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That isn’t consistent with their usual cleaning schedule, but it could have happened.
I have too much on my mind to worry about, so I continue towards my end goal of the rink on the other side of the locker room.
I glide onto the vacant ice, and any thoughts of the locker room showers drift away.
Thirty minutes later, I’m dripping wet with sweat. Slade showing up again is bringing all the pain of losing my shot all those years ago back up to the surface. And skating the same program that my old partner and I choreographed for our Olympic tryouts fueled one of the best skating sessions I’ve had in years.
I put it out on the ice today, and as I skate towards the player's tunnel, I have to say… I feel better.
Something small and coffee cup-shaped catches my eye as I skate closer to the rink opening.
It’s a to-go cup from Serendipity’s Coffee Shop. I’d recognize that swirl-designed logo anywhere.
The steam from the cup still rises from the tiny opening of the black lid.
I look around quickly to see if the person who left the drink is somewhere in the stands but there’s no one in sight. My first thought is Tessa, but I remember that she refuses to wake up until the sun does. She’s probably just rolling out of bed now and won’t be in for another hour and a half.
And Autumn left last night for Walla Walla to tour wedding venues with both her mom and Briggs’s. She won’t be back for a couple of days.
I pull the drink off the ledge of the rink sidewall and pull down the protective coffee sleeve to read the cup.
Penelope. It reads in black markers.
And then, just below the drink order, it reads…
Extra Dirty.
Cute… real cute.
I slide the coffee sleeve back on and more writing catches my attention.
Chloe. Written in pen next to her ten-digit phone number.
Just below that is a marker-drawn heart with “call me” written inside.
Now I know the name of the new barista who couldn’t stop staring at Slade yesterday.
Really Chloe?
You can do better. Or maybe you can’t if you’re still flirting with the guy who came in to buy the same girl’s drink two days in a row.
Though Slade and I are far from dating, she doesn’t know that… unless he told her.
I don’t have to guess who left this drink for me.
There’s obviously a particular hockey player somewhere loose in the stadium, and since I was so engrossed in my routine, I have no idea how long he watched me skate.
I look around one last time to see if Slade is sitting in the stands somewhere, but the stadium seats are still as empty as the last time I checked.
I step off the rink and head down the tunnel.
How long has he been here?
Was that steam from the shower from him?
Did he go to the coffee shop to flirt with the barista, or did he go to get me this drink?
And if he did go solely to get me this drink, does he actually think that buying my favorite beverage two days in a row is going to make me forget our history?
