Page 31 of Hot Ice, Tennessee

“Wait. No. Ihaveseen you before,” I said. “Were you at the Hard Spot Saloon last night? The summer kickoff party?”

“Fuck yeah, bro,” he said, smiling again and reaching out to give me a fist bump. “You were there?”

“The bar owner is my brother,” I said. “Kane.”

“Last night was fun. Did you see the guy who did the table chug?” he said.

I bit back a smile.Yeah, as a matter of fact, I did.

“The guy in the handstand? Yes,” I said. “That would be Mason.”

“You know him, too?” Andrew said. “I want to be friends with that dude. That was some badass shit.”

“He was definitely the star of the show,” I said.

Tasted pretty nice later, too.

Andrew continued. “I’m besties with a bartender there. Max. He’s been getting me to check out the Hard Spot lately since I transferred. It’s a really chill place.”

“I swear my brother came out of the womb with the keys to a bar in his hands,” I told him. “He runs that place like it's his own child.”

Andrew snorted a laugh. “Max says Kane’s a great boss. Intimidating, I guess, but a good dude. Are you an athlete too?”

“Hockey.”

“Ah, gotcha, man,” Andrew said, nodding kindly before turning back to the front whiteboards. “Hockey’s wild. I don’t know how anybody does anything on those skates.”

“Been doing it since I was a kid. Skating’s as easy as walking.”

Andrew tapped a pen on the top of his desk. His leg was bouncing under the desk, too, and I could tell how nervous he was.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m screwed in this class,” Andrew said. “I’m so bad with memorizing. I heard we have to learn the name of every bone in the body? Fuckingyikes.”

“It’ll be okay. They should give us plenty of time to study,” I told him. I watched as he pulled out a laptop, navigated to the online syllabus for the class, and looked at it like it was a terrifying predator about to strike.

“Shit.Fivetests? This is a summer class,” he murmured. “I thought it’d be easier.”

“Sometimes summer courses can be more intense, actually. I’ll help you with anything you need. For classes like this, flash cards are your friend.”

“You’re down to help me out?” he said, turning to me with renewed hope in his expression. He pulled in a breath. “That would behuge.”

Andrew explained how college was really starting to freak him out now that he’d transferred to TNU. He’d always been focused on football, but in the final stretch, he knew he had to get better grades before graduation. As we talked, I could tell hehad plenty of intelligence, but probably just prioritized being aparty professionalover studying a bit too often.

Ten minutes later, the classroom had filled up after more and more students trickled in. A few people I knew spotted me in the front row, and they gave me fist bumps, high-fives, or complimented last season’s games.

“Dang. You’re hockey royalty, aren’t you?” Andrew joked.

I thought of this morning’s practice, wishing I’d lived up to that title in any way.

“I try my best. Hey, maybe you’ll be football royalty, starting later this year.”

Andrew crossed his fingers.

The professor rushed in through the front door a moment later. She had grey hair up in a bun and was juggling a mug of coffee, a big textbook, and a shoulder bag.

“Morning, all,” she said. “I’m Dr. Nash—call me Cindy, Dr. Nash, Dr. N, or whatever your heart desires. If you’re here, you should be here for Physiology 203. Let’s get started.”

Andrew sat up straight, doing his best impression of a dutiful student, occasionally nodding when the professor went over the syllabus with us. After a few minutes we got the ball rolling and started on lessons from the first section of the textbook, all about the cardiovascular system. The next hour flew by, and by the time class ended, I knew Dr. Nash’s class would be a challenge.

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