Page 11 of A Shot at Love
They locked eyes immediately and Jules offered her a small, timid smile.
“And this,” Cam said, “is Coach Stevens.”
Frankie tried, she really did, but she could not stop a laugh from bubbling up and slipping out as she looked at the two people standing a few feet away from her.
Cameron Clarke, star forward, hockey heartthrob and league favourite and beside him, his twin sister Juliettewith her striking glacial eyes and soft lips. She really was gorgeous and Frankie's heart fluttered in her chest as she admired her features.
Her blonde hair was down today, falling to the tops of her shoulders in loose waves that Frankie had the sudden urge to run her fingers through. She didn’t know how she’d missed it but Cam and Jules were so obviously twins. Their features so strikingly similar, the same bright blue gaze, same high cheekbones, the same easy smile that seemed to put people at ease.
It was clear as day now that she was looking at them standing side by side and it’s why Cameron had seemed so familiar to her when they'd first met. Standing together now, Frankie felt foolish for not noticing it earlier.
“Coach Stevens…” Cam said apprehensively, narrowing his gaze at her. He probably thought she was crazy, laughing at the sister he was introducing her to. “This is my twin sister, Juliette."
Nodding, Frankie bit her lip and smiled. “Yup, we’ve uh…we’ve actually met.”
A look of confusion slid onto Cam’s face and he glanced at Jules. “You've already met?”
“So…funny story…it turns out she lives in the same condo building as us and we met at the fitness centre,” Jules confessed sheepishly.
“Why didn’t you tell me the two of you had already met when I told you she was one of the coaches?” He asked and Frankie picked up on a slight hint of irritation in his voice, like he’d been duped, but she didn't miss the fact that Julesknewwho she was and had said nothing to her brother about their meeting.
“Because,” Jules said, looking at Frankie now and offering her a friendly smile. “When she and I met, I didn’t know at the time that she was one of yourcoaches. I only clued in when you told me her name during our physio session.”
“Huh.” Cam scratched his head and rubbed the back of his neck. “Weird.”
“Guess we’re basically neighbours, Clarke,” Frankie joked, trying to peel back some of the odd energy that had fallen over the room like a blanket.
“Yeah…about that,” Jules said, bumping her shoulder against her brother’s. “You guys even live on the same floor.”
This time it was Cam’s turn to laugh. “No shit, eh? This is definitely the first time I’ve ever lived so close to a coach. Kinda strange but cool with me.” He quickly glanced at his watch then grimaced. “Oh, damn. I’m late for a meeting with the nutritionist but are you two…good here? Since you’re, y’know, friends or something?”
“Yeah,” Frankie said. “We’re all good. I can even give Juliette the rest of your tour if you want.”
It was strange to call her Juliette.
The name almost didn’t fit the woman standing a few feet away, shifting her weight from one foot to another, fidgeting with a ring on the index finger of her right hand.
But any awkwardness was wiped away all thanks to the six foot two frame of Cameron Clarke who was acting like an oblivious puppy dog with a short attention span and grinning like an idiot. He gave Jules a quick side hug and darted out of the room.
“I want to start by -”
“No, let me go…”
They both laughed and Jules took a few steps towards Frankie. She was wearing a yellow shirt that complimented the adorable rosiness of her cheeks and she crossed her arms, smiling the cutest little smile that let loose a gang ofbutterflies in Frankie’s stomach. She was a 32 year old adult…she didnotget butterflies.
And yet…
“I really didn’t know who you were when we first met,” Jules admitted, her voice quiet and sincere. “And then Cam told me his team was getting a new female coach. I still didn’t put two and two together but once he gave me a description of you, it was pretty easy to figure it out after that. There aren’t exactly a ton of female coaches with red hair in the NHL…”
Frankie laughed a little but then she cocked her head to the side. “How do you know your brother and I live on the same floor?”
“In the elevator the other day, you uh, you got off on his floor, so…”
Ah, the elevator ride.
How could Frankie forget the moment when she almost asked Jules out for a drink? She had been so close, just a breath away from letting the question slip out. But maybe it’s true what they say, that everything happens for a reason because unbeknownst to her, Jules was the sister of one of the players she was now coaching and Frankie couldn’t exactly be asking her out for drinks now, could she?
“Is it weird?” Jules asked, pointing between them. “This – you and me – knowing one another already? I hope you don’t feel like I lied to you or anything.”
