Chasing Charli (Alaska Blizzard Book 6) Page 3

  “I’m single, yes, but you’re still playing matchmaker for nothing. He’s not interested in me that way and I’m really not looking for a boyfriend.”

  “How come?” Sara asked, raising her eyebrows. “I mean, it’s cool if you’re not into men or you don’t believe in marriage or whatever, but if you’re straight, most of us need the Big D once in a while. Right?”

  “Absolutely!” Whitney agreed, grinning.

  “Too bad Dani isn’t here.” Hailey giggled. “She would tell us all about Sergei’s very big D!”

  “And Miikka being Miikka, my guess is a humongously big D!” Sara burst out laughing.

  Charli was positive she was bright red as she shook her head, despite the laughter escaping her. “I’m straight, definitely, but it’s been a while since I’ve had any D, much less the big kind, so I’m not even sure how I’d go about that.”

  They all dissolved into giggles and Charli gulped down her glass of wine. It had been years since she’d sat and talked about…penis size with a group of fun-loving women. They were obviously comfortable enough around each other to talk this way, but Charli didn’t have those kinds of girlfriends. Her two friends here in Anchorage were both teachers she worked with and while Stacy and Kendra were great, they were fairly quiet and shy, like her. They mostly talked about work or books or some new restaurant they wanted to visit, though they occasionally talked about men and dating. Stacy had recently gotten involved with someone, so they hadn’t seen her in a while.

  “We all need some D now and then,” Sara said firmly. “And if it’s been a while, Miikka might be the perfect solution.”

  “Not if I’m going to be his English tutor,” Charli said softly. “I could use the money, so I wouldn’t want to do anything to screw that up.”

  “Well, if a roll in the sheets is off the table, we’re back to matchmaking,” Whitney said, setting them all off again.

  As much as the subject matter pained her, Charli couldn’t help but warm to them. They were so friendly and easygoing; it was nice to feel like she was part of them. Part of anything that didn’t include five-year-olds and books. She’d convinced herself a long time ago that she didn’t need complications like men and girlfriends that liked to party, but that had been college. This was real life now and it seemed like it was time to have a little fun. Maybe not the kind of fun one had with a hunky, Finnish professional hockey player, but something in between nothing and Miikka.

  The game was fantastic and Charli found herself swept up in the excitement of it, cheering with the WAGs and drawn to the redheaded Finn she was watching. He was breathtaking on the ice, so fast and powerful it mesmerized her for a while. Every time he had the puck, she had to force herself not to jump to her feet and scream “Go!” Lots of other fans did it, but it felt different to be here among the players’ families, like she couldn’t allow herself to get as caught up in it as she wanted to. Certainly not the way she did when she watched on TV by herself.

  Completely lost in the game, Charli was almost disappointed when it was over, even though the Blizzard won and the WAGs were laughing and cheering.

  “Ready to go say hi to Miikka and the others?” Hailey asked her.

  “Um, sure.” Charli wasn’t sure what else to say so she followed them to a private elevator that took them to a lower level of the arena where the family lounge was located.

  “So the players come down here after most home games to say hi to their guests and families,” Whitney told her. “This has been a tough season so far, with the head coach getting pregnant, then the new head coach’s wife getting cancer, and them bringing in a first-year assistant coach from another team.”

  “How did I not know the head coach was a woman?” Charli asked, frowning. “That’s pretty uncommon in the league, isn’t it?”

  “Absolutely. Laurel is amazing. She coached me and Dani when we won our gold medals at the Olympics.” Hailey grinned

  “That’s awesome. You guys are all pretty impressive.” She paused, turning to Whitney. “You look so familiar, too. Are you an actress?”

  Whitney smiled. “I’m a model. I’m the face of Raven Cosmetics.”

  “Oh! I’ve seen your face in the makeup department of the department stores. Now I know why you look familiar.”

  “Do you use our products?”

