Shutout (The Renegades Series Book 5) (12 page)

“Okay.” He wasn’t okay with it, but if he didn’t want her to walk out of his life again, he had to be. Or at least, pretend to be. There was more he wanted to learn about her, like why she’d moved here, and what bigger things she had in her plan.

“Okay?” Wide-eyed and taken aback, she seemed genuinely surprised at his response.

Trying to move away from the subject, he turned on his charm. “I really like the nachos there, so it might be my new hangout, you know, for the nachos.” He gave her a grin.

“Okay, sure, for the nachos.” She pressed her lips together and he could tell she was holding back a smile.

“So we can be civil to one another?” he asked, not meaning for it to come out like an ass.

She shrugged. “Sure. I guess.”

“I prefer civil over being screamed at.” He didn’t want it to be a habit, her scolding him like a little kid in a strip joint. Besides his ego, he did have a reputation, too.

“Well I don’t need a savior, so I won’t apologize for how I reacted.”

“You think we can finally be friends? Now that you’re back in my life, I don’t want to lose you all over again. I mean, as friends. You know?” He had no idea what he was trying to say. The words were coming out all jumbled, but he was just trying not to scare her away. He had to figure out what made her leave him in the first place.

“Um, I guess we could try friends. Sure.” She looked over at the counter. “I’m sure my order must be ready; I really must get back…”

“Back where?”

“The Pet Salon. I help out there during the day.”

“Good to know.” He made a mental note of that, and that she seemed to be a regular here. Picking up his cell phone, his heartrate sped up. It was now or never, and he wasn’t one to back down from a challenge. “Can I get your new number?”

“My number?” She tucked a loose hair behind her ear. “I guess.” She took the phone out of his hand, her fingers soft and gentle, and typed in her number before handing it back to him.

Dom quickly called her, making sure his number was now logged into her phone, too. “There, now you have mine.”

“Oh, okay. So, friends then?” Her bakery box was now waiting at the register. Noticing it, she stood and pushed her chair back in under the table.

“Yeah, but I can’t promise that I won’t come running if needed, trying to be your knight in shining armor. That’s just who I am.”

“And I can take care of myself; that’s just who I am.” She grabbed her box off the counter, but returned to his table. “By the way, since we’re being friendly, I really like your tatts. They look good on you.”

“All the girls do.” He grinned. There was no way to hide his arrogance, but this time he thought it fit.

With a smile, she turned to leave. When she opened the shop door, the bells jingled and he watched her walk next door to the Pet Salon.

“Her favorite treat is our homemade milkshakes; birthday cake seems to be the recent fave.” The pink haired owner smiled a mischievous grin. “Also, the coffee shop across the street. Just thought you’d like to know.”

He nodded with a grin of his own. “Absolutely. And thanks.”

Hailee

“Hailee, are you going to skate or what?” Alison called from the ice. The outdoor rink was busy today, especially for a Tuesday evening. The second rink was closed off to the public because it was being set up for some sort of event.

“Pay attention to your student, Alison, and stop worrying about me.” She stood there with ice skates on, hoping Alison would run out of time, or the rinks had to be evacuated, or… Well, anything that would get her out of having to ice skate.

“Don’t worry about Cassie.” Alison looked at the young girl and let go of her hands. “She’s doing great.” Ali skated backwards so she was well ahead of the girl. Cassie skated gracefully and without error to her teacher.

“I’m much better than I was last month. I could help you, Hailee,” Cassie called. Taking her focus off the ice, she slipped slightly and almost lost her balance, but quickly recovered.

“Honey, you’re doing fantastic out there, but if I fall, I fear that I’ll squish you!” Hailee said with a giggle that made the little girl giggle too.

“C’mon Cass, one more lap before your mom gets here. Race you!” Alison let go of the girl’s hand and skated off to take the lead. Cassie went after her with a smile on her face.

“Go Cassie!” Hailee yelled and waved.

“Hey, you in the peanut gallery can keep quiet unless you’re going to come out here and put your skates where your mouth is,” Alison warned.

Oh, a challenge
? Hailee carefully stepped out onto the ice and tried her best to catch up to Cassie. Still holding onto the sides of the rink, she didn’t move much faster than last time. Little kids skated by her, passing her with ease.

“Do you want a chair to hold on to, Hailee?” Alison called. She had already gotten to the exit, and Cassie was close behind her. Hailee was nowhere near the door. She was barely a quarter of the way around. “Or do you need me to come get you?”

The other rink was starting to fill up with kids and families, but the organizers were still blocking it off to the public. She couldn’t tell what exactly was going on over there. “No Alison, I don’t need you to come get me, you brat.” She let go of the wall and slowly walked instead of skated, hoping to cover more distance. Focusing on her feet and the ice, she concentrated on not falling. She didn’t want to give Ali the pleasure again.

