his breath in Finnish and glances at the sky. “I need to get back to work.” He gives me a pity-filled smile. “Glad to see I was wrong about the situation between you two. I’d hate to see him hurt you.”

  “No, that’s okay. You didn’t know.” I say goodbye to him, then race back to the main entrance. I’m a hot, wet mess by the time I enter the building.

  I wipe my sneakers on the oversized mat, taking out my frustrations on it. I’m not even sure who I’m mad at: Kyle for making out with another girl after I told him I couldn’t join him because I was going to bed—or maybe he was even making out with her before that. Joni for showing me the photo. Or myself for feeling this way when I have no right to.

  As I make my way back to the staff room for a change of uniform, I check my phone. Kyle has sent me a text. Thinking about you. No doubt like he was thinking about me when he had his tongue stuck in that woman’s mouth.

  I ignore the text. Just like I ignore the one he sends hours later: Have great news to tell you.

  I bet he does. He discovered the woman he was with last night is hot to do a threesome.

  Awesome.

  Chapter Thirty

  Kyle

  It’s Wednesday afternoon and I still haven’t heard from Sofia. Not even a simple text replying to the ones I sent her yesterday.

  I phoned her last night and that went ignored, too.

  Something’s not right. Usually she responds quickly to my texts.

  Not knowing if she’s sick or injured, I drive to the sports center once I’m finished at the camp. I enter the physical therapy clinic and wait for the receptionist to finish with her call.

  After what feels like several minutes, she hangs up the phone and rambles off a string of Finnish to me.

  “Hei,” I reply, “is Sofia Philips here today?”

  Creases appear across her forehead. “Sofia Philips?” She checks her computer screen. “Is she a patient?”

  “No. She’s working with Rafu for the week. Blond. Pretty. A runner.”

  “Oh, Sofia. Yes, she’s here today. She’s busy, but I can tell her you are here. What is your name?”

  I’m about to answer but change my mind. “That’s okay. I’ll come back at the end of her shift and talk to her then.” For a second I consider asking her not to mention to Sofia that I was here, but that might not be a good idea. It might come off as creepy. Besides, there has to be a logical explanation why Sofia hasn’t responded to my texts and call. Like she’s busy and has a life outside of me.

  It’s not as if we have an exclusivity clause on our friendship. She could’ve been with Maija for all I know.

  Since I have time, I head to the gym. My leg is tired and cranky, but that doesn’t stop me from pushing it hard. Afterward, I spend time in the sauna, willing the minutes to move a little faster, but at the same time knowing that will never happen. But it also means they can’t slow down, either. It just feels like they have.

  Eventually my leg is no longer cranky, and I stumble from the sauna and head for the shower.

  I’m almost there when a wave of dizziness hits. I place my hand against the tiled wall to steady myself.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Sofia

  I finish up with the last patient, a rugby player with a strained quadricep muscle. He climbs down from the table and I begin to tidy up the station as he walks away.

  “Thank you, Sofia,” Rafu says. “You’re a great help.”

  “I’m enjoying it.” It’s nice to be doing something other than cleaning toilets while I’m in Finland. “I know I haven’t been here long, but I was wondering if you could write me a letter of recommendation once the week is over.”

  “Absolutely. It’s the least I can do.”

  “Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  He nods and picks up the patient file. “Can you give this to Kirsti on your way out? Thank you.”

  I take the file from him and head for the front desk. Kirsti’s busy talking to the ruby player, so I place it on her desk. If I hurry, I can catch the next bus to Vantaa and squeeze in an hour of studying before exhaustion drags me down.

  Those plans come to a crashing end when I walk out of the clinic. Kyle is standing near the door, but he’s slightly pale and something looks off about him.

  I nudge aside the hurt and rush to him. “Kyle, are you okay?”

  He sways on his feet and I grab his arm to steady him. “It’s nothing. I pushed myself a little too hard at the gym, and then spent too long in the sauna to make up for it. I just need to drink something and I’ll be fine.”

