Aiden pulled his hand out of Charlotte's. "Sorry," he said sadly. "I have to go."
"I understand."
She watched Aiden skate up next to Alex and immediately take his hand while the large defenseman gave Jordan a knowing glance. She didn't want to call him out on it, but it was pretty obvious Alex was playing wingman for his captain. Rachel and Adam took off after their son, who was actually doing pretty well on his skates as he and the Pirate tried to weave their way through the crowd.
Jordan slowed down a bit and took up a spot next to her. "It's good to see you again."
Charlotte scoffed. "Please. You made that way too obvious," she said under her breath so the crowd couldn't hear her.
Jordan looked down, a flirtatious smile crossing his face as his eyes focused on his skates. "You can hardly blame me, can you?"
"I was with a date," she replied.
"I think he's found someone better."
Charlotte looked up to see Aiden was at the other end of the rink now, trying to shove Alex into the boards. "Once again, I'm left with a broken heart."
She turned to see Jordan giving her a serious look. "I can't imagine anyone would be stupid enough to break your heart."
She gave him a tight smile and tucked her hair behind her ear, using the end of the rink as a distraction to actually pay attention to her skates.
"So, Charlie—"
"Hey, Jordan!" The two of them looked up to see a trio of teenage boys speeding up to skate next to him. "I think you're the best hockey player on the team, but my friend Bobby says it's Logan Moore."
Charlotte smiled and slid her blade along the ice to slow herself down. "Go ahead," she said quietly before lightly squeezing his arm as he passed by her.
He gave her a strained smile, then turned back to the boys. She could see the captain's charm immediately emerge, his smile big and wide for the boys as he egged them on. "So which one of you has no idea what you're talking about?"
The boys all smiled excitedly at him and started talking as Jordan sped up to catch Logan so they could debate it together. The three teenagers didn't notice it, she was sure, but she watched as Jordan pushed a little faster than they expected after they cut in on the captain trying to flirt with her.
She waited by the boards as Aiden came back around with his new buddy in tow, and she could also see Alex's eyes wandering towards the ice girls dressed in their Detroit Pirates uniforms.
"Aiden!" she yelled out as the boy got closer. "Do you think it's time to let your buddy skate with some of the other fans?"
His head bobbed in agreement. "It's really hard to keep up with him."
The defenseman laughed. "You kept it close, kid. I'll see you soon, OK?"
"OK!"
Charlotte saw the look of awe on Aiden's face as the defensemen skated away. Apparently, Birdie made quite an impression.
"So did you have fun?" she asked him.
"It was totally awesome! But he kept asking me about my girlfriend and your television show."
She gave him a questioning look. "What did you tell him?"
Aiden shrugged. "I said you were just my friend."
"Gotcha."
The boy may have not noticed, but Charlotte knew exactly what that line of questioning was about. Alex was definitely the wingman for his captain.
"Besides, girls have cooties," Aiden added.
"Right. Of course."
