Page 58 of Something Like That

He wove his way through the people milling around in the lobby, heading toward the double doors that led to the stands. Using his hip, he pushed the swinging door open. The cold smell of the ice rushed to greet him. He took a deep breath. A weird calm washed over him.

Until he walked to the base of the stands and turned to look for Alex and Em.

He spotted them almost immediately. His heart squeezed a couple of jittery beats. They sat side by side in the middle of the section to his right, about halfway up stands. The seating was inclined rows of built-in benches that stretched the length of the ice. The short walkway in the center divided the stands into two different sections.

Em had on a bright pink jacket, jeans, and a big, fluffy, black scarf wound around her neck. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail that swung around with her excited movements. Alex’s hair was down, a shimmery golden fall over her shoulders. She wore the same coat she’d worn previously, the one that made her eyes look more blue that grey, and skinny jeans. He bet her ass looked great in them.

Mind out of the gutter, Sadler. Minor hockey game, remember?

Right. No thinking about her great ass, or the incredible make out session. He shook his head to dislodge those thoughts. Because trying not to think of them, while reminding himself of everything they’d done, was not helpful.

Em spotted him. A huge smile broke out on her face. She waved, bouncing up and down in her seat. He couldn’t help but smile back. She was such a great kid.

She elbowed Alex and pointed. Alex turned, her gaze following Em’s finger and slamming into him like a defense man protecting the blue line. His heart gave a couple of hard slaps against his ribs.

Her lips turned up in a tiny smile, but there was something missing. Something was off. He could tell from all the way down here. The urge to go to her, wrap her in his arms, tell her everything would be okay flooded through him.

But he couldn’t do that. It wasn’t his place, this wasn’t a relationship. Not a real one, anyway. Mutually casual. Plus, this thing between them had an expiry date. One that would be here soon, if he had his way.

The sliver of sadness that slid under his skin at the idea of things between them ending was irrelevant. It was just him being dumb or some shit. Once he got back to reality, everything would go back to normal.

He headed up the stairs toward them. The stands weren’t too busy yet—in typical fashion, he was super early, but then, so were Alex and Em—so he made it to them without dumping the tray of drinks down his front and making a fool of himself.

“Hey, Nick.” Em stood and wrapped her arms around him in a squeeze. The move was unexpected and pushed him off center. When he finally got his wits back, he gave her a one-armed hug that probably looked as awkward as it felt.

His gaze found Alex’s over Em’s head. The amused look on her face proved his theory correct. He was currently the king of awkwardness.

“Hey, kiddo.” His voice came out all low and croaky. Heat prickled in his cheeks.

Em pulled back and stared up at him with the biggest smile on her face.

Seriously, when had anyone looked at him like he was their hero? It was both humbling and terrifying. “How’s it going?” Why did his voice still sound so hoarse?

Em shrugged. “Good, I guess.” She sounded kind of sad, which made him feel strange. A little achy in the chest. If he’d been alone, he might have rubbed the spot, tried to get the feeling to go away. But he wasn’t, and he refused to draw attention to his sudden weirdness.

Em didn’t seem to notice. “I can’t wait to get this thing off, that’s for sure.” She held her arm up, flashing her cast. There were more doodles on it than before. She sat down beside Alex with a huff.

“Yeah.” He sat next to her and placed the tray of drinks on the bench beside him. “Sitting on the sidelines can be a bi… real pain.”

Em snorted at his three-sixty. Alex gave him a side-eye, although one corner of her mouth twitched. She had dark circles under her eyes, like she hadn’t slept at all last night. Her shoulders were also curved in a bit, like the weight of the world was pressing down on her. Something was seriously wrong.

“Hey.” He gave her a little nod. His palms were damp and sweaty. Keep it cool, Nick. Keep it cool. Jesus, why did he feel like such a dumbass around her? It wasn’t like he’d never had sex with a beautiful woman before. But a strange, buzzy, nervous energy swam through his veins.

“How are you?” She asked the question with an even tone, although her cheeks turned the cutest shade of pink. While it could be the cold air in the arena, he didn’t think so. It was good to know he wasn’t the only one affected by… well, whatever this was between them.

Em looked back and forth between them a couple of times. He wasn’t sure what she saw—how astute were teenage girls?—but she ducked her head. Not before he saw the small smile creep across her face.

Choosing to ignore whatever that was, he focused on Alex. Shit, she’d asked him a question, hadn’t she? Right, right. “I’m good.” His voice sounded weird to his own ears, a little too high. What the hell was wrong with him?

“That’s good.” She rubbed the back of her neck. Glanced away and then back at him, the tips of her ears turning red now, too.

The stands were filling up, everyone getting ready for the start of the game. The background noise was getting heavier. Em sighed and rolled her eyes. It sounded like she muttered something like old people under her breath but he wasn’t sure. She glanced across him at the drink tray. “You brought treats?”

“Umm, yeah.” He picked up the tray. “I didn’t know what you guys liked so I got a latte, an Americano, a chai latte, and an earl grey tea.” He held it out toward them and suddenly felt like a huge idiot. Why hadn’t he just called and asked what they’d like? What if none of these were good? What if they both wanted the same thing? “There’s also some cream and sugar, in case you want that, too.” He was such a fool.

“Ooh.” Em rubbed her hands together. Well, she tried anyway, but her cast got in the way. She pursed her lips at her broken wrist and grabbed the chai latte. “How did you know chai was my favorite?”

Before he could answer her—not that he knew what to say—Alex reached across and plucked the earl grey tea from the tray. “Thanks.” She gave him that small smile he loved.