Page 66 of Chasing Gold, Catching Her

“Well… sort of. Today’s my first day.”

“Congratulations, Alisa,” Hermann said with a sincere smile.

Alisa stood up from the bench with the others, and she immediately felt every single pair of eyes on them. The girls were watching the conversation with intense interest, but Anfisa especially looked furious. She had crossed her arms tightly over her chest, glaring at Hermann as if she were physically restraining herself from marching over and punching him.

Alisa blinked, glancing from Hermann to Anfisa and back again.

What on earth had happened between them?

Herman only grinned wider and threw an arm around Alisa’s shoulders.

“Good luck, little one.”

Then he winked at Anfisa, that turned out to be a mistake. Anfisa snorted loudly and turned away from him with theatrical disgust. “Your charm doesn’t work on me, Hermann. I still hate all of you. You only ruin the ice with your stupid blades anyway.”

She spoke without even looking at him, but Hermann immediately got that dangerous, amused expression on his face that clearly meant well, now you’ve done it.

“Oh, really?” he said, stepping closer. He nudged her lightly with his chest.

Anfisa glared at him and shoved him right back. Then he pushed again and she pushed harder. Within seconds they were standing chest to chest in front of the benches, arguing and shoving each other like angry children who had forgotten they were adults.

“Get away from me!”

“You started it!”

“You ruin every rink you touch!”

“And you complain more than anyone I’ve ever met!”

By the time Anfisa looked ready to actually swing at him, Arkadiy appeared out of nowhere, caught both of them by the shoulders, and physically pulled them apart.

“What, did you two get your rinks mixed up again?” he barked. “Enough already. Alyona! Deal with your girls!”

At that exact moment Alyona came hurrying across the rink toward them, waving one hand in greeting as she approached.

“All right, everybody calm down,” she barked, then without missing a beat she clapped her hands sharply. “Warm-up! Now! Everyone on the ice!”

The girls groaned, still glaring murderously at the hockey players, while the hockey players only laughed and headed toward the locker room as if they had won some invisible battle.

“See you later, Alisa,” Hermann called over his shoulder one last time before disappearing down the corridor with the rest of his team.

Alisa watched them go, and then Arkadiy turned to her.

“Well? Are you waiting for a personal invitation?” he asked sternly, though there was still the trace of a smile in his voice. “Get on the ice.”

Alisa nodded quickly and stepped through the gate. The moment she glided onto the rink, several of the boys noticed her and waved immediately, delighted by the appearance of a new face among the same familiar ones they had seen every day for years.

After the warm-up, they gathered around her in a loose circle.

“Hi.”

“Welcome.”

“Glad you’re here.”

They were all surprisingly kind and Alisa did not know why that made her want to cry.

“The ice is awful after hockey,” one of them warned her with a grimace. “Nothing new there, but just don’t jump in the corners or over there.” He pointed toward one end of the rink. “They always destroy that patch the worst.”