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Something new.

Something I didn’t know I was skating straight into.

And it’s wearing a Detroit hoodie and the most dangerous smile I’ve seen in a long time.

***

The locker room explodes like a champagne cork.

Music blares. Towels snap. Someone’s already sprayed half a water bottle across the ceiling.

James spins in a circle with his arms wide. “That’s how you send a message!”

Parker tosses a roll of tape at him. “That celebration was embarrassing. You looked like you were summoning pigeons.”

“Jealousy doesn’t suit you, Dad.”

Ethan’s peeling off his pads and drops into his stall like a movie star exiting stage left. “I’d like to thank the academy and also Nate’s shoulder, for taking that slapshot like a champ.”

I grunt and rotate my arm. It aches, but in a satisfying, earned-it kind of way.

“You good?” Mikey asks.

“Still standing,” I reply.

Connor slaps my back. “Hell of a block, man. You dropped like a brick wall.”

James winks. “Yeah, well, the real highlight was Mandy cheering him on like he just proposed mid-game.”

I shake my head, grabbing a towel. “You’re impossible.”

“Just observant.”

He tosses me a protein bar like it’s a mic drop. “Tell her I’m available if you blow it.”

I smirk. “You couldn’t handle her brain for five seconds.”

“Oof,” Mikey winces. “Straight to the IQ burn. Love to see it.”

Ethan leans forward. “So you are into her.”

I pause just long enough.

“I didn’t say that.”

(Which, of course, means I totally did.)

The guys erupt like middle schoolers who just heard a dirty word.

“HE LIKES HER,” James sings at full volume.

Parker laughs so hard he almost knocks over his water.

Ethan says, “Come on, we all saw her. Law girl was giving major eyes.”

“Kira was cool too. She called me 'the cute one'. Smart girl.” Mikey chimes in. "But, Ethan, she had you marked like a shot chart.”

Ethan grins. “She said I tasted like spearmint and sin. Her words.”