An uproar from the other rink caught her attention, she looked up to see a large group of men enter the rink. One in particular caught her eye and took her focus away from her skating. Her feet went forward as her weight shifted backwards and she almost had a repeat of last time. The wall saved her this time. But her focus was still skewed.
It’s him
.

“Hailee! You okay over there? I’m not teasing now, let me come help you.” Alison wasn’t joking; there was no laughter on her face as she hopped onto the ice and swiftly skated to Hailee.

Holding on to the side of the boards, Hailee’s gaze was locked on him. Dominic.
What is he doing here
? Then she saw some of the other guys.
Must be a team function.
Just my luck
. And what was worse was that when Alison called to her, he heard her name and popped his head this way.

“Get me to the bleachers!” Hailee begged as Ali skidded to a stop next to her.

“What? Why?” Alison said, just as Hailee grabbed her and pulled Alison in front of her and held her there, hoping to block his view. “Hailee, what are you doing?”

“He’s over there,” she whispered, although she wasn’t sure why, because he couldn’t hear her from here.

“Who?”

“Dominic. The whole team looks to be.”

“Ooh, hockey players?”

“Yes Ali, there are hockey players over there. Focus, please.”

Hailee did her best to hide behind posts or in the bleachers and still watch what was happening on the other rink.

“Why are you creeping?”

“What? I’m not,” Hailee said, as she looked around her blocked view. Her eyes landed on Dominic skating around with some blonde. Her stomach clenched.

“You are. Why don’t you just get out here and skate? Or we can leave. But don’t hide.”

Hailee looked over at him again, and this time he was with a group of three girls taking a selfie. “You’re right. Let’s go.” Hailee stepped back out on the ice and lost her footing immediately.

“Woah!” Alison grabbed at her, preventing her from meeting the ice again. “Let’s start slow and focus, okay?”

Alison skated backwards, bracing Hailee’s arms to avoid another fall. “Okay, look at me now. Focus on me. Keep moving your feet.”

“Hailee, you need some help?” Dominic’s voice made her jerk her head up; she hadn’t seen him come onto their rink.

“No.” She wanted a witty comeback, but that one word was all she got.

“Nope, she’s doing just fine. Right, Hailee?” Alison grabbed her hand and pulled her along. Alison continued to hold her hand as they skated around the ice, and somehow, it worked. Hailee was steady as she glided along.

“Wow,” Hailee said, as the cool breeze hit her face.

“What?”

“You should hold my hand all the time.” She laughed. “You’re better than the wall.”

“Ha ha. You better learn to do it yourself, because I’m not going to hold your hand all the time.”

“But I will.” Dominic swooped into the middle of their conversation and took Hailee’s hand right out of Ali’s. “I got this.” He smiled at Alison. “Take a break.”

Alison’s face lit up at the sight of Dominic. Looking him over, she let out a schoolgirl like giggle before turning Hailee over to him. Her eyes still wide in wonder, she skated away. Hailee understood that look on her friend’s face. It was the look she often had when she herself looked at Dominic, or used to, before.

“What are you doing?” Hailee squirmed a little, trying to get away, but she started to wobble. She knew full well that struggling might lead to her falling again and really looking like a fool. Especially since two more Renegades had entered the ice and descended upon Ali. Although Dominic’s touch was comforting, she couldn’t let him know that.

“Don’t struggle or you’re going to fall. Just let me help. C’mon.” Dominic led her around the rink, pulling her away from the wall and towards the center of the ice.

She stopped struggling at that point. As much as she wanted to show that she could do this on her own, especially now that he was here, the truth was she couldn’t. Landing on her ass in the middle of the rink was not an idea that she was fond of. “Dominic, what do you want?”

“Just a minute with you.” His smile warmed her chilled body.
Damn my girly reactions
.

His hand was warm and strong. No matter how many times she told her brain to let go, her body wasn’t listening. She tried to push off her right foot to speed up their slow pace. Her heart was racing being this close to him, and she didn’t need this now. But her balance waivered as she did. To avoid falling she grabbed on to him with her other hand and steadied herself.

Dominic clutched her hip with his free hand. His fingertips touching her lower back made her gulp for breath. She looked up at him to ask him what he thought he was doing, but met his deep brown eyes and the words left her brain. His kissable lips curved up at the corners into a small smile. The smile wasn’t forced or his normal flirty grin. It was soft and real. That was how he used to look at her when it was just the two of them. The loudspeaker announcement on the other rink startled her out of her staring stupor.

