“Martin,” I called from the boards to get Gigi’s attention. Right away, she clocked me and skated over. Her friend smacked her on the arm and took off toward the bench.
She came to a quick stop where I was standing. “Hey,” she said, unstrapping her helmet and taking it off. Her hair was matted down with sweat, like someone’d dumped water on her.
“What are you doing after this?” I asked as she squirted water into her mouth. Her cheeks were pink which looked cute with her darker complexion.
A frown formed on her face. “Why?” she asked with more than a hint of suspicion in her voice.
“Why? Because you’ve got about a hundred things to work on. And I was only watching you skate for ten minutes. Meet me back here in an hour?”
Her eyes searched my face, but she didn’t say a word. “Unless you’re too busy getting your nails done or some shit?” I threw in and she smiled. God, she really was beautiful. Even all sweaty, with random hairs flying this way and that.
Especially all sweaty, with random hairs flying this way and that.
“Yeah, I’ll call and cancel my appointment and let them know you’ll be skipping your mani-pedi today, too,” she shot back with an even bigger, more stunning smile. “See ya in an hour,” she said, then twisted to skate away.
“One more thing,” I said, clearing my throat and talking in a lower tone. “There’s a new—uh, picture of us making its rounds today.”
She stopped drinking and stared at me. “What’s it of?”
I exhaled and prayed she would be as okay with it as yesterday’s pic. “When I took the feather out of your hair? Some asshole made it look like more.”
Her wet head nodded. “Gotcha,” she said, looking at me then letting her gaze fall to the ice. “Thanks for letting me know.” Then she smiled at me and took off just as the loud buzzer sounded.
“Thanks, Cap,”the last of the guys said as he passed by me on his way off the ice. I picked up my water that I had sitting on top of the boards.
Gigi was still sitting in the bleachers. I’d spotted her a half hour ago and while I was more than ready for a shower, the thought of skating with her gave me a thrill. “Get your lazy ass out here, Martin,” I called to her before I took one more gulp of water.
Instantly, she rose up and made her way onto the ice. She set her water bottle down and handed me an unopened bottle. “Just in case you run out,” she said, sticking her glove back on and backing up. “Which of the hundreds of things I’m doing wrong are you correcting today?”
That sarcastic attitude of hers made me chuckle. It also made my cock twitch. “I don’t know, Martin. There’s so many. Hmm,” I said, skating a perfect circle around her.
She rolled her dark brown eyes and grinned. “Whatever,” she mumbled, pushing off and skating to the center line.
“How about we work on your blind spot? And how you never fucking check it?” I said, skating over to her and spraying her with a ton of snow.
Her face was less happy and more annoyed now. “Bring it, Moreau,” she said. For a few minutes, I went through the motions of explaining what she was doing—time and time again—and what she should be doing instead.
She didn’t give me shit. Gigi listened closely and studied what I was saying. It was a damn glorious sight. Part of me had wondered which Gigi would show up today after our conversation last night. Not that I cared but dealing with Zombie Gigi had been a damn joy.
Actually, dealing with Attacking Gigi had also been more fun than I’d had in a long time. “Ready? Or do you need me to write it out for you?” I shoved her own words back at her from the first time we’d met.
“Got it,” she said, a small smirk lifting up the corner of her mouth.
I passed the puck to her and she took off down the left side toward the net. Just like clockwork, she screwed up again and I body checked her lightly, careful to grab her arm so she wouldn’t fall.
Instead of being grateful I held her up, she shook off my hands. “Dammit, I did it again,” she said to herself, getting the puck and rushing back to center again.
I didn’t say anything. She glanced at me and I nodded. Then she took off, down the same side. One mistake and I took full advantage, gently pushing her off the puck. She whirled around on me and before I knew it, I was sliding across the ice on my ass.
“What the fuck, Gigi?” I said, digging my skates in to stop me.
Taking the long way over, she looped around and stopped short beside me—spraying a ton of snow on me. “What the fuck right back, Moreau? What’s with holding onto me after you give me the suckiest body check in history?”
“Uh, I—you’re a—girl.”
“Yeah. Not out here. Out here, I have several inches of body padding. Treat me like you treat everyone else out on the ice. I’m not some big sissy. Don’t insult me or this is a waste of my time,” she said, poking me with her stick.
Apparently, Zombie Gigi was not making an appearance today. Yikes. I stood up and brushed myself off. Meeting her back at center, she glared at me with determined eyes. “You can dish it out—but can you take it?” I asked, zeroing my gaze on her.