Page 44

Chapter 44

Nat

I perch on the edge of the chair in front of Coach’s desk. I know why I’m here, why he’s watching me with expressionless eyes from across his immaculate tabletop. “Taylor.”

“Coach.”

“You know I know what you did.”

“No idea what you’re talking about.” I cross my arms, stare him down. Dare him to call my bluff.

Coach sighs. And to my surprise, he doesn’t fight me. “So, tell me about Avery Bennett.”

“See, I knew you were watching high school games.” I let my expression soften into an almost-smile.

He huffs, and his black brows furrow low. “He’s a high school superstar, and a loose cannon. Always in trouble. You know the type?”

“I do.” I hold his gaze. “He’s eighteen, and he’s a Day River boy through and through. In it for the long haul. Wants this as bad as he’s ever wanted anything.”

The silence hangs between us as we both consider.

“I know you saw him at the Ice Out,” I murmur.

Coach sighs. Of course he did. He invited Avery to the tourney, didn’t he? And he’s literally made a career out of judging skaters; he knows who was beneath that mask .

“You’ve known me for a long time,” I press on. “So you know that when I say you can hold me accountable for this kid, I mean it.”

Coach stares at me. And I let him—don’t dilute the strength of the words I’ve spoken by adding more. I need him to know that I believe in this idea, the way I haven’t believed in anything for a long time.

“Just give it a try,” I finish.

Coach’s jaw ticks, his teeth grind together. He doesn’t trust Avery—but he’s learned to trust me. I’ve become a lot more reliable over the years.

“I’m staying on as the Zam driver,” I say. “So I’ll be here. Full time, since you guys are winning. And Olli knows him too.”

I press my hands against my knees to stand—

“Wait.” Coach’s deep voice freezes me in my tracks before I can turn away. He runs a hand through his mop of hair. I know what comes next.

There wasn’t just one spot to fill on this team; there were two.

So I cut him off before he makes an offer I’ll have to refuse. “I don’t want a spot. It’s not my dream anymore.”

There. The words seem so right, laid out in the space between us without any room for doubt. They’re the truth, too. He nods; he knew, before either of us walked in here, how the conversation would go. “You sure about this, Taylor?”

“Yeah, Coach. I am.” I tilt the brim of my backwards hat. “I think we both know I belong with the Ice Out.”

To my surprise, Coach Ethan actually smiles. “I agree.”

“You . . . what?”

“I agree. Which is why I’m not recruiting you.” His words echo in the space between us.

“Okay . . .” My voice sounds dry, cracked. Why—when I just told him I was walking away from this team?

“I want to try something a little . . . less conventional.” He doesn’t blink, plows on before I can protest. “I’m not recruiting you, but I’d like to invite Number Forty-Seven to play with us. ”

I can only stare. “What?”

“It’s like Olli’s been telling me this whole time.” His mouth curls in a grim smile. “I’ve been treating the Ice Out and the Dingoes like two separate things. But they’re not. The town is the team and the team is the town.”

“You want me and Avery to be the crossovers,” I realize slowly. “Between the town, the Ice Out, and the Dingoes. Avery’s the high school superstar, and I’m the mysterious Ice Out champ. And we’re both Dingoes.”

“Exactly. You’d wear a mask. Nobody would know who you were. You’d stay an Ice Out boy.”

“And the league would go for that?”

Coach shrugs. “They’ll go for whatever’s making them the most money. Bringing fans to the stands. Of course, you'd be compensated too.”

The following silence rings in my ears and in my soul and in my very bones. I walked into this room prepared to reject an offer—yet this is nothing like the one I’d expected.

“Don’t give me an answer yet.” Coach flaps a hand towards the door. “Think about it, get back to me.”

Feeling numb, I stand. Turn. Walk away. In the hall outside his office, I breathe in the stale, sweat-slicked, ice-cracked air, and I think, for the first time in years, I believe in . . . me. In us. In a team.

“Nat?” Olli appears like the damn ghost he is, popping into existence out of the ether to haunt me when I need him most. I’ll never understand how he does that. Maybe I don't need to.

“Hey, Aspen.”

“Coach offered you a spot.” It’s not a question.

“He did.”

“And you didn't take it.” Another non-question.

