Ilya laughed. He couldn’t help it. With this new information, he started to suspect that Ben might have a valid argument.
Jordan stood. “I’m on the team because Iearned my spot.”
Ben snorted. “As if.”
“Okay,” Ilya said, calmly, “there is only one way to decide this.”
Both boys looked at him with wide eyes, as if they’d forgotten the NHL superstar in the room.
Ilya somehow managed to keep a straight face when he said, very seriously, “Both of you balance on one foot. Whoever does it longer is the best hockey player.”
“What?” said Ben.
“That’s stupid,” said Jordan.
Ilya folded his arms. “Three, two, one...go.”
Both boys immediately stood straight up, and lifted one foot each. Jordan wobbled slightly at first, but they both remained balanced. After a few minutes of the boys glaring at each other from across the room, Ilya said, “Hmm. You are both good at this. Maybe try hopping.”
It took even less time than Ilya had expected for the boys to start laughing. Ben broke first, and Jordan quickly followed, grinning broadly and snickering as they hopped.
Finally, Jordan stumbled and had to put his second foot down.
“Wow,” Ilya said. “I thought a coach’s son would be a better hockey player, but okay.”
Shane entered the room when everyone was laughing. He looked confused. “I saw you guys leave the ice,” he said. “Is everything okay?”
“Fine,” Ilya said. “We are heading back now.”
The boys left first, shoving each other, but in a playful way, not an aggressive way. They were both still laughing.
“What the hell?” Shane asked, when he and Ilya were alone.
“They are rivals,” Ilya said, grinning. “Jordan made the A team. Ben did not.”
Shane wrinkled his nose. “Then Ben needs to be a better loser.”
“Ah, but listen. Jordan’s dad is the coach. So maybe skill was not the only thing that helped Jordan.”
Shane shrugged. “Anyway. We need to get back out there.”
“Did everyone see the fight?”
“Probably. But we’ll get everyone focused on the right thing. This isn’t Camp Ben and Jordan.”
“Not yet,” Ilya said, nudging Shane. “But maybe they will be the new us, one day.”
“Then I’d better warn Jordan not to fall for Ben.”
“Oh, are you Jordan?”
“Obviously. He made the A team.”
They smiled at each other, and Ilya leaned in a bit. He couldn’t help it. They hadn’t had sex all week because Shane didn’t want his mom to hear, and Ilya was crawling out of his skin.
Shane dodged him. “No way. We’re not making that mistake again.”
“I like making mistakes with you.”
