Bracing the Blue Line by Lindsay Paige Read Free Book Online Page B

today. Let’s go. Corey’s going to be upset if we’re late,” she tells him before turning to me. “Thanks again, Grant.”
    “No problem, Lucy.”
    She walks off with her brother as he puts a protective arm around her shoulders. Lucy doesn’t seem to mind how her brothers are with her. But that’s based on a very short encounter. What do I know? I rub my hand over my head, feeling the soft, quarter-inch, light brown hair beneath it. What the hell just happened?
    I shake my head, deciding to let the ordeal go, and start reading again. My stomach growls a couple times, but I ignore it as I switch to studying. I’ll grab something to eat when I’m done. After I hit the books, I even manage to write some papers. I hate typing. My fingers never move as fast and efficiently as I would like. So I’ll handwrite my papers, go home, and use one of those talk-to-text programs to type for me.
    It’s been a long day thanks to these past few hours studying, but I think I may go to the rink. I love skating. It’s a good thing I’m a goalie because I’m slow as hell. Much slower than all the other guys, at least. The only place I have speed is in the net, but that doesn’t take away from my natural love to skate around the rink.
    I love the movement of my legs, the burn I feel, and my overall body motion. Being a lean 6’ and 180 pounds, this is a completely different kind of workout than being at the gym. I’m not on the ice five minutes when I find Lucy looking nervous by the benches.
    “I’m sorry for interrupting,” she offers first. “I didn’t think anyone would be here.”
    “How did you get in?” I ask curiously because I locked the entrance behind me.
    “I borrowed a key for tonight from your coach.”
    The sound of my skates on the ice as I glide over are loud and almost echo around us. “Did you have a good dinner with your brothers?” I question. As an only child, her relationship with her brothers and seemingly love even for their overprotectiveness has me very curious.
    Lucy smiles, the fondness clear on her face. “Yes, I did.”
    I nod. “What are you doing here?”
    Her smile falters a little. “I can come back at another time, Grant. I really didn’t mean to interrupt.”
    “You aren’t, depending on why you’re here.”
    She holds up her camera that’s hanging around her neck. I don’t know how I overlooked it. “I wanted to get comfortable here if I’m going to take more pictures.”
    I cock my head to the side to examine her. “What do you mean?”
    Lucy rocks on her heels slightly. “Well, I’m used to the football field or the baseball field. I feel at home there, almost. The rink is relatively new to me, so I thought I could get some generic shots, get a better feel for the place, and my shots will come out even better.”
    “Well, come on. Be careful or you’ll fall.” I start to skate backwards, away from her. “And yell if I get in your way.”
    “Thanks, Grant.”
    From the corner of my eye, I watch as she slowly walks along the boards to behind the net. She tilts her head as if thinking about what she wants to do. Lucy shuffles her way in front of the net. She squats down, and it looks like she’s taking a picture of the pole itself. I skate around this side of the rink, watching as she takes shot after shot.
    “Grant,” she calls out when I’m standing in the middle of the ice. She’s crouched behind the net, her camera already in place. “Come this way, please. I’ll tell you when you’re out of the way.”
    I start to skate towards her, and she calls out as promised. I keep going because this is a picture I want to see. She takes a bunch of different ones while I lean against the boards before she pulls away. Without paying me a lick of attention, she stands, reviewing what she took and nodding in approval as she turns to the left.
    Lucy lifts her head and jumps when she sees me. She’s so startled that she loses her balance. I quickly reach for her