Russo is up first but I see him glance up at us. I turn my attention back to Skelly.
“It looks to be going well,” Skelly says.
“They’re improving,” I say.
“Because of you.”
I smile at him. “Partly.”
He chats to me, but I’m still aware, with a part of my brain that I’m not proud of right now, exactly where Russo is on the ice below. I see him glance up again and as he does, someone steals the puck. He curses and chases it.
I laugh at something Jake says - tilting toward him slightly - and I know that it’s too much, that I’m performing it. It’s not fair to Jake.
He turns toward me and says how nice I look. I’m already leaning in when he presses a quick kiss to my lips, warm and brief, and I let it happen.
I don’t look at the ice.
I don’t have to.
MATEO
Calloway sets up the cross-ice drill - three by three, quick transitions, the kind of drill that requires you to be present or you become a liability to the two guys running it with you.
I’m paired with Chen and Ward.
I focus on being present but I’m still thinking about the news of the scouts at the away game.
She laughs.
I don’t look up. I push into the next transition, make the read, and the pass to Chen connects cleanly. I loop back into position.
I glance up at the stands. She’s leaning toward him and they’re laughing together.
“Russo.” Chen’s voice.
I snap back.
The puck is already past me.
Ward retrieves it without comment, but I feel the half second I wasn’t there. It’s the exact kind of lapse that loses you games. The kind of thing that scouts will always notice.
I reset.
I run the drill.
I don’t look at the stands, which is when I catch it in my peripheral vision.
Skelly leaning in.
The kiss. They pull apart, and there’s a small smile on her lips.
She doesn’t look at the ice.
But I know she knows I’m watching.
I push into the next rep harder than the drill requires, and Barrett, rotating in beside me, takes one look at my face and says nothing.
Calloway calls time.
