Free Home Ice by Katie Kenyhercz

have snapped her ankle into a hundred pieces and not felt a thing, the way he was looking at her. Like she was the only person in the universe. The only thing that mattered. But she’d seen him around other people. He treated everyone he cared about that way. “I’m fine. It was scary for a minute, but fun, too. Really fun. I kind of want to hurl myself at it again and just ricochet all over the room.”
    That unreserved grin came back. “Well, let’s do it!” He took off, running, jumping, tumbling, and she raced to follow. If this was a relationship, maybe it wasn’t the big, scary thing that would get in the way of her dream. At the moment, her dream was the big, scary thing. Dylan, she could count on.

Chapter Thirteen
    Friday, October 17th
    Normally, being summoned to Saralynn’s office only gave Dylan a mild stomachache. It wasn’t like being called in front of Jacey, the owner, though to be fair, Jacey was really nice. She’d agreed to go with him to his first bachelor auction so he wouldn’t have to walk into the ballroom alone. He’d been eighteen then and new to the team’s annual meat market for charity. Jacey’d helped keep him from passing out, and he’d helped her see how much Carter was into her. Four years, and Dylan was still trying to get out of that man’s shadow as captain. Or maybe he was hiding in Carter’s shadow, afraid to cast his own.
    That thought was too deep for a Friday morning before coffee. Especially after a week of more embarrassing losses. The team was starting out the season in a hole, and no matter what Kally or Lori said, it was his fault. That’s why it could only be bad that the Sinners’ head of PR wanted to talk to him first thing before the team flew to Dallas for Saturday’s game.
    He slunk into Saralynn’s office but tried to look casual. Talking to her professionally was more complicated now that she was officially
with
his best friend and roommate. Especially since she just about lived with them. Boundaries were blurred. Not that Saralynn was big on boundaries anyway. She had the energy of a little kid and the willpower of a hockey player.
Nothing
was off limits if it fit her goal. That was both reassuring and terrifying.
    “What’s up?”
    Saralynn had a disarming smile, but it was usually on purpose. Something he best keep in mind. “Have a seat.”
    No matter who said them, those three words had never been a good thing. Suddenly, skipping breakfast had a silver lining. Nothing to throw up. He lowered himself into the chair facing her desk and sat back. Maybe if he acted like nothing was wrong, she’d roll with it.
    She had a pen in her hand paused over a pad of paper. “How’re you doing?”
    A friendly question, but it felt like an interview.
    “I’m … confused.”
    She dropped the pen and folded her hands on the desk, turning up the wattage of her smile.
    Danger. Danger.
    “Sorry. I was working on something. I just wanted to check in with you. We haven’t really talked in a while. I know I’m at the house a lot, but I feel like I’m totally out of the loop on you.”
    Okay. Definitely weird. Saralynn had a big heart buried under her work ethic, but she didn’t schedule meetings to catch up. With anyone. If you were one of the handful of people she loved, she made time for you. Out of the office. He’d been on the periphery since she’d been dating Madden, but more and more, the two were spending their time alone. Could she honestly just want to catch up? Part of him felt guilty for looking for a motive. The other part kept an eye open. “Not much different, I guess. Trying to get back into the swing of things.”
    “Right. Anything new outside the rink? I ask Madden for updates, but he doesn’t want to break bro code.”
    “Uh …” He spent all his time outside the rink with Lori. Is that what she was going after? If she just wanted girl gossip, that was safe. A decent distraction from talking to her about his game. “Well, I have