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I pulled out a large pair and put them on, then I grabbed a stick from the corner and headed out.
As soon as the cold air hit me, I took in a deep lungful and held it. Christ, I loved the air up here. There was nothing in the world as crisp and clean as the air in Alberta.
Fuck.
I missed it.
I smiled to myself and started down the walkway. Halfway to the rink—I noticed some movement.
I stopped and watched.
The only light out here was from the moon and stars. And they were truly showing off tonight.
I didn’t need much light at all to recognize the midnight skater, though.
I shook my head and kept moving. Once I was at the edge of the rink, I called out, “Fancy meeting you here.”
Jillian shrieked and came to a dead stop. Her hands flew right to her chest. “Oh my gosh, you scared the crap outta me!”
“Shh,” I said as I stepped onto the ice. “Sound carries out here.” And it did. Especially late at night.
“You’re the one out here creeping around, scaring people.” She skated over to me and gave me shit.
I chuckled and said, “Fair enough. Did you grab a stick? Or should I go back and get one for you?”
She was close enough now that I could see her beautiful face. And her even more beautiful smile. “I already have one.”
I raised my eyebrows and dashed to the center of the rink. “Last one to the middle plays goal.”
I heard her frustrated sigh and watched as she raced to the other end of the ice. She retrieved her stick that sat against the net and made her way to me at center ice.
“Unfair advantage, Clemens.”
I smirked, shrugged, and said, “Alberta rules, sweetness. If you’re here, you gotta play by them.”
She rolled her eyes. “Besides, I’m not playing goalie in the dark. I can barely see the puck as it is. I won’t see a thing if you shoot at me.”
“You’re not playing net. We’re working on your faceoff skills.”
She didn’t fight me on that. Jillian was always open to my input, and I loved that about her. This woman would do anything to improve her game. What she probably didn’t know was I learned a thing or two from her as well.
It was a cold December night, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t work up a sweat. Because we sure did.
We ran over a few things until Jillian got bored and stole the puck from me. She dashed to the net and shot it in. I chuckled, swooped, and swiped the puck from the net.
We met up at center ice, faced off—and this time I won the puck and raced to the net and shot.
Jillian grabbed the puck, and we continued on for a while like that.
Until she tried to body check me and take the puck as I was almost at the net. Jillian left me at an awkward angle, and I didn’t want to land on her. I dropped my stick and grasped tightly onto her arms. Try as I might, I couldn’t get my damn balance.
I was going down.
“Oof,” Jillian said as she landed on top of me. Thank God I’d managed to move to the side enough so that my upper half fell onto the snow instead of the ice.
She rolled off me and started laughing. “I can’t believe you fell.”
I turned my head and watched her laugh. I breathed in the sound of it along with the cool, crisp Alberta air.
