Meant For You

thirteen.

Miles Dempsey

It's day two of the ice skating clinic my aunt and uncle are hosting. Nola and I decided to get here extra early to have time to ourselves before all the kids start arriving. It's almost eight when we finish taking out all the necessary equipment for the day. Aunt Claire and Uncle John are on their way here now to catch up on paperwork. We sit on the bench, each on our phones in silence.

Never did I think Nola Scott and I would be sitting in a silence that's not awkward. When Aunt Claire asked me if I could instruct the class earlier this week, I didn't hesitate to say yes. I also didn't miss the fact that my heart started racing out of my chest when she told me she was going to ask Nola to be the female instructor.

Just when I thought me and Scott would possibly be out of each other's hair after we had that mutual agreement about two weeks ago, there she was making her way back into my life somehow. I'm beginning to worry that this is far from a coincidence. God, why are you putting this woman in my life? I'm not complaining - at least not like I was before - but why?

I agreed to help my aunt Claire with this clinic for her and the kids but when I heard Nola was going to be involved, I just wanted to do it even more. The image of her face when she saw me again was something I needed to see. I was also curious to see if she would stick to our truce. So far, we've behaved ourselves. Besides the occasional teasing, I'd say it's like what happened between us in the past never happened.

We didn't struggle to teach the class together yesterday. We agreed on everything we had to do and even had a nice conversation after all the kids were gone for the day. That discussion wasn't one I was planning on having. Never would I have assumed that Nola wanted to be an Olympian. I think that's a lot of athlete's dream. To represent their country on the biggest stage of all.

I know I would be honored to do it. But looking at her, I never would have imagined it was something she wanted. When she did tell me though, I could tell how much she wanted it. I've seen that look on so many athletes' faces. We all strive to be the best at what we do, and get to the places we want to be. Even though I don't know Nola all that well, I can feel her competitiveness radiating off her.

Hell, I'd experienced it firsthand when we went head-to-head here at Blazing Ice a couple of weeks ago. Success is difficult. It took me years to achieve my goals. Seeing someone who has so much passion for their sport is always refreshing. Cause the cold hard truth is, passion dies. You can love something with your whole soul, but one day you wake up, and it's not the same anymore.

The number of athletes I've met in my career who no longer love the sport is unfathomable. Granted that I've been playing hockey all my life, the love and passion for the sport is still there. I have never let a bad coach, bad teammate, or bad year ruin the game for me. Hockey is the best thing that's ever happened to me. I don't think anything or anyone would be able to top that.

I see the same passion I have for hockey that Nola has for figure skating. It's why I kept pressing her to consider doing what she wants and achieving those goals that she calls dreams. It may take time, effort, terrible days, blood, sweat, and tears - a lot of those - but I know she has the ability to do it.

Figure skating isn't my forte but I can appreciate talent when I see it. When I first met Nola, I saw what she could do. I can't describe what exactly it was but she was fucking amazing. The thought of interrupting her almost made me feel like shit because I could tell how deep she was into her routine. But the asshole in me did it anyway.

I'd like to believe that the words of encouragement I gave her yesterday made somewhat of a difference. I saw a different glow in her eyes after that conversation. Hopefully, it had something to do with our heart-to-heart. Considering I told her about being adopted. God, I didn't remember that until now. I wasn't planning on talking about it but she asked me to tell her what my paper was about.