She quickly pulled her body away from him and cleared her throat. That left her feeling cold, and not just from losing his body heat. She pointed to the other rink and all the people. She spoke, not meaning her words to sound as harsh as they did. “Shouldn’t you get back over there? Aren’t the bunnies going to be looking for you?”

“Bunnies? Oh, you mean those girls?” She nodded at his question. “They aren’t bunnies.”

Hailee rolled her eyes. “Of course they aren’t.”

“No, really. It’s a fundraiser for Children’s Hospital.”

“A fundraiser?” She didn’t know he did those sorts of things. A sense of calm washed over her. It was nice to see he hadn’t changed too much from the Dominic she used to know. A smile snuck up on her.

“A smile. That’s what I like to see.” Dominic slid his hand around hers again and pulled her beside him as he glided over the ice. “Do you remember that time I tried to teach you to skate?”

Her chest warmed and a knot formed in her throat.
I remember everything we did
. “I remember a few times you tried to teach me. Call me a slow learner.” Hailee shrugged as the noise from the rink and all the people faded into the background.

“Or maybe I wasn’t showing you the best or easiest way to learn. Maybe I enjoyed you falling into my arms.”

“I could think of worse things.” There was nothing she liked more than the safety of his embrace. The memory of his strong arms holding her up on the slippery ice all those years ago kept the smile from fading but then became reality as her blades slid out from under her. His arms slipped around her waist, grabbing her before she could fall.

“Good to know.” His eyes glistened in the bright lights of the rink as he stared down into hers. “We had some good times.”

Slowly Dominic released his hold on her, taking her by the hands and again leading her along the ice.

“Oh, I’m not so sure about this.” Hailee looked uneasily down at the frozen surface moving too quickly under her feet for comfort.

“Don’t worry,” Dominic assured her with a sly nod. “I’ve got you.”

His words stuck in her head as her body hummed for him. She didn’t need these feelings to resurface, but for once, it seemed innocent enough to just reminisce. “Okay, but don’t try any of those fancy moves on me.”

“Oh, sweet-tart, you know fancy moves are my thing.” Before she could react, he pulled her in so near to him that his lips were only inches from hers. His breath was warm on her face. “You’re a better student than you thought.”

“I don’t know about that.” Frozen in his gaze, she had no witty comeback. She wanted to remember what it felt like to kiss those lips. To spin out of control under his touch.

“Hailee.”

She missed him saying her name in that sexy low tone.

“I miss you.” He licked his lips, still watching her face intently.

She wanted to tell him how much she missed him too, but if she didn’t pull away now, there was nowhere else for this to go but bad. Apparently he didn’t even remember the other night and the private dance, and she didn’t want to jog his memory. Putting space between them, she laced her fingers in his and started to skate. Her knees shook and her ankles fought to buckle. She tightened her grip for stability. Changing the subject was needed to keep this from going any further.

“Did you say you’re here doing a charity event?”

“Yeah. The team does a lot of them. I enjoy getting involved, especially ones with children. It’s nice seeing their faces so full of joy.”

“And all those people over there are here for the event?”

“Yep. I’m sure there would be a lot more, but they limited the amount of people this time. Some of those folks are people who helped raise money, and some of the kids are patients that we invited. You should come over and join us. It’d be more fun if you were by my side.” Dominic’s eyes were soft looking and his smile now flirty and sexy. He was so damn tempting. “C’mon Hailee. You can attend as my guest. I could help you around the ice. We seem to work well together.”

His offer sounded inviting, at least the part about being at his side. Her ankles wobbled. He pulled her close, avoiding another fall.

“I wish we could go back.” The words fell from her lips before she could stop them.
Did I really just say that out loud
?

“We can. This could be a new start in a new city. We’ve both grown. There’s no reason why we can’t.”

It all sounded so perfect. Getting back what they had. But it would never work. It would only lead to her falling back into the old routine of needing him. She could do this on her own. She
had
to do this on her own. The problem still remained. She didn’t want his help.

Pulling her hand away from his, she jetted off in the direction of her friend who was excitedly skating towards her, and the loud announcement sounded again.

“Hailee! Eeek!” Ali squealed.

“Dom! C’mon!” The two Renegades beckoned.

Alison skated to Hailee with force. Grabbing her shoulders, Ali spun her around in circles while she shrieked. “Hailee, some guy from the Renegades just came over to tell me they’re headed over to Fat-Heads Bar after this! Do you think he was totally hitting on me? Or do you think it was purely to get you to go there for your ex?”

Looking over to see Dominic’s expression, Hailee saw that he was gone, already headed back over to the other rink. She wasn’t even going to consider why that made her heart drop a tiny bit. “I don’t know. Though I'm sure if you wanted to hook up with one of those guys, it wouldn't be that hard.” Ali was gorgeous. Hailee had no doubt that they'd grab her up in an instant.