“Babysitters exist,” he says with a shrug. “Maplewood’s got a great sky of stars if you know where to look.”
Before I can answer, the gate at the end of the boards clatters open.
Evan steps through still in full gear, helmet dangling from one hand, his hair damp and his cheeks flushed from the game. Elle immediately launches herself at him, and he catches her with one arm like he was expecting it, his eyes flicking briefly from Tucker to me over the top of her head.
He murmurs something to her, then sets her back down beside Max and moves to stand at my side, close enough that I can feel the residual heat coming off him.
“Game’s over, Tucker,” he says evenly. “You boys need help finding the locker room after that loss?”
Tucker huffs a laugh. “You got lucky.”
Evan’s mouth curves faintly. “Score says otherwise.”
There’s a beat, then Evan’s eyes shift to mine.
“You can go with him,” he says evenly. “If you want to.”
He doesn’t look at or acknowledge Tucker when he says it, though. He just keeps his eyes on me. Frankie and Remi suddenly become very interested in their hushed conversation, pretending to wrangle the kids. I look over at them, down at Elle, then back to Evan.
My chest tightens just a fraction as I hold his gaze. “I’m good. I like where I am.”
Tucker’s grin doesn’t fully fade, but it changes shape into something flatter.
“Suit yourself,” he replies, pushing back from the boards. “Offer still stands.”
He skates off without another word, leaving a quiet pocket of space behind. Evan doesn’t look at me again immediately, instead working the tape loose around one wrist.
“You didn’t need to do that,” I say quietly.
“Do what?”
“Mark your territory?”
His eyes flick to mine sharply at that. “I wasn’t.”
I scoff. “You looked about two seconds away from punching him.”
“Mm,” he hums, looking back down at his wrist. “Would’ve ruined family skate, though.”
I laugh at that, and his eyes move back to mine at the sound. “Just making sure you knew you had a choice is all.”
“Well.” I tilt my head slightly. “The choice was easy.”
There’s a pause where his eyes hold mine, and we’re only interrupted when Mason suddenly slaps a hand on Evan’s shoulder from behind him.
“Family skate in ten!”
Elle whips around toward us so fast her pom-pom hat nearly flies off. “Can we? Please? Pleeease?”
I glance at the ice, then back at her. “I don’t skate, but I’ll give it a go.”
Frankie bumps my shoulder. “Perfect, neither do I.”
“That is not perfect,” Remi says dryly from behind us. “I’ve seen how you skate, Franks.”
Evan exhales through his nose, almost a laugh.
“You got skates?” he asks me.
