Page 53 of Icing on Top

“They had to LifeFlight me off the mountain.”

I hadn’t cried from the pain. No, it had been the realization that I wouldn’t be playing hockey that had sent tears trickling down my cheeks as I lay strapped to the gurney, wondering how my life had ended so fast. No matter how great the surgery went or how well I did in physical therapy, there was no way the Rebels would wait on me to possibly be at the same level I had been when they’d drafted me.

Miah’s thumb stroked soothingly back and forth across the back of my hand before he slipped it under my glove to press it against my pulse point, grounding me as much as he could.

“I’m sorry that opportunity was taken away from you.”

It was only then that I tore my gaze from the fire to look at Miah, the flames still dancing behind my eyelids. I was so used to people not understanding and telling me that I was being dramatic. That it was only a sport, and there was more to life. But Miah had been in my shoes. He had lost his hockey career, too.

“Did you retire because of Sadie?”

He gave a whisper of a nod. “I tried to play another season. Hired a nanny for Charlie and everything, so she could be on the road with me. But I was still gone too much, and that wasn’t the life I wanted for her. She’d already lost one parent. I didn’t want to be absent in her life as well.”

“Do you miss it?” I asked, even though I thought I knew the answer. I still needed further reassurance that he could relate. Or was Charlie enough for him?

He let out a breathy laugh that held no humor. “Like hell. I thought buying a rink might help the transition, but it doesn’t quite fill the hole left behind.”

It was exactly how I felt about coaching. Sharing my passion with kids who enjoyed the sport just as much as me was the best part of my week. Most of the time it filled my cup, but other times, it just made me miss playing even more. To be in their shoes with so much potential and so much future ahead of me.

“How long did it take for you to heal?” Miah asked, his free hand rubbing up and down my thigh as if he could erase the scar tissue there.

“A little over six months, what with physical therapy and all.” Mentally, though? Well, I was still working on that. “It took me longer to get back on the ice.”

I’d never been one to stay away from the ice longer than I had to. If there was a rink anywhere nearby, I wanted to be in it. But after my accident, it was too painful. I couldn’t even look at the little rink Charlie and I had just skated on, demanding that my aunt keep the curtains in my bedroom closed so I wouldn’t have to risk seeing it. The thing that had once brought me so much joy had only added to the heartbreak.

“But how did you feel when you finally got back out there?”

Warm tears stung my eyes. “Like I was finally home again.”

He tugged lightly on my hand and leaned forward so I was forced to look at him. His eyes were glowing in the firelight.

“Because you are meant to be in the rink. Even if it isn’t in the way you’d always imagined.”

His words wrapped around my heart, healing the fractures left behind.

I brought our hands up to press my lips to his bare knuckles, his skin warm despite the cold. A tear or two managed to escape. I’d never felt as seen as I did by Miah.

“Thank you,” I murmured.

He quickly kissed away the tears, catching them before they reached my chin. Then he lowered our joined hands so he could kiss me. I leaned into him, letting the gentle sweep of his lips over mine wipe away all the negative thoughts and memories and banish them back to the dark corners of my mind where they normally lurked. It was easier to keep them at bay lately, and I had the feeling that it was because of this wonderful man coming into my life. And Charlie? Well, she was just the icing on top.

Our lips parted, and I made a soft noise of protest when Miah leaned back. I just wanted to be close to him, to lose myself in him, just for a little bit longer. But then he tugged me into his lap, and I all too eagerly obliged, nestling myself against him with my face tucked into the warm crook of his neck.

Miah flinched. “Your nose is cold. Especially your nose ring.”

I let out a small laugh. “Sorry.”

Instead of pulling away, though, he just wrapped his arms around me further.

“It’s okay. Just means I need to warm you up.”

Nothing sounded better.

It was then that I remembered we weren’t alone, despite previously feeling as if we were the only two people in the world.

“Wait.” I lifted my head. “What happened to my uncle coming back with hot chocolate for us?”

Miah looked around as well, his eyebrows crinkled together. A glance up at the house showed no movement through the windows.