Heat it Up: Off the Ice - Book One by Stina Lindenblatt Read Free Book Online

physician gave me the okay after the accident to start physical therapy, I’d pushed myself hard. Anything to get me back on the ice again as quickly as possible. But it hadn’t been enough for me to return to the Bears or to any other NHL team. No one wants a player with a bummed leg.
    To distract myself from the need to run with the boys, I lay out the equipment for the first drill. I can always hit the gym after my afternoon with Sofia and use the stationary bike. My leg can handle it better than running anyway.
    The first boys to finish the laps stop in front of the equipment. Once everyone is here, I give them a few minutes to get stretched out.
    “We’ve been working on balance for the past few days, and now you’re ready for something more advanced.” I place my left foot on my right calf, and bounce the ping-bong ball on the paddle, keeping the bounces small and controlled. I continue until I’ve bounced the ball twenty times. Not once do I drop it.
    I lower my foot. “I want you to start with ten bounces. You can work up to more as you get better at it. Then switch legs.” Fortunately, no one asks me to demonstrate the skill with my left leg. I’m nowhere near as impressive with that leg. Nothing like I used to be before the accident.
    I walk around the group as they attempt the exercise. Mikko sends the ball up high, but his paddle tilts slightly and the flight path of his ball is altered. He can’t reach it in enough time, and it falls to the grass. “Keep the bounces small,” I remind them. “You aren’t trying to knock the moon out of the sky.”
    Several boys snicker and lose control of their balls. A few curses are muttered in Finnish. I recognize them from when Nik first played with the Bears. Now he swears in English like the rest of us.
    Once they’ve finished the drill, I teach them two others. “Whenever you have a spare moment,” I tell them, “you should practice the drills. Alone they won’t improve your skills, but balance, agility, coordination, reaction time, and speed are all important to your overall performance.”
    Nik still isn’t here, so I have the boys move onto the agility part of our dryland training. “Do you guys know what the crab walk is?”
    They exchange looks. I’m sure they know what it is. They just aren’t familiar with the English word for it. I demonstrate what I want them to do. While they crab walk to the pylons, I let my thoughts drift to Sofia and the kiss. It’s not the first time I’ve thought about it. It was all I could think about last night.
    The question is will I get to kiss her again? She made it clear yesterday that she doesn’t want a boyfriend and she doesn’t believe in love. She also made it clear that she isn’t interested in dating casually. Which means she doesn’t view our time together as anything other than hanging out as friends. Now I have to convince her that kissing me again is a good idea, even if we are just friends.
    The boys return to the start line, performing the crab walk backwards. By the time Nik shows up, the boys have done leapfrog, the wheelbarrow, and several other drills to work on their agility.
    “Miss me?” Even though he sounds amused, he looks tired. All those puck bunnies he’s been hooking up with are wearing him out.
    Smirking, I slap him on the back. “Absolutely. I don’t know how I survived without you.”
    The boys return to the sideline as they complete the final drill. Nik and I have them each grab two yo-yos from the tote. Last week, the boys worked on their coordination by using two yo-yos simultaneously, one in each hand. They start first with that drill.
    “I won’t be going to the gym with you after work,” I tell Nik, keeping things vague. The last thing I want to mention is Sofia. Yesterday morning, he pointed out that he wanted to tap her. Not that he’s seen her since the sauna incidence.
    He simply nods, his attention focused on the boys.
    I’m impressed at how far they’ve