Hockey Holidays Read online

  Behind him, Tarek scored again, and this time he raised his arms and yelled.

  “Perfecto,” Ian told him and raised his hand for a high five. The boy did the hand slap with a gleeful smile splitting his face.

  “You’re a real Canadian now,” Ian told Tarek.

  When he turned, Em was beaming at him. “You’re really good with kids.”

  Ian shrugged. “It’s just hockey.”

  She came right up close. For a moment, Ian wondered if she was going to kiss him, then she hip checked him into the nearest snowbank.

  “That’s part of hockey too,” Em said, giggling.

  Ian got up and brushed the snow off.

  “You’re gonna pay for that.” He went right after Em to the delighted shrieks of the kids.

  6. Fireworks

  “Has this game been worth a thousand dollars?” Em asked.

  For her, the whole experience was way over the top. Sure, she’d been to Leafs games before, but that was years ago. Now the whole arena was more intense: all the fans in jerseys, flashing videos on the big screen, constant announcements, and entertainment beyond the hockey itself. And everything was more way more expensive.

  Ian took a sip of his $20 beer. “Be better if they were winning. But it’s always good to visit the mother ship. I try to get here for a game once a year with my buds.”

  Em sniffed. “Pretty expensive guys trip.”

  He laughed. “We don’t sit in club seats.”

  “You insisted on these seats,” Em said.

  “No big deal. You can afford it.”

  Em’s mouth opened in outrage, but no words came out. She had been willing to pay the price because Ian was doing her a big favour, but nothing had worked out as she’d planned. Her parents loved Ian—for reasons she still couldn’t understand. Maybe it was the free home repairs.

  Now, if she did bring home Thomas, he’d have to be the second coming of Mike Holmes. And Thomas wasn’t very coordinated, judging from when they’d gone skating on the canal. But last night, he’d sent her an adorable photo of his family beagle in a Santa hat though. No guy was perfect, and the best example of that was sitting next to her.

  “Does it bother you if the woman you’re dating makes more money than you?” It had bothered Lucas, so a high income was a new life partner requirement.

  “Why would it bother me? I’d get to do shit like this all the time.” He swallowed the rest of his beer. Em watched his Adam’s apple moving. Ian could drink an incredible amount of beer. “Besides, I bring other things to the party.”

  Ian’s brown eyes met hers. A strange sensation passed over her body and settled between her legs. Good grief, she wasn’t becoming attracted to Ian, was she? That kiss yesterday had been off the charts, but she knew it meant nothing to him. He was toying with her, as usual. Almost involuntarily, she licked her lips and asked, “What do you bring?”

  “I’m very good with my hands.”

  Em had to tear her eyes away from Ian’s. The way he was looking at her was too intense. He looked hungry. And that was impossible—he’d just eaten an expensive hamburger, fries, and ice cream.

  “Oh, like the way you can fix things.” Em cursed the wimpy tone of her voice, but something was off with her breathing.

  He planted his hand on her jeans-clad thigh. When he spread his fingers, her leg tingled under his warm touch.

  “Yeah. I like to ‘fix things.’”

  Em bit her lip. She was not used to feeling like a flustered virgin. She was the mature, responsible one.

  Luckily for her, the third period began, and Ian’s attention moved from her to the game. He was a very vocal fan.

  “Oh c’mon, ref! Where you looking?” A Leaf forward had been hauled down without penalty to groans from the crowd.

  “Maybe it’s a good thing,” Em said. “Last time, they gave up a bunch of odd-man rushes on the power play.”

  Ian stared. “You know a lot about hockey.”

  “For a girl, you mean,” Em said.

  “Sure. But it’s still a compliment.”

  She wanted to smack the smile off his face. “Lots of women are hockey fans.”

  “A lot of women think hockey players are hot.” He turned back to watch the game and left Em fuming. Why was it always like this with Ian? Just when they were getting along, he’d go full jerk. Ian was the most exasperating guy she’d ever known.

  In further proof that good things happen to bad people, Ian’s favourite team came from behind and scored two goals to end up 5-4 winners.

  “Fucking A. I must be good luck. Every time I come to a game here, they win,” said Ian as they made their way out. Everyone around them was buzzing happily too.

  “You should consider moving to Toronto and getting season tickets. They’d probably go undefeated at home,” said Em. She hated people who mixed up causation and correlation.

  “Yeah, but I don’t want to live here. Toronto’s too big,” replied Ian. Economic theory insults sailed over his head.

  “Reeder?” A deep voice came from behind them. Ian’s back straightened, and he turned slowly.

  “Oh hey, Penny. Long time no see.”

  Penny was a big beefy guy with cropped dark hair. Beside him was a petite blonde with a dazzling smile. Both were wearing Leafs jerseys.

  He and Ian did one of those complex dude handshakes, but to Em it looked more competitive than friendly.

  “You still playing hockey?” Penny asked.

  “Just beer league,” replied Ian. His demeanour reminded her of a coiled snake, with every muscle tensed and ready to strike.

  “Yeah, I play for fun too. But I’m doing some coaching now. It’s all good.”

  Ian nodded but didn’t try to keep the conversation going.

  “You living in Toronto these days?” Penny asked.

  “Nah. Still in Ottawa.” He motioned towards her with his head. “Em’s family is here.”

  Penny ran his eyes over her in a judgemental way. Like Ian, his eyes lingered on her breasts. Guys frequently made judgements about her based on her body. Like she couldn’t have a brain and breasts at the same time.

  “Well, some things haven’t changed, and that would be your taste in pretty women.” He held out his hand. “Hey, I’m Shaun Penhale. And this is my wife, Billy.”

  “Hi, I’m Em Davis.” She shook Billy’s hand too, but she didn’t say a word. She kept gazing adoringly at her husband in the best Stepford Wives manner.

  “I’m sure you know what a ladies man Reeder is. When we went out to eat, he’d always leave with the digits of the hottest waitress there. He’s proof that it’s not how you look, but what bullshit you can spin.”

  Em had had enough of this jerk. She wrapped her arm through Ian’s and leaned against him.

  “Well, I don’t work in a restaurant, and I’m the one who asked Ian out,” Em said. Which was true.

  Penny’s eyes were locked on Ian’s. They were definitely in some kind of macho competition. “What do you do, Em, honey?”

  “I’m an economist at the Bank of Canada,” she said. It was a teeny bit of an exaggeration, but he didn’t strike her as an expert on federal government job classifications.

  Shocked, he finally looked her in the eye. “No shit. What are you doing with this guy?”

  Em snaked her hand around Ian’s waist. “Ian is my reality check after spending all day working theoretically. And I’m sure you already know what a nice guy he is.” Then she kissed Ian on the cheek.

  Ian smirked. “Great to catch up, Penny. Take ’er easy.”

  He put an arm around Em, and they marched away.

  “Thanks, Em. I was worried you were going to tell him about our whole deal.”

  “He was a jerk. What’s going on between you guys?”

  Ian shrugged. “We played junior hockey together. We were kinda in competition for the same things.”

  The normally chatty Ian didn’t say another word as they jostled along with the crowd. As