“Nothing like you and Kane,” Lefevre says from the other side of Pearce.
She pushes his shoulder. “That’s because you kept doing unexpected things!”
“You can’t always go by the book, Sutty.”
I startle at the nickname. “Sutty?” I ask.
“Lefevre, here, thinks we’re friends now.”
That is… interesting. That they’re just openly friends. It doesn’t sit entirely right, like a sweater with arms too tight, but I can’t decide why. Shaw has gotten beers with the guys many times, and nothing seemed wrong with it then.
“And you… disagree about being friends?” I ask.
“We have friend-like tendencies. And I was an excellent wingwoman for him the other weekend when we grabbed a couple of beers at the hotel in Boston.”
“Hell yeah, you were.” Lefevre extends his hand for a fist bump. “Rachel wasn’t even a bunny, and I still convinced her to come to my room.”
Sutton begrudgingly bumps her fist against his, and I realize they might actually be friends. Not friends like Kane and me, but just… work friends. It’s an alarmingly boring realization.
“Well, that’s officially too much information for me,” I say, turning my focus to where Larsen is taking the ice. I nod toward him. “You want to talk about doing unexpected things… I can’t believe they didn’t have Li skate. At least then, Larsen’s answers would be confined to what’s on the cards.”
“He’ll probably pull out a marker and write his own answers,” Lefevre jokes.
“Li is clearly the better player of the two,” Sutton says defensively, before letting out a bark of laughter. “But he definitely wouldn’t be performing standing spins at center ice.”
I look back out, and sure enough, Larsen is doing figure skating moves while he waits. The crowd absolutely loves it, and the place explodes in cheers.
As predicted, Larsen is a source of absolute chaos. And that’s not to say that he doesn’t succeed. He earns every single point for stopping or scoring. But he and Li, despite how much time they spend together, are almost never on the same page.
I’m not sure if Sandstr?m, the defenseman Larsen is typically paired with, needs a medal or counseling after playing with Larsen all season because he’s able to somehow make Larsen’s madness appear choreographed.
At some point during their turn, Beckett exits the tunnel. We make eye contact before he goes and sits with Rob and J.D. I rub my palm over the catching feeling in my chest.
When Li and Larsen’s turn ends, Sabrina and Ken once again take the center of the ice. “Thank you all so much for being here today,” Sabrina says. “Did you have a good time?”
Everyone cheers, and Sabrina puffs with pride. “Well, now it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Scores have been talliedand combined with those from the previous challenges. Mr. Peterson, would you like to do the honors?”
She hands the microphone to Ken. “The winners of The Great Yeti Challenge are none other than…” He pauses, letting the suspense grow. “Coach Finley Blake and Beckett Kane!”
I stand, waving politely to the crowd as they chant TeamBlane.
“Smile,” Sutton hisses quietly, and I pull my face into a grin, my gaze laser-focused on the opposite side of the arena from Beckett.
“Which means the Denver Yeti are very excited to be partnering with Wishes and Wings next year as our nonprofit partner!”
It takes almost a minute for the stands to settle down, but when they do, Ken adds, “We look forward to giving their team, plus a few special kiddos, a tour of our facilities in two weeks!”
With that, The Great Yeti Challenge is officially over. Beckett and I are simply player and coach once again.
So why do I still feel so guilty for the decisions I made?
Chapter 36
Finley
Youcandothis.Just how we practiced.
I stare at the white door in front of me, the hallway silent, except for the low hum of the overhead lighting.