  Charli flushed. “Unfortunately, your stuff is pretty high-end and out of my price range.”

  “Well, next time I see you, I’ll bring you some samples.” Whitney winked and moved over to where someone was calling to her. “See you later!”

  “Hey.” Dani came in and grinned. “Did you have fun?”

  “It was incredible. Thank you so much for inviting me. I’m going to be exhausted tomorrow morning, but it was worth it.”

  “I’m glad.” Dani squeezed her arm. “The guys are showering and changing clothes, but they’ll be up soon.”

  “No worries.”

  Charli stuck close to Hailey, somewhat intimidated now that she looked around at the beautiful women and children in the room. These were the families of the players and for the first time in a long time, she felt very alone. Normally she didn’t mind, but this was poignant somehow, as if mockingly reminding her that she had no one in her life. Not even a best friend. Not like these women. She knew from previous conversations with Dani in her classroom that Dani and Sara had been best friends since freshman year of college and Hailey had been Dani’s roommate while training for the Olympics. There was a group of them that hung out and they all spent time together both personally and professionally.

  “Here they come.” Hailey nudged Charli back to the present and she turned, her eyes falling on Miikka the second he walked into the room. He was laughing at something one of the guys was saying and didn’t notice her at first, but Hailey gave her a little nudge forward and she had no choice but to acknowledge him.

  “Hey, Miikka.”

  “Hello!” He grinned happily. “You are here!”

  “Yes. Thank you for inviting me—I had a great time.”

  “Logan!” He was calling to one of his friends.

  “Hey.” Logan walked over to them and smiled at Charli. “Hi. I’m Logan.”

  “Charli.” She shook his hand, thinking he was cute but looked way too young to be a professional hockey player.

  “This is Charli!” Miikka told him. “I tell you about.”

  “Huh?” Logan looked confused.

  “She is teaching,” Miikka said happily.

  “I’m tutoring him in English,” Charli supplied helpfully.

  “It’s about time,” Logan said. “We’ve been telling him to take a class or something. He’s got a bunch of community outreach appearances to make, so he really needed to up his game. So to speak.”

  “Well, I’ll do my best to get him there.” She said the words but they felt a little hollow. She’d hoped that maybe he wanted her to teach him English as just an excuse to see her, but apparently not. He actually needed a teacher and she’d been convenient. She shouldn’t have been disappointed, but she was. No matter what the WAGs had said earlier, Finnish hockey hunks didn’t make passes at girls wearing glasses. Or something sad like that.

  5

  Miikka was glad to see Charli in the family lounge. He’d had fun with her the other night and had been looking forward to seeing her again. He didn’t have many friends outside the team so he got lonely sometimes and she was one of the only people he’d met since moving to the U.S. that didn’t have a problem understanding him. They had to use the translators on their phones a lot, but she hadn’t seemed to mind and almost had a sixth sense when it came to knowing what he was trying to say. It was refreshing and he hoped his friends liked her as much as he did.

  She was quiet tonight, though, smiling politely but hanging out more with the girls than with him, which bothered him a little. She was pretty shy, so that probably had something to do with it. Instead of pushing it, he left her to hang with Dani and the other girls
as he lounged against one wall. He rarely came to the family lounge after games since he didn’t have any family here, didn’t have a girlfriend, and struggled with small talk anyway. His sister, Tara, had come for a few weeks earlier this year but she was back in Finland now, which left him mostly on his own.

  “Your date is cute,” Donovan Legori, the team’s backup goalie, said to him. “How come she’s over there?”

  “No date,” Miikka said, shaking his head. “He teach English.”

  “She.”

  “Eh?”

  “She’s a woman, so it’s she, not he.”

  Miikka scowled. This was always a problem for him. In Finnish, pronouns were gender neutral, and he could never remember when to say he and when to say she when speaking English. He understood the difference, he just had trouble remembering which was which.

  “So you’re not going to hit that?” Ryder Kingston, a new guy on the team, was checking Charli out.

