“I’m sorry, you thinkI’mgoing to get in the way of Sheriff Turner’s punishment? Not a fucking chance. That man isscary! I still remember the time he busted me and a few guys for drinking down at the harbor when we were sixteen. He wasn’t even on duty that night, but he was pissed. Your mother had to talk him off the ledge while he waited for backup. They were supposed to be going on a date night, but he followed us to the station and laid into us again while we were there.”
“That sounds like my father.” Summer smiles fondly. “And my mother.”
“Mrs. Turner was the best. Still my favorite teacher.”
Was.I don’t miss Odette’s use of the past tense, nor how Summer shifts uncomfortably.
She clears her throat. “Anyway, my dad isn’t scary. You just have to know how to handle him.”
“Apparently Ezra does if he’s not under mountains of tickets and still has his license after all the shit he’s pulled.” I can feel Noah’s scowl. “That’s the third time you’ve been pulled over in, what, four months?”
“Three in three,” I correct, and I know instantly it was the wrong thing to say.
“What the fuck, man?!” Noah explodes.So much for thinking he’d keep his lips zipped in front of the girls.“We’re supposed to be role models. The kids are relying on you.”
Shit. I hadn’t even thought of the kids from the iceplex.
I glance at Summer, fully expecting her to be watching me with smug satisfaction that I’m getting yelled at, but no. She almost looks a little ... sad for me.
I don’t like it.
I return Noah’s dirty look and tell him, “Later.”
He opens his mouth to argue but thinks better of it when Odette squeezes his arm.
“Sure. Later.”
His words are clipped, and fuck if they don’t cut me because he’s right. I should have thought more about the kids. I should have thought about the example I’m setting for them, especially since I’ve been in their position before.
Unlike Noah, I didn’t just want to build the iceplex because I missed the game. This was more personal to me. I didn’t have the same picture-perfect family dynamic he grew up with. Far fucking from it, actually. My local rink was the only thing I had. It’s what gave me the game I love so damn much.
I’m supposed to be there for these kids like my earliest coach was there for me.
“Summer, wemusthave dinner together sometime soon,” Odette says in an attempt to change the subject.
“I would love that.”
“And, Ezra, you can come too! We can play cards or something after. It’ll be fun.”
You never come out with us when we invite you.
Odette’s words from before echo through my mind. While the urge to still tell her no sits at the tip of my tongue, I find myself nodding.
“Sure.”
She’s as shocked by my answer as I am, her mouth dropping open. “Seriously?”
“Do you want me to change my mind?”
She pretends to zip her lips closed and does a little shoulder shake before turning to Summer. “Let’s coordinate something. You still have my number, right?”
“I should,” Summer says as she drags her phone out of her back pocket to check.
“No phones on the floor.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “Sorry,boss. Won’t happen again.”
Boss.
