“You ready?” Jane asked Viktor a week later when they were at the rink. It was time for him to start skating again. Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews and a couple of the other guys would join them later on. Jane was a little wobbly on her skates when she first stepped on the ice, but she caught herself quickly. She wasn’t the world’s best skater, but she could do a couple of rounds without falling on her butt.
She’d been a lot more relaxed around Viktor. He’d made it easy for her. Now that he knew about her past, about the stories behind her scars, she wasn’t afraid of showing them to him. Covering up every little bit of her body, where scars were visible wasn’t necessary anymore. Viktor made her feel at ease in his apartment.
“Yeah. I was ready weeks ago.” Viktor grinned at her. It had felt so good to lace up his skates again. To put on at least a part of his hockey get-up and stand in front of the ice now. When Jane reached out her hand, he grabbed hold of it and stepped on the ice. Together they started skating slowly around the rink.
Viktor closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the smell of the ice, the cold breeze around his nose and the gentle swish of his and Jane’s skates. It was great to be skating again, especially because he didn’t feel any pain. If this training with the guys went well, he’d be evaluated by the coaches and staff. Maybe they’d let him play in a week from now. They didn’t have anything to lose, because they already had their playoff spot, and it would be better to let him play again before the playoffs started.
“Do you feel any pain?” Jane asked. She wanted to let go of his hand, but he only tightened his grip and pulled her a little closer.
“I’m fine. No pain at all.” They skated a little longer, but then Viktor came to a stop. He pulled Jane close and kissed her. “Thank you. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Damn right.” She grinned at him and kissed him again. “To be fair, you could have done it with someone else, but that might have taken longer.”
“I know.” Viktor leaned down to kiss her again, but someone cleared their throat behind him, making him turn around to see who it was. “Patrick! Jonny!”
Upon seeing them, Jane immediately took a step away from Viktor, eyes wide. Had they seen them kissing? It wasn’t that she was ashamed of what they were doing, it was just that not everybody had to know about it.
“Good to see that you can still skate at normal speed.” Jonathan Toews said with a grin before he stepped on the ice.
“Yeah, we’re gonna see how fast you can go now,” Sharpie added and crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes moved on to Jane. “I see you’re having fun on the ice as well.”
“I… Yeah. I couldn’t let him on the ice alone, could I?” Jane blushed and averted her eyes for a moment.
“That’s not what I meant, but okay.” Sharpie was grinning like a maniac. He really liked what he’d just seen. It was good for both of them.
“I think it’s time for me to go.” Jane sighed and looked up at Viktor. “I’ll go and buy some stuff for dinner and get back here in about an hour. Is that alright.”
“Sure.” Viktor nodded and watched her skate off the ice. She took off the skates and swapped them with her shoes. When he turned back to his two friends, both were looking at him curiously. “What?”
“So, you and Jane, huh?” Sharpie said, still keeping the grin on his face.
“What about it?”
“Nothing. We’re just glad to see you so happy,” Jonathan interjected, putting a hand on Viktor’s shoulder. “She’s been good to you and if you two are together now, that’s even better.”
“Well, I don’t know what it is we’re having, but it sure is nice.”
“Just don’t hurt her, okay?” Suddenly Patrick looked at him without even the hint of a smile. He’d protect Jane with his life, that was for sure.
“I would never hurt her on purpose. You know, she opened up to me about her past, and since then she’s been a lot more relaxed around me. Believe me, hurting her is the last thing I want to do.”
“Good. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, how about we shoot some pucks?” Jonathan handed Viktor his hockey stick and took his own. They emptied a bucket of pucks on the ice and started out easy.
It was good for Viktor to be on the ice with his teammates. Shooting pucks at the net, skating around, all that felt like heaven to him. More people appeared and told him how glad they were to have him back, to see him in his skates again. He might not be playing with them the next day, but they knew that he’d be back in the lineup soon.
Before he knew it, the time was up and Jane was back at the rink. She quietly sat down and watched them for fifteen more minutes, before she got up and got their attention. Viktor couldn’t suppress the smile forming on his lips.
“Sorry to break up the party, but it’s time for Viktor to go home,” Jane said loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Booh, you’re no fun,” Patrick Kane said as he skated past.
“Yeah, let him stay just five minutes longer,” Brandon Bollig added.
“Come on, Jane. Five minutes!” Sharpie pleaded with her.
“Guys, you want him to play with you again, so you should let him go now. It’s not like I don’t want you guys to have fun, but I don’t want Viktor to come home with pain in his knee or something. If you want him back on the team as soon as possible, we have to leave now.”
“Bye, Viktor. Have fun at home.” Jonathan Toews waved at him, some of the others joined in.
Viktor could only grin because of Jane’s little talk. He waved at his friend as well and stepped off the ice. Jane was smiling up at him. It made him want to kiss her, but he resisted that urge, still aware of her reaction when Jonathan and Patrick had seen them.
He would have loved to skate a little longer, shoot some more pucks, but Jane was right. He had to rest up at home, and he was already looking forward to eating another meal prepared by her while he put some ice on his knee. It wasn’t hurting right there and then, but it would probably hurt a little when they were back at his apartment.