  While Miikka struggled with most of the English language, he’d spent enough time in hockey locker rooms to have a handle on anything sexual, and he made a face at his new teammate. “Don’t.”

  “Don’t what? You said you were just friends. Why can’t I talk to her?”

  Miikka gave him a dirty look, the usual frustration with the language barrier setting in and pissing him off more than usual. Before he could come up with a pertinent reply, Ryder was ambling in Charli’s direction, leaving Miikka grunting under his breath.

  “You can’t have it both ways,” Donovan told him. “If you don’t want to go out with her, why can’t Ryder?”

  Miikka opened his mouth and shut it again. Instead, he followed Ryder over to Charli, intent on making sure his teammate behaved. Charli was way too sweet for a dog like Ryder. He wasn’t a bad guy from what Miikka could tell, but he’d only been in Anchorage about six weeks and had already slept with half the regular puck bunnies that hung out at the rink after practice. And that wasn’t a small number. Charli was definitely not the kind of girl to be a notch in someone’s bedpost, especially not when Miikka needed her to be his tutor. If Ryder did something to upset her, she might not come around anymore, and learning English aside, Miikka wanted to get to know her. He needed a little time to work up the nerve to officially ask her out, but that meant not letting one of his teammates beat him to it.

  “Hey, I’m about to go,” Charli said as Miikka approached. “Six o’clock comes early and I need my wits about me for chasing kids all day.”

  “You’re a teacher?” Ryder asked, eyeing her appreciatively.

  “Kindergarten.” She gave him a shy smile. “Five-year-olds keep me busy.”

  “I’ll bet they do.”

  “I will walk.” Miikka stood between Charli and Ryder, blocking her from the other man’s view. “Ready?”

  “Yes. Thank you.” She hugged Dani and waved to the other ladies before smiling at Ryder and following Miikka into the hall.

  “Tomorrow?” he asked. “Time?”

  “How about we meet at the Starbucks by the school… Do you know where it is?”

  He shook his head.

  “Okay, I’ll text you the address and see you at four o’clock. Is that okay?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good night. And thank you. I had a great time.”

  “You are welcome.”

  “Good night, Miikka.” Charli turned and headed back towards the elevator bank and he watched her thoughtfully. She was such a sweet girl, maybe one of his buddies would be better for her. Not Ryder; he was too much of a bad boy. Donovan was newly divorced and a nice guy, but that didn’t feel right either. The problem was that thinking of her with one of the other guys made him uncomfortable. Which made zero sense. He barely knew Charli and she wasn’t really his type. So then, why was he finding excuses to make sure his friends didn’t go out with her?

  Charli got to the Starbucks a few minutes before four and spotted Miikka immediately. He was sitting at a small table in the back, doing something on his laptop. He looked up as she approached and quickly got to his feet to greet her.

  “Hello!”

  “Hi.” She smiled and put her bag down. “Let me grab a drink and—”

  “I buy. You are teacher.” He walked to the counter with her and she ordered a grande white chocolate latte with whipped cream. Calories be damned, she deserved a treat once in a while. Not that she worried about what she ate that much. She stayed in shape by chasing kids all day and doing yoga on the weekends, but she didn’t buy fancy coffees very often.

  “Okay, when are you leaving on your road trip?” she asked him as they settled in.

  “Friday.”

  “And when do you come back?”

  “Next Friday. Then game Saturday.”

  “Okay. So I’m giving you homework for while you’re away.”

  He frowned.

  She pulled up a translation program on her laptop and typed in what she’d said.

  He responded by arching a brow at her. So she continued to type:

  If you want to learn English well, you have to start at the beginning. I’ve brought some books for little kids, and you’re going to read them over and over while you’re gone. You’re also going to read them to me either on the phone or via video chat.

  He seemed skeptical but nodded. “Okay, but is more?”

  “I understand you have an appearance coming up?” She met his gaze. “And you want to be able to say more than you can now.”

