“I’m perfectly fine. Remember I skate on ice for a living.”
She grins. “Touché.”
“You’re the one dressed like a blizzard is coming.”
“I have thin blood. Leave me alone.”
I put up my hands. “Noted.”
“So where do you want to go?” she asks.
I shrug.
“Would you mind if we go see the Love sculpture? I know it’s cheesy.”
“Sure. Do you know—”
She pulls out a brochure and I can’t help but smile. She’s fucking adorable.
“Then lead the way,” I say.
We head to the sculpture, our arms brushing one another’s but no other contact besides that. Once we reach it, we wait in line. I’m prepared to snap a picture of her, but the man behind us pushes me to go stand with Saige.
“I’ll take the picture. Give me your phones.” He nudges me forward.
Saige stops mid-stride and looks back at me. I’m sure she doesn’t want me in her picture, but what choice do we have at this point? I don’t want to make a spectacle of myself and be recognized. That would only ruin my afternoon with Saige.
We stand under the sculpture that spells LOVE in big red letters. It feels natural to put my arm around her back, my hand molding to her hip.
“Take your sunglasses off,” the man says.
His wife next to him nods. “You’ll ruin the picture!”
Great, I didn’t realize we were models. Saige giggles and we plaster on smiles, waiting for someone to take the picture. Finally the couple snaps the picture and we step away to take our phones back.
“Would you like us to take one of you two?” I ask the older couple.
They accept, and after all is said and done, Saige and I are about to walk away.
A man with his family calls, “You suck.”
Saige stops walking. “Is he talking to you?”
I nod and usher her away with my hand on the small of her back. “I assume so.”
“You suck, Drake. You’re gonna be eating ice shavings tonight.”
I put my hand in the air to acknowledge that I heard him and continue walking. Saige circles out of my hold to head back toward the man. I turn and grab her elbow nicely, redirecting her the way we were going.
“What? You’re going to let your girlfriend fight your battles? Just like you have Petrov do all your dirty work on the ice?”
I’m not surprised to come in contact with a die-hard fan. I’m in their city. I am a little surprised he’s doing it in front of his kids, but who am I to give parenting advice?
“Why don’t you have some respect?” Saige yells.
I chuckle, pulling her back. “He’s not worth it,” I whisper.
She pulls her arm out of my grip. I glance around and see that we’re causing a crowd to form.
“Hey, I really wanted to go to the art museum and run up the stairs like Rocky.” I try to distract her, but she’s not letting me.
“Aiden’s a damn good hockey player and he’s going to mop the floor with Philly tonight.”
I can’t help but laugh at the fact Saige is sticking up for me. Half of me wants to throw her over my shoulder, and the other half wants to see what else she’s going to say.
“You might be sleeping with him, but trust me, our team is better.” The man steps up.
His wife sends me an apologetic look.
“We’ll see about that,” Saige snarls.
Her comebacks could use some work, but the point is she’s going to battle for my reputation.
“He’s really not worth it.” I tug on her arm.
She rolls her eyes. “You’re right. I wish he could go one-on-one with you, then we’d see what he has to say.” Thankfully, she turns around to join me walking in the other direction.
The man mumbles something, but his wife tells him the kids are there.
Next, we head to the art museum so I can see the stairs Rocky Balboa ran up. At the bottom, we look at one another.
“Want to race?” I ask.
“Um… no.”
I knock her shoulder. “Come on. It’ll be fun.”
“Maybe for a fully conditioned professional athlete.” She points at me. “But not for a once-a-month kickboxer.” She points at herself.
“Kickboxer, huh?”
“Did you catch the once-a-month part?”
I tug on her jacket. “It’ll be fun, come on.”
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“Nope.”
She situates her purse so it’s crossways over her body. “Fine.”
“One… two… go!” I yell.
We both rush up the stairs. Luckily we’re not the only people reenacting the famous movie scene. Two boys are on the other side of us.
Halfway up, Saige stops and bends over to catch her breath.
I jog in place. “Come on.”
“I’m not training to box anyone. Let me alone.” She waves at me.
I throw her over my shoulder because, hell… I want to. She squeals and I run up the steps to the top. I shout and throw up one fist.
“Put me down now?” She pats my back, laughing the whole time.
I lower her to the ground, disappointed because I enjoyed touching her, even if it wasn’t sexual in nature.
“It’s beautiful here,” she says, staring across the city.
“Yeah, it is.”
“Excuse me, Mr. Drake?” A small voice interrupts us.
I look down to see the kid whose dad just screamed at me. Obviously they’re hitting all the nearby tourist stops too.
I squat. “Hey, what do you need?”
He hands me a piece of paper and a pen. “Could you sign this? I’ve never met a real hockey player before.”
Saige sighs behind me.
“Sure. What’s your name?” I scribble down my signature and wish him luck.
He stares at the paper with wide eyes and a huge smile. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
The kid leans forward. “Sorry about my dad.”
I wave him off. “No worries. You have to stay faithful to your team. Always.”
The kid walks back to his mother, and I catch sight of his dad at the bottom of the stairs with their daughter.
“That was so sweet.” To my surprise, Saige initiates contact by sliding her arm through mine and resting her head on my upper arm. “After his dad was such a jerk and everything.”
I nod, but it’s not the kid’s fault his dad’s a jerk.
“You made his day,” she says.
I want to tell her that she made my day. That spending these couple hours with her makes me crave more time with her. But that’s not in the cards because she’s seeing someone else. Someone who directly affects my own success.
Chapter Ten
Saige
“A photo shoot?” Aiden groans.
“More like a few poses of you in your casual clothes, maybe in your house or something. Just so people can get a feel of who you are off the ice.” I slide my chair side to side.
“Just you in bed,” Tedi adds. “No worries, we’ll cover the important parts with a sheet.” She laughs.