“I recommended Avery,” I say, because I still haven’t wrapped my head around the second part of Coach’s offer .

“Damn.” Olli blows out a quiet breath and his head tilts up as he meets my gaze. “Honestly, I respect the hell outta that. Avery’s a good kid. And he’s a great player.”

My breath catches, and I slide closer. “There’s more.”

“So.” Suddenly, Charlie’s between us, grinning. “Am I getting kicked off first line or what?”

Olli and I spring apart. “What?”

“Coach offered you a spot, right?” Charlie curls an arm over my shoulders. “Tell me he did.”

“He offered Avery a spot, actually. And I agreed.”

“Avery Bennett? Jesus.” Charlie shakes his head. “Syd’s got you falling for her boyfriend now?”

I shrug. “He’s a good kid.”

“He’s a good player, I’ll give him that.” Charlie sighs. “But you two clearly got something special. Tay and Jay.”

Why does my chest feel like someone’s blown up a balloon inside it, to hear someone outside my own head affirm what I know to be true.

“We do have something,” I agree, and I step away from Charlie to stand beside Olli, lean my shoulder into his. “And we’ll definitely still be good. In more ways than one.”

“Wait.” Charlie’s eyes go so wide and round, white shows all around the edges. “Are you two . . . together ? Finally?”

“Um.” With everything that’s been happening in each of our lives, we haven’t had a chance yet to have that conversation. But for once, I know what I want. “What do you say, Aspen? Be my boyfriend?”

His smile lights up the entire hallway, and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Still, he bites his lip, reining in his joy. Like there's any way I might have missed it. “I mean, sure, I guess. If that’s something you’d want.”

“Yes.” I weave my fingers through his. “I do.”

“Gaaaay,” says Charlie, smiling maybe the widest I’ve ever seen him smile. “Oh, man. Ben owes me twenty bucks—”

“You bet on us?” Olli asks.

“Nope.” Charlie’ s still showing far too many teeth. “So, you wanna tell me about the second spot on the team?”

“Goddamn it.” I mutter, and both Olli and Charlie laugh.

“He’s good,” Olli admits, while Charlie keeps grinning. “Spill, Mouse.”

So I tell them about Coach’s unconventional offer. The one I haven’t turned down yet, or agreed to, because it’s so different from anything I expected or so much as thought about.

“Damn,” Charlie hums.

“Don’t think about it,” says Olli without hesitation. “This is one of those follow your gut moments where I think you already know what your heart wants, and you just gotta stop letting your head get in the way.”

“I agree.” Charlie’s brows arch pensively. “Alternatively, come to my place. Weed always helps me think.”

I shake my head. “Not all of us have a medical marijuana doctor’s note.”

“Easy to get, though. I could hook you up?”

Olli shakes his head, laughing. “Weed makes me a little nuts, but thanks.”

“Suit yourself.” Charlie gets three steps away before he turns. “I do agree with Olli, though. Stop listening to everybody else and do what you want to do. Big ol’ middle finger to everybody’s expectations is the only way to live life.”

And then he’s prancing off down the hall, whistling. Probably headed home to go piss Ben off by getting high in the condo where he’s not supposed to get high. I’m tired enough to want nothing more than to return to my house, melt into the couch in front of the TV.

I’m not ready for any decision-making tonight. “You want to come back to my place? I have a sixty-inch TV, leftover Chinese, and um . . .” I wince. “A teenage daughter.”

Olli smiles, sending my heart and all my newfound butterflies swooping. “You also have a guitar there, don’t you? ”

“Nope, no way.”

Olli starts walking. Fast. “Yes. Yes way. Guitar or I don’t show.”

“Wait.” I hurry to catch him. “You actually want to hang out with me and Syd?”

He pauses at the row of doors, and I can’t read the expression in his round eyes, his straight mouth. “Well, am I or am I not your boyfriend?”

“Oh. Right.” The smile builds around the corners of my mouth. “Yeah, I guess that means you have to do shit like that now, huh?”

“Exactly.” He angles a finger gun at me. Winks. “Fortunately for you, I also like your kid, so it’s not that big an ask.”

“Well, only if you’re sure.” I rub the back of my neck. “But actually, what might be even better . . . my stepmom’s making dinner tonight, if you’d be—”

“I’d love to.”

And that’s that.