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how it could be possible.
    The older girls’ sniffles got louder, and I knew they were thinking along the same lines I was. None of us wanted to see Sophie hurt, but we also didn’t want to fall into the trap of telling her she couldn’t , because we’d always told her she could .
    Mattias didn’t pay our crying any mind. He focused in on Sophie, his expression serious. And he nodded, which made something in my belly flip even as I wanted to stop him from saying whatever was about to come out of his mouth. “You want to skate? To play hockey? That’s what you really want?”
    “Yes. Just like Levi.”
    “All right,” he said, and my heart sank down lower than my toes, because no matter how much I tried to convince myself that Sophie could do anything she set her mind on, I knew it wasn’t really true. And skating? Playing hockey? That would be as close to impossible a task as she could set for herself. But Mattias didn’t let it deter him, and I didn’t stop him in time to prevent him from making her a promise that he would never be able to keep. “I’ll make you a deal.”
    “What deal?”
    “You convince your mom to let me kiss her after our date tomorrow, and I’ll find a way to make it happen. I’ll help you learn to skate and play hockey. It might take longer than tomorrow, though.”
    “Deal!” Sophie said.
    Done. That was that, even though I knew she was in for a huge disappointment when he couldn’t find a way to make it possible for her. The balance necessary to stay upright on skate blades, the coordination required to stay on skates while attempting to hit a puck with a stick were outside the realm of her skill set, no matter how much she wanted it and no matter how hard she tried. Whether I was ready for it or not, my sweet little girl was going to try to skate.
    And apparently, I was getting a kiss tomorrow.

    I’D GIVEN THAT little girl a promise I wasn’t at all positive I could deliver on, but I’d be damned if I didn’t exhaust every resource I had before admitting defeat. And not just because I wanted to kiss her mother, either. I was reasonably certain I’d be able to get the kiss from Paige whether I helped Sophie learn to skate or not.
    Playing hockey was something that Linnea had wanted, too, and I’d never been able to give it to her. I had always felt like a failure on that score, like I’d let my sister down. But if I could make it happen for Sophie, taking into account all the technological advances that had taken place in the last few decades and with the hockey minds involved with the Storm organization at my disposal, then maybe I could make it up to Linnea in some way.
    Yes, it was an illogical thought, but I didn’t care. I was determined to find a way for Sophie Calhoun to learn how to skate and play hockey. And when I made up my mind to do something, there was nothing that would stop me from reaching my goal. I might have some stops and starts. There would likely be failures along the way. But I would only truly fail when I gave up and admitted defeat.
    The next morning, well before any of my players were due to arrive, I was already holed up in my office with my laptop open, Googling everything under the moon remotely related to assistive devices for skating to get my ideas flowing. I needed something that would help her stay upright but which would leave her arms free so she could hold a stick, and so far I was coming up empty. I kept coming to devices similar to a walker only with skis on the bottom, but she would have to hold on to something like that with both hands.
    David Weber, one of my assistant coaches, poked his head through the door after I’d been working for well over an hour. “Wasn’t expecting you here so early,” he said. He came in carrying two cups of coffee and set one of them in front of me. “This have anything to do with your hot mom from yesterday?”
    I shot him a go-to-hell look. “Her daughter, actually. Sophie wants to skate and