Page 184 of On His Team

“Yeah.”

He starts walking. “Rowan.”

He looks back.

I smile. “Score a goal.”

He laughs. “I’ll work on it.”

“I’m serious,” I say. “You haven’t scored one all year.”

“Thank you, G.”

“I’m just saying. Feels like a good day for it.”

He shakes his head and keeps walking.

I watch him disappear through the door. Then I look around the rink.

The event is over.

My event.

I did it.

Chapter 17

ROWAN

By the time I get back to Hawthorne, Stanley is standing in the kitchen eating cold pasta straight out of the container. He looks at me when I come through the door, glances at the clock on the wall, and then looks at me again.

“You were gone a while.”

“I went to the rink.”

“We all go to the rink.”

I take my shoes off.

Stanley watches me. “The children?”

I can’t believe he remembered G’s event. I nod. “Yeah.”

He nods slowly. “For the children.”

I look at him.

He smiles around the fork.

I don’t bother talking. Stanley knows enough to be annoying and not enough to actually do anything useful with the information, which appears to be exactly where he likes to live.

“How was it?” he asks.

“Good.”

“Reeve do okay?”

I nod. “Yeah.”