“I’ll be right on the ice, and I’ll be watching, so just wave if you need anything, okay?”
“What if I just want to say hi?” my sister asks, equal parts smartass and not wanting to worry me when she cheers as enthusiastically as possible.
“Both arms like this if you need me, okay?” I demonstrate, which gets them to giggle, but Savannah is better at hiding it this time.
“Break a leg.” Izzie smiles. “Not a real one.”
“Love you, kid.” I ruffle her hair and thank Savannah again before going to the locker room.
Chapter Five
Savannah
Being A Little Sister
“He’s not normally that flustered,” Izzie says once we’re alone, sitting a seat away from me, taking out what looks like a math textbook.
“He seems like a good big brother.” More based on their relationship than how he just coerced me into watching her.
“He’s the best. I was kind of hoping his big house meant we could have sleepovers, but I don’t think he trusts his roommates,” she shares with a heavy sigh. My eyes must go wide, because she adds, “To not give me extra chocolate bars or ice cream before dinner. He wouldn’t live with them if they were mean.”
“Does Liv usually watch you while he practices?” I shamelessly try to find out about who I assume is Noah’s girlfriend, based on his reaction to the security guard’s question, but it is absolutely none of my business.
“I have no idea who Liv is,” Izzie argues.
I nod, but a guy who looks like that and dotes on his little sister has to be taken. Or fighting off more conquests than he can handle.
“Are you a figure skater?” I ask of Izzie’s sparkly outfit.
“Not really.” She looks sad for half a second before she lights up again. “But I play hockey. Not that I’m very good, but I’m working on it. Did you know they have girl leagues? And they let a girl play with the boys in the NHL once?”
“I did not know that.”
Noah skates to the middle of the ice, drawing my attention even before Izzie jumps up and waves, making sure to only use one arm.
He waves to her, his smile making his blue eyes shine before he sends a grateful nod in my direction. That, combined with the intense look on his face as he runs his hand through his hair before putting on his helmet grips my core in the same way steamy scenes in books usually do. And that’s before he and his teammates start stretching, thrusting into the ice in a way that almost makes me cover Izzie’s eyes. I don’t think it’s enough to make me blush, but given his sister’s proximity, I tear my gaze away and look down at her books.
“Math?” I ask. “Is that one of your favorite subjects?”
“No, I like gym. And French, but we don’t have that a lot. I brought this because Noah’s good at numbers and explaining them. Way better than my teacher,” she adds.
“Are you having trouble?”
“I’m not the best at it,” she admits with another heavy sigh.
“I wasn’t either,” I assure her. I hated it, because school was usually my thing. “My brothers were so good at it, and they never even tried, but I had to study for hours to get the same grades.”
“Did it get better?” She sounds hopeful yet skeptical.
“The great thing about math is that once you understand it rather than just memorizing your formulas, it gets easier. That, and you get to a point where you might not have to take it anymore.” I get by mostly with the math I’m sure Izzie has already mastered.
“I’d love that,” she says with yearning. “I wanted to be good enough at something that I could go to the Olympics and not have school anymore, but Noah told me they’re still homeschooled or tutored, so I’d have to learn the same things in less time and without friends.”
“Sounds terrible.” I humor her. “Do you play other sports?”
“No, just hockey. Noah came today, even though he wasn’t supposed to, and he was cheering loud like it was an actual game. It was embarrassing.” Her smile tells me she enjoyed every minute of it.
“I think it’s the curse of being a little sister,” I say conspiratorially, remembering how loud my brothers were at my ballet recitals, before I quit. I think they were each kicked out at least once.
