“Never does. People recognize the way you move more than your face.”
I blinked. “What?”
“Athletes move differently. Posture. Gait. Even when you're trying to blend in, your body gives you away.” He said it matter-of-factly, like he was analyzing game footage instead of me. “It's the shoulders. You carry tension in your shoulders even when you're relaxed.”
“That's creepy.”
His mouth twitched, almost a smile. “Hazard of the job.”
I laughed, and it surprised both of us. “You always this intense off the clock, Coach?”
“Pretty much.” He shifted the bags again. “You live around here?”
“No, I drove in. Needed to get out of my head for a bit.”
“I get that.” He glanced back at the restaurant. “This place has been here fifteen years. I've been coming since I moved to Toronto.”
“How long have you been here?”
“Nearly a month.” His mouth twitched. “But I mean before. When I played. Used to live a few blocks north.”
And just like that, we were having an actual conversation. Not coach and player. Just two people who happened to exist in the same city at the same time with nowhere urgent to be.
“The green curry really is the best,” I said, because I didn't know what else to say and talking about food felt safer than anything else I could think of.
“Their pad thai's better. But you have to ask for it spicy or they make it for tourists.”
“Good to know.”
He studied me for a second.
“You've got a bruise on your neck,” he said finally. “From that board battle with Mace. You ice it?”
I reached up automatically, touching the spot. “Yeah. Tess made me.”
“Good. You favor that side when you're tired. Don't want it getting worse.”
The man didn't miss a goddamn thing.
“I'll be careful,” I said.
“You won't. But at least ice it.” He glanced at his bags, then back at me. “I should get this home before it gets cold.”
“Yeah. Of course.”
He started to walk past me, and I should've let him go. Should've said goodbye and gone to my car and kept the interaction exactly where it needed to stay.
Instead I said, “Coach?”
He stopped and turned back. “Yeah?”
“Thanks. For yesterday. I know it was against your rules.”
His jaw tightened slightly. “It was just a drill. Nothing more.”
“Right. Still. Thanks.”
He held my gaze for a beat longer than necessary, long enough that I felt it in my sternum, and I couldn't read his expression at all. Then he nodded once and walked away, disappearing into the evening crowd.
