Page 18 of Center Ice

I was glad he appreciated it. “Only the staff knows about it.”

“But you’re showing me?” he asked.

I watched him as he turned to face the expanse of the ocean.

“Yeah, I guess I thought you could use a place like this.” I had no idea why I said it, but as soon as the words were out, I knew they were true. There was a quiet, gentle way about him that I didn’t understand. I wanted him to fit cleanly into my idea of who he should be, but he wouldn’t and I wanted to know why.

“I’m honored.” His voice held a reverence that surprised me, again.

“Who are you, Jake?” I wished I knew his last name.

He laughed. “What do you mean?”

“I’m usually good at reading people. At knowing who they are at a glance. I can tell what people want before they know it. It’s a part of what makes me good at my job.” He finally met my eyes. “But I can’t with you.”

He glanced away. “And that bothers you?”

“Yeah,” I admitted.

“Because you can’t figure me out,” he said the words while looking away from me.

“My first impression of you was wrong, and that rarely happens. When I saw you this morning, I thought you were just another player, like your friends from the pool. But I noticed something that made me want to know who you really are.”

He moved deeper into the water until he was treading and spun around to smile at me. “What do you want to know?”

I stared at him for a moment. “Why doesn’t your smile reach your eyes? Why do you have to force it?”

His eyes dropped, and I thought he was going to ignore me. “I haven’t had a reason to really smile for a while.”

I recognized that look. He’d lost someone. A wife? Girlfriend? “What was her name?”

His eyes widened before he made his face neutral again. “Beverly.”

“You loved her.” It wasn’t a question. I could see it. The void in his eyes. It was loss.

“Very much.” The pain in his voice made my throat tightened.

There was something else too. A tiny pang of something in my gut. Jealousy? No. I couldn’t be jealous of Beverly for having his heart. I didn’t even know him. I wasn’t allowed to feel like that.

How could she leave him? Hurt him so much? He seemed like one of the good ones. My ability to read people couldn’t be that off.

“How long were you together?” It was none of my business, but I wanted to know more. He could tell me if he didn’t want to answer.

He stared at me for a few heartbeats then moved toward me until he could stand. After a moment a small huff of a laugh escaped his lips. “We were together my whole life. She’s my mom. She died of cancer last month.”

I closed my eyes, willing an undercurrent to come sweep me away.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have laughed at you. I just figured out what you were thinking and the idea …” He paused and took in a breath. “It’s kind of funny to me.”

I stared back at him. “Which part?”

“That I’d had some great love I was heartbroken over,” he answered.

“Why would that be funny?”

“First, I’ve never been in a relationship.”

That was surprising, but maybe that just meant he was more interested in hookups.