Off the Ice (Juniper Falls) by Julie Cross

Author:Julie Cross [Cross, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Abbi Glines, hockey, Miranda Kenneally, Field Party series, Simone Elkeles, sports romance, Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Published: 2017-02-27T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 27

–Tate–

“I know a lot of you are worried about checking.” Dad skates in front of the line of kids here for the winter break clinic. “But some of you probably can’t wait to reach Bantam so you can pin someone against the boards legally.”

A few of the kids nod. One tiny girl on the end lifts a hand in the air like she’s pledging her allegiance to knocking over boys on the ice.

“Body pinning is what we’re going to learn today…” Dad continues.

He goes on with details of the partner drills he wants the kids to do. My eyes wander and land on Claire in the lobby of the rink. She’s setting up tables. O’Connor’s is catering lunch for the kids. Claire catches me watching and smiles, just enough for me to notice.

“…unfortunately my only partner option for a demonstration is a goalie and probably very out of practice.”

I snap my head around to face Dad again. What demonstration? At the other end of the rink, Jamie, Leo, and Stewart are working with the youngest kids and have spent the morning doing basic skating and shooting drills and giving lots of high fives.

The kids on our end are laughing and looking at me now.

I’ve got basic gear on today, not my usual goalie gear, but for some reason the idea of me in any other position has become comical. It’s not like I didn’t play other positions before high school. Everyone does.

“Think you can handle a little pinning demo?” Dad challenges.

My entire body stiffens. “Maybe we should—”

“Come on, Tate. You’re not afraid to take on an old man like me, are you?”

The kids laugh louder. My heart pumps hard against my chest. Red flags wave in front of my eyes. “Fine,” I snap.

As soon as the word is out of my mouth, Dad passes me the puck. I stop it with my stick but stand there near the wall like an idiot, not sure what I’m supposed to do next. The laughter dies the second my dad pins me against the boards. His side digs into my back and my helmet presses against the glass. My heart pounds faster, my breaths coming quick and ragged.

“Make sure your leg is placed between your opponent’s,” Dad says.

I’m trapped in place, my skates slipping and sliding. Panic sets in, followed by the instinct to fight, to get out of his hold. I shove him back and take control of the puck again. He comes at me, attempting a check.

“Sloppy form, Tate,” Dad practically growls into my ear. “Come on, don’t hold back.”

The fire inside builds and pushes me over the edge. I hit Dad hard from behind, causing him to stumble back, to lose his balance. I freeze, my heart drumming so fast I can’t hear the kids cheering us on. Dad stares at me for a beat, like we’re complete strangers, and then he charges forward, snatching the puck away from me. I skate backward, switching over to defensive mode. The kids yell louder, cheering.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.