He doesn't believe me. I can see it all over his face. "I've never seen you this distracted by a girl before."
"Fuck," I curse.
"It's okay. You're just going to have to mask it better. Because you are acting all kinds of wrong, and people are going to start speculating," he warns me.
No shit.
"Does she know?" he asks.
"Does she know what?"
"That you're into her?" I'm about to open my mouth, but he stops me. "And do not give me that bullshit that you're not into her. I know you. Really know you. And you are."
I let out a sigh. "There's nothing to know. She's off-limits."
"It's such a shame you're a rule follower," he teases me.
"Fuck you. I thought we were friends."
"We are. But come on, let me have this one. It's rare."
I shake my head at him as we line up for the next drill. Two-on-one rush. I'm carrying the puck. Sully's on my wing. I look up to pass, but my eyes land on her, just for a second. She's watching me. Our eyes meet, and I get lost in them. Sully hip-checks me, hard, and I go down. Skidding across the ice, I land on my ass. The entire team bursts out laughing.
Fuck.
"What the fuck, Sully?" I get up, dusting ice off my gear.
"You weren't paying attention. Told you to focus." He's grinning, and I'm seconds away from wiping that fucking smile from his face.
"I was focused."
"On hockey or something else?" Pierre asks, skating over, still laughing.
Shit.
"On hockey," I tell him.
"Really? Because it looked like you were staring into space."
Oh, thank goodness he didn't clock I was checking out his sister.
"I wasn't."
Felix joins us. "You definitely were. We all saw it. Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I thought I was but ..."
"Look, we all have one of those days. Are you okay to play tonight?" Pierre asks.
"Fuck yeah."
He nods. "Good."
Practice ends, and we head to the locker room. I sit at my stall and start my routine of undressing. The guys are still chirping me about falling.
"Cap's losing his edge," Fish calls out from across the room.
"Fuck off," I mutter, pulling off my skates.
