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I needed to somehow make it up to her. The first step would be to fully apologize. And grovel until she accepted my apology.
I needed to find her first thing tomorrow before practice and lay it all out to her. It needed to be the best apology of my damn life.
_______
Except, when I made my way into the rink, she was already practicing with the major douche.
I acted like I meant to be there that early to talk to her dad… because I was honestly slightly embarrassed about the whole thing. If I could strangle my spineless seventeen-year-old self for putting me in this position, I would.
So, I made my way very slowly to Craig’s office, ignoring the way the douche was watching me with an amused look on his face as I crutched across the lobby.
“Okay, let’s try it again,” Igor, Claire’s coach, said.
“Yes, I think that’s a good plan,” the older, plump lady, who was probably the douche’s coach, added.
Following Craig’s advice, I looked away when they set up the lift… but when I heard Claire cry out, my neck snapped back to where she was… which was now on the floor.
Pretty sure her hitting the floor was against every rule of off-ice training. The guy partner was supposed to do everything in his power to make sure she didn’t fall on the ground. But apparently this guy didn’t play by those rules. He was standing straight up, like he hadn’t even made an effort.
Igor was standing over Claire assessing her, and I held my breath until she stood back up and brushed herself off.
The woman coach was trying to say something to Igor, but he was shaking his head. When the douche stepped closer to him and Claire, he held his hand up to make him back off.
“I think we’re done for today,” Igor said firmly.
I held my tongue, but I really wanted to shout out some colorful words at the asshole who dropped her.
“Today is not over. We train until I say so,” the douche demanded.
And that pulled me to my feet… well, foot.
Claire’s eyes went directly to mine in the office. Her mouth stayed in a firm line as she gave me a slight negative head shake to make me back down.
I shook my head back at her and started moving… which prompted her to start walking toward me.
Good. I felt a small smile slide onto my face. Mission accomplished. I got my girl away from that whole situation without even having to go over there.
But… as she walked closer to Craig’s office, I could see the cross look on her face, and I forced myself to stop grinning…
She walked right up to me with that determined look on her dainty face, then blew her hair out of her face in a very unladylike but very Claire-like fashion.
She pushed a finger into my chest. “Youdon’t get to do that whole protective thing, Duke, so stop it. You have no right,” she said through clenched teeth.
I forced myself not to laugh at the fact that she was so tiny but had to look way up to give me a talking to. She would be much more intimidating if she weren’t so cute. My eyes drifted to her piercing hazel eyes, with flicks of green, brown, and gold in them, to her lips, to her—
“Duke!” she disciplined.
“I know,” I quickly supplied. “I have no right.”
She seemed surprised by my answer because her mouth slightly dropped open, but she quickly recovered. “Good. And another thing-”
“I’m sorry.”
She paused before looking up to my eyes again. Her face cracked in confusion. “What?”
“C’mon, let’s go to Benny’s.” I started moving forward, but she stood still, rooted to her spot. “Please?”
“I have to–”
