Page 33 of On His Team

“Jealousy.”

“Get dressed.”

“I’m inspiring people.”

“You’re half naked.”

Stanley smirks. “Some people find that inspiring.”

I finish unlacing my skates while the room dissolves back into everybody talking at once.

My stick chipped in the second, so I take it and my skates down the hall. The equipment-room door is open, and Gianna is behind the counter with a clipboard.

She looks up. “Did your skate survive?”

I lift it. “Yeah.”

Her bottom lip sticks out. “Damn.”

I stop. “What?”

“Cole’s going to be devastated.”

“Why?”

She takes the chipped stick out of my hand and turns it until she finds my number. “He decided you fixed the eyelet yourself and blamed Donovan.”

I stare at her. “Why would I do that?”

“Exactly.” She writes my number down. “So I asked Donovan in front of him.”

I look at her.

“You should’ve seen his face.”

She says it like proving Cole wrong about my skate was a completely reasonable use of her afternoon, then goes straight back to the clipboard.

I keep looking at her.

“Second or third?” she asks.

“What?”

“The chip.”

“Oh. Second.”

She writes it down. “Okay.”

I’m still standing there.

She glances up. “What?”

“Nothing.”

Her eyes narrow. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Now I’m really looking at her. “I’m not.”