to his arm. When she skated with her hands free, he stayed close enough that he could reach her if she fell.
There were moments when she still looked at him like she was completely starstruck, but more and more, he seemed to be becoming a real person to her. Not just her hockey idol or even Dad’s boyfriend, but a down-to-earth nice guy who was teaching her something she’d always wanted to learn. They got along like I’d always hoped she and my partner would get along, which made my heart flutter.
It made me kind of nervous, too. There was no telling what the future held for Jase and me as a couple. If things didn’t work out between us, then I just hoped we could keep them amicable. I always hoped for that anyway, but this time, I definitely had my fingers crossed because I didn’t want a breakup between us to cost my daughter her friend or her hockey hero. I wasn’t quite sure how to make sure the chips fell that way if we split up, but I supposed I’d cross that bridge if and when we came to it.
In the middle of the rink, Jase skated a tight figure eight, then gestured for Dallas to do the same. She started to push off, but then hesitated. She wavered on her skates.
My heart jumped into my throat just like it always did when she fell or even wobbled.
Then Jase suddenly skated toward her and grabbed her upper arms a second before she lost her balance. He crouched a little, and when he looked at her, the concern in his expression sent a jolt of panic through me. So did the telltale way she rubbed her right eye.
“Oh shit,” I murmured. I wanted to hurry across the ice, but I was in sneakers, and I wouldn’t do her any good if I busted my ass.
As I watched helplessly, Jase and Dallas exchanged a few words. Then he rose, wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and let her lean against him as they skated toward the bench.
I already had a pill packet out and open before they’d even cleared the ice. “How bad is it?”
“Not bad yet.” She grimaced as she sat down on the bench. “Just started.”
“Auras?”
She nodded.
“Okay. Okay, we’ll get out of here.” I handed Dallas her pill and water bottle, and as she took the pill, I looked at Jase. “I need to get her home. The meds will pretty much knock her out, and she needs to be someplace dark and quiet in case they don’t work.”
“Sure. Yeah.” He nodded. “Let me go grab her shoes out of the locker room.”
“Thanks.”
He clomped down the chute, and I crouched in front of Dallas to start unlacing her skates for her. When he came back, he put both his shoes and hers on the bench, sat beside her, and started unlacing one of his skates. “You know, my place is closer than yours. Why don’t we just take her there?”
I blinked. “What?”
“It’s fifteen minutes instead of forty.”
“But it’s… I mean…” I glanced at her, then at him. As much as I didn’t want to impose, a fifteen-minute drive would be a hell of a lot less miserable for her. “Are you sure?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
I hated to be an imposition, but damn, I couldn’t argue if it meant getting her someplace sooner than later, so I just murmured, “Thanks. You’re the best.”
“I’m sorry.” Dallas sounded on the verge of tears as I kept unlacing her skates. “I was really having fun.”
“It’s okay.” Jase sat beside her, and as he started unlacing his other skate, and he flashed a quick smile. “We’ll do it again when you’re feeling better.”
She smiled a little, but then closed her eyes and covered them with her hands.
“Jase,” I said, “there’s a plastic glasses case in her bag.” I nodded toward it as I gently tugged Dallas’s skate free. “Could you grab it?”
He unzipped her small backpack, quickly found the purple case, and handed it to me.
I took out the sunglasses. “Here, kiddo.”
Dallas put them on, but she probably still kept her eyes closed. The auras nauseated her sometimes. At least this way, if she needed to open her eyes while we walked out to the car, the overhead light would be tempered a little.
Dallas’s meds kicked in fast, and by the time everyone had changed into street shoes and we’d started heading for the car, she was tired and unsteady on her