  A bunch of questions leap to mind but they have to wait. “C’mon.” With my hand on his arm, I lead him to the café in the sports center, and indicate for him to sit at the empty table in the corner. “I’ll be right back.”

  I return a few minutes later with a sport drink and hand it to him. “Here you go.”

  Kyle opens the bottle. “Thanks.” He gulps back at least half of it before making a face. “Christ, that’s awful.”

  I shrug. “Sorry, I wasn’t sure what was good. So why were you outside the clinic instead of here, rehydrating yourself?”

  “Because I didn’t want to risk missing you.”

  I frown. “You’d risk passing out for a booty call?” I didn’t mean for the part about the booty call to come out. But now that it is hanging between us, time to deal with the truth of our relationship.

  “Booty call? Why the hell would you think I was here for sex?”

  “Then why are you here?”

  The look he gives me is one you’d save for someone who is certifiable. “Because you never responded to my texts or voicemail message, and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  If a ladybug were to stand next to me, it would tower me based on how small I now feel. “I’m sorry. I didn’t have time.” That was almost the truth.

  “I wanted to tell you about a practicum with the Bears as an athletic trainer for this fall, if you’re interested.”

  My mouth flops open, positive I misheard him. “But how did you find out about it?” And how many others will also be scrambling for it once they hear about it?

  “I called in a favor.”

  “A favor? Wait, are you telling me the position is for me?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying. I told the head trainer about your situation and he offered you the position. If you’re interested and it depends on your grades.”

  Any other person would scream for joy at this opportunity. And under different circumstances, I would too. Working with a professional team like the Bears would be a tremendous boost for my career. Yes, I should be kissing Kyle and doing cartwheels, but… “Wait! I had sex with you then you get me a practicum with your former employer?” He could’ve slapped me and it would have hurt less. “Wow, I must be better than I realized.”

  The muscle in his jaw jerks hard. “It’s nothing like that. I told him about you before last weekend. And I did it because you’re a friend. And because I have that much co
nfidence in you.” He pushes himself out of his seat and storms off.

  It takes a couple of seconds for what he said to sink in. “Kyle, wait.” He stops and turns to face me, the space between his eyes pinched with lines. He’s not the only one in the café to look my way.

  Ignoring everyone else’s curiosity, I rush to him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have reacted that way. Thank you so much. I can’t even begin to tell you how much it means to me what you did for me.”

  His expression softens and his lips shift into my favorite one-sided sexy grin. “You could show me.”

  I stiffen. It’s one thing to be his friend with added perks. It’s another to become part of his harem.

  “Is something wrong?” he asks.

  “Why would you think something’s wrong?” I glance around. No one’s paying attention to us anymore.

  “This weekend we were kissing and screwing, but now at even the slightest hint I want to do that again, you look ready to run.”

  He’s right. I do want to run. Run and forget this arrangement between us.

  “So what’s going on?” he asks.

  “When I agreed to our friends-with-benefits arrangement”—I lower my voice for the last four words, but it feels like I yelled them—“for some stupid reason I thought I’d be the only girl you’re screwing around with. I didn’t realize there’d be others.”

  Kyle’s eyebrows draw together and I instantly wish I hadn’t said anything to him about it. “What others?” he asks.

  “Well, how about we start with the woman you were kissing Monday night, right after I told you I couldn’t come over. Or maybe you were kissing her even before talking to me on the phone.”

  Kyle’s eyes widened. “How did you know about that?”

  At least he didn’t try to deny it. Bonus points for him.

  “I saw a picture of you two together, playing tonsil hockey.”

  He shakes his head. “It’s not what it looked like.”

  “Yeah, I’m pretty sure it looked like you were kissing a girl. But don’t worry about it. I understand. But you need to understand that’s not me. I’m not comfortable being part of your entourage.”