Breaking the Ice (Men of the Ice, #7) by Michele Shriver

Author:Michele Shriver
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sports athlete hockey, blind date, romance love story, opposites attract, doctor physician
Publisher: SMC Publishing
Published: 2016-10-25T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

After the two game road trip, followed by a couple of days off, Noah was anxious to get back on the ice in front of the home crowd. The All-Star game had been fun, but the team had a playoff push to make now. Fortunately, with a three game homestand coming up, the team would get the chance to rack up some points. Before taking the ice against Tampa Bay, though, Noah was ready to decompress with his game day ritual.

He wore a tie-dye T-shirt and white shorts, and selected a Day-Glo orange ball. Noah was a little superstitious, and he had the best luck with the orange ball on this course, even recording a hole-in-one on the hole with a rotating chain saw windmill. Before he made his way over to the first hole, he decided to call Riley. When they parted on Saturday, Noah told her he would, and she’d encouraged him to.

She answered on the second ring, but her “Hello” sounded a little frazzled.

“Hey, SuperDoc,” he said. “How are you?”

“Exhausted,” she said. “Working a twenty hour shift today.”

“Twenty?” Did he hear that right? “Twenty hours straight?” That couldn’t possibly be healthy.

“Yes. I wasn’t supposed to be on duty this long, but I’m covering for my colleague who covered for me on Saturday,” she said. “You know, so I could go draw superheroes with you.”

Riley’s tone had a slight edge to it, and Noah wasn’t sure how to take it. Did she regret spending the afternoon with him at the comic con? “And I’m glad you did, because I had a great time.”

“So did I. Then. I’m just paying for it now.” Riley exhaled audibly. “I’m sorry, I’m being bitchy.”

“No, you’re not. I understand you’re tired and busy,” Noah said. “I just thought I’d call and say hi.”

“I’m glad you did. What’re you up to?”

Noah hesitated to tell her. It would probably sound lame and childish compared to how she spent her days. “I’m at Monster Golf.”

“What’s that?”

“A miniature golf place with a monster theme. It’s all done in neon and black lights, and you play with a fluorescent ball,” Noah said. “Anyway, there are skeletons and witches, and even a really spooky-ass clown, and you have to aim the ball at his creepy mouth.” He shuddered involuntarily. “I hate that hole.”

“Okay... so you do this why, exactly?”

Sure enough, she thought it was silly. “I don’t know. It’s hard to explain. It relaxes me on game days, but I think the focus and concentration of putting also helps my hockey shot, too.” Noah had never taken the time to really analyze it, but he felt he played better in games after his usual ritual.

“And the monster stuff? Why that?”

“Oh, this is just where I came today. There are other fun courses in town,” Noah said. “Today I felt like monsters. Hopefully that stupid clown won’t give me nightmares.”

Riley laughed. “Yeah, I hope not.”

“Creepy clown aside, this place is fun,” Noah said. “We’ll have to play sometime.”

“Right. Like I have time to hit a little ball around on Astroturf.

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