Page 62 of Enemy Games

Because of that, I think I'd actually moved on and forgiven him for everything that happened.

But after holding on to all the resentment and pain for so many years, it was hard to accept that it was simply gone. I couldn't keep hanging the past over us. I didn't want to.

I recovered, pushing down the flash of doubt, and waved while waiting for him to catch up.

“How's it going?” he asked, only slightly out of breath.

I held up my wrist. “I've been cleared to play.”

His smile grew. “That's awesome. Congratulations. I bet you can't wait to get back out on the ice for the first time since you waited the appropriate amount of time.”

I ignored his teasing tone at my bending of the rules.

“How are your classes going?”

I started to nod and then stopped. “They're okay. I think my grades could probably be better. But between practice and my midnight training, it's been hard to get into a good study routine, and I can tell my grades are suffering because of it.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

Was he really offering? He'd already done more than I expected from him.

“I don't think so. I just need to make more time to study.”

“Well if you ever want a study buddy, let me know.”

My stupid heart raced at that. Was that an automatic response or was he serious? He seemed genuine, and I really did need help … “Actually, I do better when I study in groups. So if you're serious, I might take you up on that.”

“Of course, anytime. I’m usually free after practice in the evenings, or I have some breaks throughout the day if that works better.”

Wow. He was serious. I glanced around, wondering what to say or do next, but he cleared his throat.

“So I was wondering something.”

“Oh yeah?” I glanced up in time to see the pink color tinging his cheeks. Was he embarrassed?

“Yeah. I know we’re new to this whole”—he paused, and I waited for him—“friends … or um … acquaintance … um.”

“Are you asking for friends?” I giggled. I’d never seen him like this. Even as a kid he was much more collected and confident.

“Yeah, I'm not really sure what we are.”

Well, friends would be the easiest term, but were we really there yet? “What fresh non-enemies would be?”

“Non-enemies?” he asked.

“Yeah. Do you have a better name for it?”

He rubbed the corner of his mouth, hiding a smile. “I think friends would work, but non-enemies is okay too. I didn't want to push things. If you aren’t ready for me to be anything more than a childhood acquaintance, we could stay there.”

I bit my lip. Did I want more than that? I certainly haven't been able to stop thinking about him since Saturday. And not in my normal visions of how I could get payback. No, it was more of how good he smelled. How warm and right it was to be in his arms. I certainly didn't think of him as my enemy anymore. But my thoughts about him weren't necessarily friendly either. They went beyond that.

I wasn't sure either of us were ready for that territory.

“Let's go with friends,” I finally said.

His grin widened. “Well, do friends ever go to dinner or movies with each other?”

I cocked my head. Where was this heading? “Sure, all the time.”