Gametime: A Moo U Hockey Romance by Jami Davenport (shoe dog free ebook txt) 📗

eyes off him. Concern was etched on his handsome face, but he held himself back, as if instinctively knowing I had to do this myself.

“Naomi, you don’t have to do this,” he called to me. But damn it, I was doing it.

Within five feet of him, one skate slid in the wrong direction and tangled with the back blade on the other. Flashbacks hit me. Panic surged through my veins, robbed me of oxygen, and strangled me in its unforgiving clutches. I struggled for control of my mind and my feet.

I floundered, arms waving wildly.

I was going down.

42

Pink Skates

Paxton

At first, I thought I had to be hallucinating.

But I wasn’t. Naomi was very shakily skating toward me on pink skates, the very skates I’d bought her and she’d given back to me when she’d dumped me.

Not that I’d call what she was doing skating, exactly, but she was on skates, and she was upright. I gave her a zero for form and a ten for execution.

Mr. Smith skated up beside me. I didn’t take my eyes off Naomi. I feared if I did, she’d panic and fall. Determination and blind fear warred with each other on her beautiful face.

“What’s she doing?” I asked.

“The grand gesture. Just like I told her.” Mr. Smith beamed at his daughter, not that I chanced a glance at him, but I knew from the tone of his voice.

Grand gesture?

Wasn’t that the thing they did often in romances where the guy, usually, did some huge thing to impress the love of his life? Only this time, the guy wasn’t the one. I had no problem with that. I wasn’t into male-female stereotypes.

“Naomi,” I said in a hushed voice. She faltered at the sound of her name, a disaster in the making as one skate decided to rebel and wrap itself around the other. She was about to go down in a tangle of arms and legs.

I wouldn’t let her grand gesture end that way.

In one swift stride, I had her in my arms. She clung to me. Sweat beaded on her brow. Her breath came in panicked gasps. Her heart pounded against my chest. I held her tight, barely noticing the cheering going on around us.

“You’re going to be okay. I’ve got you,” I murmured in her ear, knowing what I said didn’t matter as much as a calming tone. She wrapped her legs around me, spearing my shins with her skate blades, but I didn’t care. Nothing mattered but this beautiful, courageous woman in my arms. After a while, her breathing began to return to normal and her heartbeat slowed. She carefully placed one foot on the ground then the other, standing on her blades.

She looked up at me and grinned in triumph. “I did it!”

“You did.” I grinned back, so very proud of her.

“I did it for you, Pax. For us.”

“I know,” I croaked out with misty eyes. The last thing I was going to do was cry in front of this tough crowd. I hugged her tight, pressing my face into her hair, and held her until I had a handle on my emotions. “Do you want me to help you back to the bleachers?”

“No, I want to skate with you.”

“You do?”

She nodded. “Just promise you won’t let go of me.”

“I promise.”

Carefully, I turned while holding her waist, keeping her close to my side. I skated with slow, even strokes around the rink. My teammates made way for us, cheering as we skated past. Some of the women had suspiciously wet eyes and a few of the guys.

Patrick fist-bumped me and winked. He beamed at the two us. “I knew you could do it,” he called to Naomi.

“Thank you, bro.” I grinned at him, knowing he’d had a part in this.

We skated slowly to several Christmas songs until Naomi begged for a break. I safely sat her down and retrieved hot buttered rums from the bar. I sat next to her, and we sipped our drinks and watched the skaters.

“Why did you do it?” I asked finally.

“Because I was a fool to break up with you, and I wanted to prove how real this thing is between us. Words weren’t enough. I needed something bigger.”

“And you came up with skating?”

“With the help of your brother. I’ll never forgive him for this.” She laughed and so did I.

I wrapped her in my arms and kissed her with every ounce of emotion in my body. Drawing back, I framed her beautiful face in my hands.

“I love you, Naomi. There’ll always be room in my life for you and hockey.”

“I love you, Pax.” She leaned forward and showed me how much. “I guess I’m going to have to get used to the rain next fall.”

“I guess you are.”

Patrick joined us in a group hug, while Naomi’s father stood nearby with a happy smile on his face.

Look out, Seattle, here we come.

T H E

E N D

Thank you for reading Gametime by Jami Davenport. Did you know there’s a fun bonus epilogue for Naomi and Paxton? Click here to get it.

You can get all the links to the next Moo U books right here. Or turn the page for more great recommendations for Jami Davenport and World of True North titles!

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More Moo U HockeyMore Moo U Hockey:

Blindsided by Victoria Denault

Slapshot by Rebecca Jenshak

Holdout by Jaqueline Snowe

Overtime by Kat Mizera

Halftime by Kim Findlay

Darkroom by Kate Willoughby

Playmaker by Sierra Hill

Snowballed by Melanie Ting

Goalkeeper by Andi Burns

And more!

Jami Davenport’s Sports Romances:

The Scoring Series

Seattle Sockeyes Series

Seattle Steelheads Series

Acknowledgments

A huge thank you to Sarina Bowen for the opportunity to write in her world with all these amazing authors. I’m humbled by the faith you’ve put in me to write in your world.

A special shoutout to bestie Kat Mizera for collaborating with me to bring the Graham twins to life.

Thank you to Stacy for always being there when I need you (even when your world has been turned upside down) and giving this