Page 268 of On His Team

Penelope lights up. “That’s perfect.”

“Thank you. I’m going to get one for everybody.”

“The whole team?” Mara asks.

“No. I’m not spending five hundred dollars on novelty alligators.” I shrug, looking at the rows of them. “Just Hawthorne.”

Ten minutes later, we have almost wiped out the entire line.

I hand Mara one too. “For the single lady.”

“Thanks, bitch.” She grabs it. “Nobody’s locking me down.”

Lucy’s phone pings while we are checking out. My mom and I both look at her.

“Is that my brother?” I ask.

My mom waits.

Lucy shows us the screen.

Benson: Downstairs for 30 if you want coffee.

I look at everybody. “We need to run.”

We do not run.

But we get back thirty-five minutes later.

Benson is sitting at a table near the window in the coffee shop off the lobby, and he looks like hell. There’s a mark high on his cheekbone, his hair looks like he showered and stopped caring halfway through it, and the way he is sitting makes it obvious every part of his body knows exactly how much hockey he played last night.

“Oh my God,” I say. “Are you okay?”

My mom reaches him first. “Honey.”

“You look awful,” I add.

“Thanks, G,” Benson says, ignoring his immediate family, and looks at Lucy.

I point at Dad. “You look like him.”

Benson looks at our dad. “You gonna let her talk to me like that?”

Dad lifts both hands.

Lucy leans down and kisses the top of Benson’s head. His whole face changes, and I roll my eyes because thank God she loves him back.

I have seen Benson exhausted from hockey my entire life, but this looks different. He looks mentally exhausted.

I sit across from him. “Are you nervous?”

He looks at me. “Yeah.”

That answer settles into me harder than I expect. Benson is never cocky about hockey. Confident, yes. He knows he is good. Everybody does. But this matters enough to make him nervous.

My mom starts asking if he’s seen the trainer. He tells her he has. She asks about the mark on his face. He tells her nothing is wrong. She starts talking about how she doesn’t want him getting hurt before he goes pro.

Benson knocks twice on the table. “Mom. Come on. Don’t manifest that.”