they were going, but she could barely keep track of who was who as the players sped back and forth across the ice.
Except for Darius, of course, who was the tallest person on the Lost Harbor team. The other team, from Kodiak, had an extremely tall Russian player, but they wore dark blue jerseys instead of white, so it was easy to keep track of Darius.
For a big man, he was pretty agile out there on that ice. He used his size to intimidate the opposing players, or to sneak his stick between two people and whip the puck over to someone on his team. She recognized Zander Ross, Gretel’s boyfriend/fiancé/ex-husband, but no one else on the team.
“How do they even keep track of that little thing?” she marveled to S.G. as they shared a bag of corn chips.
“It’s black and the ice is white.” S.G. sat on the edge of her seat, completely wrapped up in every move the players made. “Did you know they’re not supposed to punch each other?”
“I did not. How unfair,” she said dryly.
S.G. waved at someone on the other side of the rink. Kate followed her gaze and saw a boy sitting alone on the far bleachers. He wore a thick gray fleece hoodie against the chill of the rink, so she couldn’t make out his face. He was watching the players very closely.
“Friend of yours?”
“It’s no one,” said S.G..
Interesting. S.G. was generally one of the most truthful people Kate knew. She usually only lied by omission, as in neglecting to mention that she had homework to do. In answer to a direct question, she always told the truth.
But obviously the boy wasn’t “no one.” In fact, the two of them seemed to be conducting a kind of silent communication by way of tilts of the head and shoulder movements.
“Why don’t you just go and talk to him?” Kate finally said, exasperated by all the twitching going on next to her.
“What do you mean?”
Fine, so she still wanted to play dumb. Have it her way.
“Goal!” the girl shouted and jumped to her feet, thrusting her arms into the air. “Darius just scored! Go, Darius!!”
Damn, she’d missed his big moment. She applauded and whistled along with the rest of the crowd. Darius circled the ice, waving his hockey stick in the air to acknowledge the applause, and she could have sworn he aimed a grin her direction.
Shortly after that, the first period ended. Darius pulled off his helmet and glided toward the area where Kate and S.G. were sitting.
“Come on, let’s go say hi,” said S.G., jumping to her feet. They made their way down the bleacher steps until they reached the protective boards placed around the rink.
“Nice goal,” S.G. told him. “I thought you were passing to the forward.”
“That was the plan, but I saw an opening.” He shoved a sweat-soaked chunk of hair off his face. “You guys having fun?”
“Actually, yeah,” Kate told him. “Other than freezing my ass off, I’ve had a great time.”
He blinked sweat out of his eyes, looking a little self-conscious. “Did you catch that last goal?”
His expression was just too cute for words. She hated to break it to him that she’d missed it.
“Sorry, I was distracted.” She pulled an apologetic face. “Next time, I’ll make sure to watch.”
“Next time? You think that happens often? It’ll probably be next year by the time I make another goal.” He laughed as he tugged his sweaty jersey away from his chest.
“How was I supposed to know that? I’m more of a basketball fan. People sink baskets all time.”
“Guess I’ll have to switch sports, then.” He skated backwards a few strokes, then forward again. Probably trying to stay loose. “Anything to impress my landlady.”
Oh, she was impressed. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was pretending she wasn’t.
She glanced at the spot next to her, only to realize that the girl had skipped away somewhere. Scanning the bleachers, she spotted S.G. huddled on the bench next to the boy in the hoodie. They were deep in a conversation.
“Hey, do you know that kid?” she asked Darius. “I think he’s a new friend of S.G.’s, and she’s being very weird about him.”
He turned to look for himself, then shook his head. “Doesn’t look familiar, but I can’t really see his face.”
A horn blared, which was apparently the sign for the players to resume their spots on the ice.
“Watch closely,” Darius warned as he plopped his helmet back on his head and fastened it.