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AARON had dreaded this afternoon since he’d gotten home Saturday night and thought about what he’d committed to. He could handle seeing Caleb again. Saturday had been amazing, but he wasn’t going to date Caleb. So why did he care if Rick was on the hunt? There wasn’t an answer—other than that he did care.

Aaron went straight to the rink from school because he wanted to arrive before practice to get laced up and comfortable on his skates. It hadn’t been a lie that he knew how to skate; it’d just been a few years. He hoped walking around the lobby for fifteen minutes would help remind him what it felt like to be in skates and get him ready for the ice. As he paced, players, already dressed for practice, arrived with their parents. Aaron liked seeing that when Caleb strolled into Wonderland Ice Palace, he didn’t have the cane. It took only a moment before he was surrounded by kids excited to see him. It took Rick blowing his whistle to remind the kids to finish preparing for practice.

Whatever vibe there’d been between Caleb and Rick at the café wasn’t there. It was stupid to think it would be. This wasn’t the place for it.

Rick called Aaron over to where he stood with two other adults who were also on skates. Rick introduced him to Ian and Kelly. “Thanks to Aaron for joining our volunteer ranks this afternoon. Caleb’s going to take the team through plays and drill, and it’ll be more important than ever that you three make sure the players are on point and paying attention. I’ll split you up among the different groups, and as always, you’ll help move barriers and cones to keep practice running smooth.”

Rick blew his whistle again and announced it was time to hit the ice. Kids stampeded toward the entrance. Aaron and the other assistants followed the trail of eight- and nine-year-olds from the lobby to the rink.

“It’s good to see you.” Caleb fell in step next to Aaron, who concentrated on how he was walking. “How was the rest of your weekend?”

Aaron’s heart got fluttery with Caleb next to him. “Busy, but good. Had to grade a test and review book report outlines.”

“Oh man, I hated outlines.” Caleb visibly shuddered, and Aaron didn’t know if it was from the chill in the air or the memory of the school work.

“Everyone does.” Aaron chuckled. “We learn in Teacher 101 that it’s an ideal way to irritate students.”

“Somehow I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s true. Just like how coaches use suicide drills to frustrate and exhaust. So, you ready for this?” Caleb seemed energized and ready to tackle the practice session.

“I think so. It’s a different way to spend an afternoon,” Aaron said, trying and failing to match Caleb’s enthusiasm.

“Wanna grab a dinner after?”

That wasn’t going to make it easier to keep from getting too involved. After the amazing Saturday night, Aaron needed to keep some distance between them, otherwise his heart would send him down a slippery slope.

“Sure. I’d love to.” The words tumbled out of Aaron’s mouth before he could stop them. What was he thinking? Which part of his brain pushed the button to allow him to say that?

“Great.”

They were at the door to the rink when Caleb grabbed Aaron’s arm and prevented him from stepping on the ice.

“What’s wrong?” Aaron looked at Caleb, who kept a firm grip to prevent him from going forward. Everyone else was on the ice, and he didn’t want it to look like he was shirking his responsibilities.

Caleb gestured down with his eyes, and Aaron followed the gaze.

Oh crap. The skate guards were still on.

“Thanks,” Aaron said as he took off the plastic blade protectors. Caleb maintained his hold to help him balance as lifted each foot to get the guards. “That would’ve been embarrassing.”

“Everyone does it. I’ve had more than a few falls because I forgot about them.”

Once Aaron put the guards on the small ledge that ran around the boards, Caleb released him, and Aaron wished he could do something else that would require him to grab on again.

“Well, thanks for saving me.” Aaron looked for an escape before he did or said something else wrong. “I’m going to go help get those cones in place.”

Aaron took off. He didn’t fall, but he moved with caution and a lack of speed he didn’t see in the other assistants. It was painfully obvious he hadn’t skated in some time.

Caleb walked—or sort of slid—across the ice to one of the benches. Aaron didn’t know how he navigated the ice in his sneakers so easily. The players, meanwhile, didn’t get in Caleb’s way as they did their warmups, skating around the cones and following Rick’s orders on when to change direction.

Caleb and Rick talked at the bench as Aaron and Ian watched the skaters do the drills. Sometimes Ian would call out to speed it up. More and more Aaron’s focus drifted from the players around him to the conversation at the bench. As he watched, Caleb occasionally moved his dry-erase pen over the small whiteboard he had with the diagram of the rink on it, although he wasn’t actually writing on it. When the two broke out laughing, Aaron tried to squash the pang of jealously at not being in on whatever was funny.

The whistle blew again. The players gathered at the bench and the assistants cleared the cones off the ice. Aaron had trouble moving the cones because they threw off his balance, and it pissed him off that he was looking bad in front of Caleb.

Over the next ninety minutes, Aaron felt ridiculous as he skated around poorly, doing what he needed to. He hated that Ian had to help him clear his part of the ice. He was sure he was being ridiculed by the players too. He imagined Caleb wanting to distance himself from such a bad skater. What had he been thinking when he’d thought he’d be able to manage this job?

Aaron tried to focus on the enjoyment of watching Caleb. His interaction with the players was delightful. He diagrammed plays, took questions, and always remained calm. He only yelled to be heard across the rink, and it was easy to tell he wasn’t angry—unlike Rick, who yelled in frustration a lot. At one point Aaron was sure Caleb even chastised Rick for that.

His favorite moment was when Caleb came off the bench to work with a player having trouble with a slap shot. Caleb showed him some techniques and shot with him a few times. His message to the team was: When you see someone having trouble with a skill you can do, help them out. Don’t leave them to struggle, and never taunt. Teamwork was working with each other—all the time.