He cradled the puck and slipped between two defenders. Charlotte popped up, ignoring the agony still racing through her as she tried to catch up with him, dodging out of the way of a skater trying to block her path.
She put everything she had into those few seconds of skating, trying to get ahead of the five Venice players catching up to Jesse. One of the defenders stretched out with his long stick, trying to poke check the puck away.
Jesse slid it through his legs, passing it back to her as if knowing exactly where she'd be.
Charlotte swerved out of the way of a large boy coming at her. Two others came for her.
She bore down on the net, crossing in front of it, doing a full three-sixty turn before flipping the puck high off her backhand. It hit the crossbar and dropped back down in front of her. She went for it again, battling with the goalie as he tried to cover it up. The puck popped free, and she jammed it into his pads as the final horn sounded overhead.
It felt like all the air had been sucked out of the building as they waited for the referee to find where the puck was. The goalie lifted his pad, showing the puck over the goal line.
The goal horn blared, and Charlotte stumbled back away from the net on shaky legs. Pain continued to snake up her skin, but she barely felt it as her team poured off the bench to engulf her in a full-team hug.
"Way to go, kid." Roman shook her shoulder.
Damien lifted his cage and grinned. Each member of their team shouted with joy as if they'd just won the Stanley Cup. Maybe they had. For their hockey careers, this was Everest.
Her eyes locked with Jesse's as he stood at the back of the group, waiting to congratulate her. He held his helmet in one hand, leaving his sweaty hair sticking up in all directions.
That moment was one she'd never forget. For the first time in her life, she was part of something. They accepted her, rooted for her.
It was powerful. It was also Jesse's fault. He brought her out of her safe world into one where she stood at the top of her mountain wondering when she'd fall down. But maybe falling wasn't such a bad thing if there was something waiting at the bottom.
The team continued to celebrate as they made their way past her to the tunnel. And there he stood in front of her. The boy who never gave up on her, the one who held an entire hockey game hostage just so she could play.
He never questioned her ability or her passion.
He only ever wanted her to experience this, and now she had. She jumped from the top of her mountain, enjoying the fall, knowing she could fall for the rest of her life.
The crowd in the stands hadn't dissipated yet. She knew her dad probably still stood near the bench.
But all she saw was Jesse Carrigan. Her friend. Her captain. Her...
"I'm proud of you, Charlie." He gave her the half-smile thing she loved so much.
Ripping off her helmet, she skated forward. "This time, Jesse, I get to be the one that kisses you." Her fingers curled in his jersey, and she pulled him forward, pressing her lips to his and taking control of whatever it was between them. Her parents’ rules no longer mattered. She no longer cared if he was out of her league.
When she kissed him, all she wanted was more. More time. More kisses. More of these feelings swirling inside her, pushing away all exhaustion and pain.
A moan escaped Jesse's throat, and his arms wound around her back. His helmet hit the ice with a thud and hers followed soon after. She was only vaguely aware of the crowd roaring their approval, but she no longer needed anyone else's approval.
She only needed her own.
And Charlotte Morrison fully approved of every one of her actions.
21
Jesse
Holding hands with hockey gloves on was not an easy feat. Jesse led Charlotte to the tunnel, away from the prying eyes of the crowd. Her dad went ahead of them, not even glancing their way.
Charlotte laughed as Jesse pushed her against the wall, pressing a kiss to each of her cheeks before claiming her lips. He didn't think he'd ever tire of kissing his newest teammate.
Charlotte wasn't only one thing, only one person. And he didn't only mean she was both a figure skater and a hockey player. She could be both hot and cold, which suited her in both sports. The way she'd dropped down in front of that shot only cemented his feelings for her.
"Charlie," he whispered against her lips. "Promise me you won't say we have to stop again."
"I promise." Her laugh vibrated against his lips. "You're the forbidden fruit, Jesse. Now I've had my bite, and I can't go back."
"You're cheesy."
She smiled, and he couldn't help kissing it, wanting to experience every bit of her happiness with her.
"How does it feel to finally win a game?"
He pressed his forehead against hers. "Still processing. How does it feel to be a hockey player?"
"I wouldn't believe it if I didn't have the shaky legs to prove it."
Of course, he was an idiot. "Are you in pain?" He'd blocked many shots before, and it never got easier.
Her breath shuddered on the way out. "I just skated a short program, a long program, and a full hockey game. I think the exhaustion is winning out over the pain."
"Come on." He slipped his glove off so he could take her hand. Both their helmets dangled from his free hand. He kicked open the locker room door. "Everyone better be decent." Not waiting for a response, he pulled Charlotte in.
The guys hadn't yet undressed to hit the showers. Machinehead blared from speakers on the wall as the team celebrated their win. They cheered as Jesse and Charlie entered.
Jesse pushed through the crowd to where Coach stood at the back. "Coach, Charlie probably needs looked at after that blocked shot."
His eyes widened. "You're right. Come on, let's find your mother. She'll help you."
