Free Home Ice by Katie Kenyhercz Page A

been kind of seeing someone.”
    “I knew it! It’s Lorelai Kelly, isn’t it? Of course. That makes so much sense.”
    It did? And why did it look like she was talking to herself?
    She must have read his expression. “I mean, of course it makes sense. Superstar hockey player and a superstar figure skater. They write movies about that kind of thing. Just promise me you won’t leave us for toe picks and Spandex.”
    Saralynn had a habit of talking so fast it made heads spin. Almost like she wanted to hide the important part of information in a chatter tornado, hoping you’d focus on a shiny piece of dialogue debris. Most of what she said was only decipherable after a few seconds of processing, and while it still felt like a distraction tactic, he couldn’t find her angle. “No, I’m not leaving hockey.” And superstar? Not lately. He looked down at his wrist reflexively, afraid of the phantom hair band, and rubbed where it used to be.
    “Good to know. Well, you’ve got a plane to catch, and I don’t want Nealy blaming
me
if the MIP doesn’t make it.”
    “MIP?”
    “Most important player. Don’t tell my brother I said that.”
    Jesus.
“I wouldn’t say I’m the most important player.”
    “That’s what makes you you, Cole. Don’t ever change.”
    His temples throbbed, and a run sounded really good, but he’d only be running to make the plane. Wait. This catch-up had been pretty one-sided. “Hey. You’re right; we haven’t talked in a while. How are things with you and Mad?”
    Genuine shock wasn’t something you saw regularly on Saralynn, and it was kind of funny. Like she’d forgotten her cover story. But what was she covering? “Oh, we’re great. You know, sometimes it feels like we go days without seeing each other, but we’re good. Has he said otherwise?” The concern in her eyes made him feel like a jerk for doubting her.
    “No, not at all. He seems happy, too.” That was an understatement. When they did hang out, Madden’s main topic of conversation was Saralynn and how he wanted to take things to the next step but didn’t want to spook her. And because Dylan wanted to stay completely out of that, he kept his mouth shut. He stood and paused at the door. “Thanks, for … this.” Whatever it was.
    “Thanks for stopping in. And good luck in Dallas.”
    “Yep.” He’d need more than good luck.

Chapter Fourteen
    Saturday, October 18th
    Lori rolled out of bed before the sun. The Sinners were on the road. That meant she could sneak in some extra personal training time before show practice. She turned her alarm off before it had a chance to beep, but a flashing light on her phone caught her eye. Maybe a text from Dylan? She swiped her thumb across the screen and frowned. Five texts. Five voicemails. Her heart dropped into her stomach. What if something had happened to her parents? Her sister?
    Only one call from her mom. “Lorelai, you’re dating a hockey player? Are you sure that’s a good idea, honey? It’s probably best to focus on training right now anyway. Call me if you need to talk. Love you.”
    Two texts from Tori.
    Seriously? You’re an Olympic skater, and you get to date the hottest guy on ice?
    followed by
    Life is so not fair.
    Just the usual envy. No mention of their dad, so her family was okay. But how did they find out?
    The rest were from Dylan. Even though her brain was still sleep fogged, something felt wrong. She read the texts first.
    I just saw everything on social media. I’m so sorry. It’s not true.
    Immediately awake with a
really
bad feeling, she scrolled down.
    Please believe me. I had nothing to do with it.
    Oh, God. What could it be? Were there rumors he was dating around? Got caught with a showgirl? With drugs?
    Talk to me?
    All this before she’d even woken up. Her family was on the East Coast and didn’t always remember or respect time zones, and Dylan would be two hours ahead in Dallas. Her finger hovered over the voicemail play button.