Page 58 of Taking Sides

“Yeah, we do. The boys are great. They are having a tough run right now, but the talent is there.” Whitney seems calm and unbothered despite the way my friends are gearing up to interrogate her.

“Did you play hockey too?” Travis asks.

She nods. “Yeah, but I wasn’t very good.”

“I doubt that,” I say. “I’ve seen you on the ice. You’re a great skater and you’re smart.”

“Unfortunately, those two things don’t always translate to doing it well.” She smiles at me. “I wasn’t nearly as good as my brother.”

She flushes as soon as the words are out of her mouth like she hadn’t meant to say them out loud.

“A brother, huh?” D-Low tries to play it off but Whitney laughs.

“She knows that you know Victor is her brother,” I tell him. “And that we don’t like him.” I flash her an apologetic smile.

“I get it. The rivalry is alive and well. The feeling is mutual.”

Travis’s jaw flexes like he’s holding back comments on it being a lot more than some stupid rivalry, but it’s a topic I don’t want to get into tonight.

“Are you two close?” D-Low asks her.

All three of us look to her, waiting for the answer.

“Yeah, we are. I worked for him before taking the teaching and coaching job here in Moonshot.”

“You did?” I ask her.

“I started working as his assistant when I was in college,” she says with a nod. “It was only a few hours to start. I did things like managing his schedule and taking care of his apartment while he was traveling, grocery shopping and making sure his bills got paid. Then when I graduated, there weren’t a lot of job opportunities, and Victor’s schedule was busier than ever and he bought a house and got a dog.” She shrugs. “He needed me.”

“What brought you to Moonshot specifically?” Travis’s face looks less intense now, but I know he’s still struggling not to talk shit about Victor. “There have to be a lot of teaching and coaching jobs closer to home.”

Whitney lifts her drink and sips from the straw. It’s the first time she’s looked uncomfortable with the questioning. She sets the glass down. “My mom died. She lived here in Moonshot and left me her house. Plus, there are fewer coaching positions than you might think. When I found a job here, it felt like fate.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, feeling like a jerk for not knowing any of this. I really am the worst fucking date ever. In five minutes, my friends know more than I’ve managed in weeks.

“It’s okay.” Her smile lifts but isn’t all that believable. “We didn’t have much of a relationship. My parents split when I was a baby, and I lived with my dad and brother.”

Under the table I move my leg over to rest against hers. She glances down and a little warmth seeps back into her smile.

“Now that you know my entire life story, tell me about this one.” She tips her head toward me.

“What do you want to know?” D-Low sounds a little too eager to give up information about me.

“Hmm . . .” She thinks for a moment. “Is Goon really his favorite hockey movie?”

My buddies bust up laughing.

“Goon?” Travis asks. “Really?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” D-Low says. “He makes me watch it every other month.”

“I stand by my choice.” I nudge her leg a little harder. She pushes back playfully.

“I do love a good underdog story,” Travis says.

“Exactly.” I wave a hand in his direction. “See? He gets it.”

Whitney takes another sip of her drink. “Another reason you should watch Dirty Dancing. Johnny and Baby are both underdogs in their own ways.”