They didn't have to look far. Mrs. Morrison waited outside the room, a giant smile on her face. "You were wonderful, Charlie!" She pulled her daughter into a hug, tears glistening in her eyes. It was so different from what he'd seen from the woman before, and he didn't know how to act.
Charlie's legs wobbled, and her knees gave out beneath her. Jesse jumped forward to catch her.
"I'm okay," Charlie wheezed.
"Take her to my office," Coach said.
Jesse hoisted her into his arms—not an easy thing with her gear. When he got to Coach's office, he lowered Charlie into a chair. The quiet was a shock after the loud arena and even louder hockey game.
Charlie sighed as she bent to remove her skates. "I think I could sleep for a week."
She shoved her skates under the chair and smoothed a hand over her sweaty ponytail. Tendrils of hair broke free, giving the usually proper girl a wild look.
"What are you smiling at?" she asked.
His grin widened. "Just... I like seeing you like this."
"Sweaty and gross?"
He laughed. "Unkempt and relaxed."
"Don't get used to it. I haven't changed that much."
He leaned toward her. "Then it's a good thing I like every version of you."
Her eyes shifted between his as if trying to determine the truth in his words.
"We did it," she whispered, her eyes sliding closed for a fraction of a second. "I don't think I'll ever forget this day."
He ran his fingertips from her cheek down her neck before tugging on the top of her jersey. "You look good in that."
"So, Jesse Carrigan." Her voice took on an announcer's tone, and she held out a fist like it was a microphone. "How weird is it to kiss one of your teammates?"
"I don't know." He leaned closer. "I think that's an answer that will need some time."
"And testing."
"Yes," he whispered against her lips. "Lots and lots of testing." He grinned as he kissed her again, wondering if he'd ever get used to feeling like this, like there was something drawing them together. He'd dated a lot of girls before, but only because it was expected. Because the girls were cute or nice.
Bu
t Charlie... he needed her like he'd never needed any girl.
Like he'd never let himself need anything.
From his experience, relying on people only led to disappointment. Yet, Charlie was different, and if she disappointed him one day, he'd at least have experienced something great in his life.
Falling for someone was a risk.
But a risk he'd take with Charlotte a thousand times over.
A throat clearing broke them apart as her parents strode in with two little boys behind them. Will and Eli talked about the game as they took turns hugging Jesse. He smiled at Charlotte over their shoulders.
"All right, boys." Mrs. Morrison put her hands on her hips. "Out. I need to take a look at Charlotte's leg."
Jesse filed out behind the others and shut the door. He leaned back against the wall, avoiding Coach's eye.
"Carrigan." Coach grunted. "This team has rules."
Here we go. Jesse straightened and finally faced the man who'd kept Charlotte from him in the first place. "I know, sir. But you don't understand. I don't just like your daughter, I—"
"Son, stop." He rubbed the back of his neck. "If there's one thing my wife and I have learned from all this, it's that we have a strong-willed daughter who deserves some control over her own life."
Jesse nodded, waiting for him to continue.
"So, my rule has changed. You will make my daughter happy."
"Yes, sir."
"For every time you hurt her, the entire team will do line-skates until their legs give out."
Jesse swallowed. "Really?"
"Of course, not." He cracked a smile. "You won't be able to do line-skates when you're dead."
"That's a joke, right?"
"Is it?"
"Coach." He stared at him.
Coach put a hand on his shoulder. "All right kid, I'm about to share the secret to life—which happens to also be the secret to women. Don't. Be. An. Idiot."
Will snorted. "That'll be kind of hard for you, Jesse."
Jesse locked an arm around his brother's neck while Eli and Coach laughed.
By the time Mrs. Morrison came out, most of the team had passed them on their way out of the rink.
Jesse kicked away from the wall. "She okay?"
"She'll live." She turned to her husband. "Ready to head home?"
He nodded. "The custodial staff will lock up. Jesse, get my daughter home, please. I'm sure she'd rather ride with you."
As they walked away, Jesse threw a look to his brothers. "Go wait for us out front." They scurried off.
He entered Coach's office to find Charlotte collapsed in a chair in her long shorts and Under-Armor shirt that clung to her. She lifted her head and smiled.
"They tell me you'll live."
"That's good." She laughed. "I wasn't so sure after we kissed in front of them."
"Hey, you kissed me. I had no part in that."
"Then I guess you'd be opposed to me doing it again? If you want..." She looked down at her nails. "We can just forget about it."
"Not a chance." He bent over her, taking advantage of the fact he no longer had to hide his feelings.
A laugh burst free of him.
"What?" She pulled away.
"Your parents just left thinking I'd drive you home. But I don't have my car. I rode with Hadley."
"Then it's a good thing Hadley is such a terrific friend," the girl in question said from the doorway. "Come on, you love birds. Let's blow this popsicle joint." She looked to Jesse. "But Jess, you may want to de-pad if you want to fit in my car."
He looked down at himself, realizing he'd never even removed his skates. Giving Charlotte one more quick kiss, he gathered her discarded gear and took off to the locker room. The guys were gone, but the joy of this win remained.