  He nodded. “Yes. I must talk to peoples…”

  She typed out another response since it was complicated and essential that he understood the plan.

  Today we’ll practice the basics of conversation. I can’t teach you the nuances of English in one lesson, but we’ll start with some greetings and common phrases, and you’ll practice them every time you call me. In addition to your homework.

  He grimaced. “Homework—bad.”

  She laughed. “No, it’s not. I promise, it’s going to help.”

  He waited, watching her.

  “Okay. So, where is this appearance?”

  “Hospital. With children.”

  “The kids won’t want to talk about much except hockey and maybe a few personal questions, but you need to focus on greetings and hockey talk, which also helps if you have to do interviews during or after games.”

  “Yes. This.”

  “So let’s pretend I’m one of the kids and you’ve just arrived. What do you say?”

  “Hello! I-am-Miikka-Laasonen.” He spoke so fast his words ran together and if she hadn’t known what he was saying, she wouldn’t have understood him at all.

  “Okay, first of all, slow down. Second, say I’m, not I am. And finally, say hi, not hello. That’s too formal. Try again.”

  He hesitated. “Hi. I…’m Miikka. Laasonen.”

  She spoke slowly so she could enunciate for him. “Hi. I’m Miikka Lassonen. Repeat that.”

  “Hi. I’m Miikka-Laasonen.”

  “Once more. A little slower.”

  They did it half a dozen more times until it was smoother, more natural. “Very good.” She smiled. “Now, they’ll probably introduce themselves or give you a casual greeting. I’m not sure how the conversation will go, but you might want to say something like, ‘How’s your day been so far?’ Okay? Try it.”

  He repeated the phrase a dozen times as she worked with him to speak at a natural rate and pronounce everything correctly. It wasn’t his accent so much as his understanding of the language, which seemed to be nonexistent. For someone who’d been in North America for nearly a decade, he struggled more than she thought he should, but she was determined to get him through it.

  After thirty minutes, she decided to test him. “Okay, we’re going to start over. Pretend you just arrived.”

  “Hi, I’m Miikka Laasonen.” His accent was still strong but he was much easier to understand now.

  “Hi, Miikka. I’m a big fan!”

  He grinned. “Thank you
. How’s you day been so far?”

  “Your,” she corrected gently.

  “Paska.” He grumbled out the word in frustration.

  “What does that mean?” she laughed.

  He grinned. “Paska means shit.”

  “How about you teach me to curse in Finnish while I’m teaching you English?”

  “Yes. This is good.”

  “Okay, let’s keep going. I’m going to answer your question.” She took a breath, as if preparing for a role. “I’ve had a good day, hanging out with my friends. What did you do today?”

  “The team had practice this morning, so after this I’ll probably relax the rest of day.”

  “The rest of the day,” she said.

  “The rest of the day,” he repeated, copying her inflection as well as the words themselves.

  “Now, we can’t know where the conversation will go,” she said, “but it’s safest for you to talk about hockey and the team. What’s your position?”

  “I play left wing.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means I play offense and spend most of my time on the left side of the ice.”

  “That’s so exciting!” She lightly clapped her hands, the way a child might, and they both laughed.

  “This was okay?” he asked. “It was long words.”

  “Long sentence, but yes, you said it perfectly.”

  “Finally.”

  “We’re going to practice this conversation and a few basic answers over and over on the phone while you’re gone. But you’re also going to read to me.” She pulled a couple of books out of her bag. “These are a little advanced for kindergarten, but I think they’re perfect for you.”

  He took them and slowly opened the first one. “This is for children. What is this… Dr. Use?”

  “Dr. Seuss,” she said, enunciating slowly.

  “Green Eggs and Ham? What is this food?”

  She laughed. “You can read to me on the phone. You’ll see.”

  He frowned as if doubtful. “This is good?”

  “It’s how you’re going to learn the nuances of the language. Trust me, Miikka. I know what I’m doing.”