6. Six

Six

Bo

I was way too excited to be by the seaside again, so I ran and had trouble keeping my whooping laughter in.

Ollie followed me slowly down to the shore, a reluctant grin tugging at the corners of his sinful mouth. He watched me roll up my trousers, and chuckled under his breath when I ran through the waves, splashing water and turning on the spot, brimful of joy and feeling freer than I had done in months, maybe years.

Hockey had been my whole life for the past two decades. I started playing when I was six, got discovered at eight, and busted my ass every day since. I ate only what fuelled my body to perform at its best and stayed away from anything that even had a slight chance of hurting me. Anything that might lead to me being unable to fulfil the contract I made with the Pumas.

Today, and with Ollie nearby, I had the overwhelming urge to truly feel alive in my body.

"It's lovely to see you smile," I told him when, at last, I was back before him, windswept and out of breath.

"I was just thinking the same thing about you. You smile often, but I've never seen you so relaxed. It's nice." He blushed a little, and everything in me screamed to hug him and kiss him into oblivion. Perhaps Ollie saw it, too, because he spun away from me to hide his face, but I could have sworn he bit his lip as if to stop himself from jumping my bones.

You can jump them whenever you like, ?lskling.

"Shall we go exploring a bit? I want to show you the town."

"Yeah, let's go." I brushed his forearm with my fingertips, and we trudged back up the stairs.