"Too cold?" he asked.
"No, it's good," I said.
Tolliver nodded then sat back in the chair beside me.
"Dad's going to be mad," Eli said to his brother. "You never sit out."
He shrugged.
"You never miss practice either."
"He'll understand," Tolliver said, "when I tell him my friend needed me."
"If you say so."
I turned to him then. "I don't need you. You should go. In fact, I wish you would."
He just smiled.
"You hovering like this isn't helping anyone."
"Ah Kent, you say the sweetest things."
I laughed, and he grinned.
"What were you doing over here anyway?" he said. "Looked like you were playing air violin."
"I kind of was," I said.
"How did it feel? Playing again?"
"Not nearly as good as it will when I have a real bow in my hand."
"Can I hear what you were listening to?"
"Okay."
We listened to a song, watching the action on the ice, then Tolliver said, "String music goes surprisingly well with hockey."
"That's what I was thinking," I said.
After a few minutes, Tolliver did go back out, rejoining the scrimmage when his dad threatened to take the car, and after I assured him I was totally fine and would he please stop making such a big deal out of it. Elle got some fantastic saves or blocks, whatever you called them in hockey, and Hudson was impressive, always making plays. But again, Tolliver was who I watched the most. When the scrimmage ended, I heard my name and turned.
It was Hudson.
"So Freya, how was your first scrimmage?" he asked.
"Surprisingly not boring," I said, putting my headphones away.
Hudson grinned. "Especially the part where my brother took care of you."
I rolled my eyes, but my face felt like it was on fire.
"Smooth move. For Tolliver."
"You would've done something different?"
"Please, if it was me, I would've ignored you until the end of practice."