He couldn't stop smiling as he changed. Hours ago, he'd played on a winless hockey team and wanted a girl he could never have.
But now... now he had the girl of his dreams and a game he'd never forget.
And all because of timing. He fell in love with Charlotte Morrison's skating the first time he saw her fly across the ice.
He fell in love with her attitude when she'd fought with him at school.
But Charlie... well, he couldn't pinpoint when he fell in love with everything she was because it felt as though there was no time before.
He hiked his bag on his shoulder and rejoined the girls, wrapping an arm around Charlie to keep her upright.
"Thanks for lending me your strength. I'm feeling a bit weak right now." She smiled up at him.
He kissed the top of her head. She didn't need any of his strength because there was nothing weak about her.
His brothers raced through the parking lot ahead of them, but Jesse took his time because he wasn't ready to let go yet.
He'd hold on for as long as she let him.
22
Charlotte
Four months later.
Charlotte used to pray for graduation to come, to end her high school torture.
But now it was here, the day she'd get to move on to something bigger, greater.
She had spent three and a half years hiding behind her figure skating and cold personality, only letting one friend in. But now, here she was surrounded by people she didn't want to leave behind.
It was a different world than she'd ever thought she'd live in.
Of course, Charlotte wasn't the one leaving. An arm wound around her waist, and she leaned into Jesse. "That was some ceremony."
Roman joined them. "If by that you mean boring, why yes, dear Charlie, it was."
Jesse rested his chin on the top of her head. "We aren't in high school anymore."
Their entire group smiled at each other before bursting out in fits of laughter. No more walking the halls of Gulf City High. No more high school classes and standardized tests.
"Can we go for a walk?" Jesse asked.
Charlotte nodded, threading her fingers through his. They left the gym behind, their blue robes swishing around their legs. Back somewhere among the sea of caps the students hadn't been supposed to throw were theirs, decorated with the Hurricanes logo.
Hockey season ended months ago, but Friday night pickup games at the rink hadn't. She lived for those nights with her people.
With Jesse.
They didn't speak as they walked through the empty halls, halls she'd once feared. They didn't seem so scary now.
"I used to think this school was huge." Charlotte's eyes skimmed the lockers and tile floors. "But we start at USF in August. It puts this school to shame."
"Are you scared?" He glanced sideways at her.
"Not anymore. I know who I am now. It's been quite a year."
He sighed. "Yeah, it has. Look..." He stopped walking and turned to her, his voice shaky.
What would have him so nervous?
Her stomach twisted. "You're breaking up with me." Tears threatened at the corners of her eyes.
His eyes widened. "Charlotte, no. I..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Why is this so hard?"
"Spit it out, Jess."
"I love you."
"What?" Her jaw dropped open.
"You heard me."
"Yeah, but that's why we had to go on some super-secret walk with you looking liking your puppy just died?" She grinned. "I was sure this was the end, that you'd gotten tired of me or something."
He gripped her chin and forced her to look at him. "I will never get tired of you."
"That's good, Jesse Carrigan, because I've kinda been in love with you for a while now."
"You should have told me."
"And stolen your thunder?" She shook her head. "Plus, I couldn't take it if you didn't love me back."
"Let me get this straight. You just decided to let me take all the risk? What if you rejected me?"
She shrugged. "I suppose you would have cried."
"In your dreams."
"You're right. I dream of weeping hockey players every night."
He pulled her hips against his. "Just this weeping hockey player, right?"
"Wouldn't you like to—" He cut her words off with a kiss just as perfect as every one before it.
Each kiss over the last four months was their first. Every moment their last.
They never knew when they might be torn apart again, so they'd grasped on to every day, every hour, every second.
It was the only way to fall in love.
Want more Jesse and Charlotte! Get THREE bonus chapters here!
Roman’s story is up next in Roman and the Hopeless Romantic! Get it here!
Roman and the Hopeless Romantic
Chapter One: Cassie
Just one more page.
Cassie Carrigan glanced at the digital clock on her bedside table, realizing she should have left for her appointment five minutes ago.
But she couldn’t stop now. The book was just getting good, and she didn’t want to go talk about crappy things with her therapist unless she had a firm picture of first kisses in her mind.
She rolled onto her stomach, her feet kicked up behind her as she chose to live in her bubble for a little while longer. In her world of books and love stories, she could pretend the rest of the world didn’t exist.
There were no murdered mothers. No absent fathers. She wasn’t the girl who could barely leave the house without having a full-blown panic attack.
She imagined herself in these stories, falling in love with each new book boyfriend.
She’d admit it. Cassie was obsessed with love. It didn’t matter the genre, if the love story was strong, she devoured it.
From gallant heroes in the fantasies to sweet high school boys in the young adult romances or much… steamier reads, they all stole her heart for the hours she lived in their world.
A knock on her door brought her crashing back to reality. “Why do you have that stupid look on your face?” Her older brother, Jesse, grinned at her from the doorway. The dude grinned way too often. It was obnoxious how happy he was all the time.
Jesse and the Ice Princess (Gulf City High Book 1) Page 15
