Page 34 of Penalty Kill

She smirked. “You make it sound like you’re seventy.”

I shrugged. “Sometimes it feels like it. Hockey isn’t exactly easy on the body.”

“You seem to be holding up just fine.” Her eyes ran the length of my arms, and I fought the urge to flex. Was she flirting or just making an observation? It had been way, way too long for me to be able to tell the difference.

Her checking me out was one thing. Hard to miss, but easily excusable. I was well aware of my athletic build. It was my job to be in top physical condition. I’d been on the cover of men’s magazines with headlines boasting about my training routine and diet. People staring at my body became a norm before I even joined the league.

It was the words I didn’t know how to decipher.

I didn’t know how to respond, and with each passing second the voice in my mind screaming loser got louder.

As much as I wanted to play cool and aloof, I knew I wasn’t. “Are you flirting?”

Her eyes widened, and her cheeks instantly reddened. “I... um…”

I smiled, pleased I managed to throw her off like she did to me. “I mean that as a genuine question. It’s been so long since I’ve been single or noticed a woman who isn’t my ex, I really don’t know.”

“Done!” Milo jumped out of the room and landed on all fours in front of Sydney. She held up her hand and gave him a high five.

“That was your fastest one yet! Five minutes and twenty-six seconds.”

“Good job!” Finn celebrated with Milo before rushing toward their room. “I want to go again!”

“Yell ‘go’ for me,” Sydney called after him.

We waited in a charged silence until Finn shouted. She got lucky with the interruption, but I wasn’t letting her off the hook.

“So? Were you?”

She rubbed her hand over her cheek and cringed. “I guess I was.”

“Don’t be embarrassed. I don’t mind.” I winked, and she ducked her head. “I just didn’t know. I also don’t know how to reply.”

She suddenly burst out laughing. “You really are an old man.”

I shot her a playful glare before joining in. “You’re right. I am.”

The tension between us disappeared, and we went back to cheering on Finn as he ran through the hall to the playroom.

She made one flirtatious comment. That didn’t have to mean anything. She could have been joking. I hated that I knew exactly who could help me with this, but admitting it to them wasn’t worth it.

The guys would never, ever, for the rest of my life let me live it down.

I was on my own to navigate this strange, new world.

* * *

The next day we had a short practice schedule, so I was able to stay and play with the boys for almost an hour before leaving for the arena. What that really meant was I had an hour to overthink every single thing Sydney said or did.

She admitted to flirting with me once. That meant it could happen again. I had to get better at figuring it out.

Unless it really was a one-time thing, and I embarrassed her so much that she would never dare do it again. That was a worst case scenario. I liked the playfulness we’d developed. It was effortless, until I started overthinking everything.

“Where’s your head, Dad?” Reese smacked his stick on the ice, drawing my attention. “Come on, you should have had that pass.”

I ignored him and waited for my turn to come again. We were running drills, and I let my body go on autopilot while I thought about Sydney. Not the time. I shook my head and focused on leading the guys.

An hour later, Coach called it, and I headed to the bench to get a drink.