Offside by Juliana Stone Page B

and
paused as a rusted out, silver Chevy rolled past. The driver’s
window was down, and she earned one hell of a scowl as Ed
Cronkwright searched for a spot to pull his truck into. He mumbled
something as he passed and though she couldn’t hear his words, she
sure as hell got the drift.
    She watched him pull into a spot farther
along and thought, screw you.
    This was hockey—nothing more—and she wanted
to play. Billie wasn’t going to let anyone take that away from her.
Not Seth Longwood, or Ed Cronkwright or her sister. Not the
bastards who’d vandalized her car, or even the thought of being so
damn close to Logan Forest.
    She heard Ed’s door slam and flipped him a
mental bird. Scowl all you want, asshole. I need this.
    All week she’d been on pins and needles.
Bobbi was pissed. And, sure, Billie was big enough to admit that
maybe some of it was deserved—Bobbi obviously believed she was
sleeping with Shane—but still, it didn’t mean that every single
person who orbited Bobbi-Jo Barker’s circle deserved to be as
miserable as her sister was.
    As far as Billie was concerned, her sister
loved to wallow in darkness. Why else would she hook up with
someone like Gerald Dooley and pretend to be something she
wasn’t?
    Frustrated, Billie entered the arena and
pushed all thoughts of her family aside. She’d think about them
later. Right now, she had a game to concentrate on.
    “Hey, Billie.”
    She glanced up. Kendall McKallister waved
from across the lobby. The teenager lived two doors down from the
Barkers and was an avid hockey player. At the moment she was
surrounded by her teammates. They all wore their hockey jerseys,
the bold maroon and gold was pretty hard to miss. They must have a
game on the second ice pad.
    She smiled, waved back and thought that maybe
she’d catch the rest of their game when she was done. That sounded
more her speed than hanging with ‘Angry Pirates’ at The Grill.
Besides, it’s not likely Logan Forest would stay to watch a bunch
of teenage girls play hockey, and Billie was more than okay with
that. The further she stayed away from the man the better. Her
brain tended to malfunction when he was around and she couldn’t
afford anymore lapses.
    One kiss was enough.
    “Have a good one,” Kendall shouted. “Give
them hell.”
    Surprised, Billie smiled. “You too.”
    She disappeared below and quickly found her
room designation, hoping there wouldn’t be a surprise waiting on
the other side. Gingerly, she pushed the door open and heaved a
sigh of relief when she found it empty.
    Ten minutes later she was lacing up her
skates when a knock sounded.
    “Billie, you decent?”
    “Yeah,” her heart sped up and then slowed
down when she realized it was Shane, not Logan.
    Gallagher pushed the door open and peeked
inside. “Hey, Cronkwright is filling in for The Whalers goalie.
Duggen’s wife went into labor.”
    Billie grabbed her bright yellow jersey and
pulled it over her head, tossing a long, thick braid behind her
back. She reached for her helmet and arched a brow.
    “And I care because…”
    Shane grinned and for a moment she saw the
young man he used to be. Wow, he kinda took her breath away. He was
still dangerous—still had that edge that made men take a step back
while their women plowed forward—but there was something soft there
too. She totally saw the man her sister had fallen in love
with.
    What the hell had happened between them?
    “Look, I know you held back last week.
Christ, we could have won by twenty goals instead of eight. I also
know Ed hated every single one you put behind his ass and in the
net.”
    [i] Good .[i]
    Billie grabbed her stick and mouth guard.
“This going anywhere?”
    “Ed made you walk home from the shop, asshole
that he is.”
    Her natural hockey high was slowly
diminishing as the realities of her life filtered through. She
frowned.
    “Shane…a point to your rambling would be good
right about now.”
    Shane tapped his stick on the edge