Page 38 of Whirlwind
Cillian cocks his head, thinking about that for a moment before he answers.
“I’d never thought of it, but yeah, it is fear that makes me not change my routine up.”
“Same,” Zan agrees. “I freak the fuck out if I tape my stick wrong because I’m scared it’s going to jinx my play.”
“Then you’ve probably never stepped on the ice with a badly taped stick, because I’ve never seen you play any way but solid,” I say.
“Thanks,” he says, shock tinging the single word.
“You know how good you are, right?”
“We all think we’re good, until we have an off day and think we’re shit,” he says.
“When do you have an off day?” Cillian asks.
“I have them,” Zander says.
“Lies,” I say. Alexander Fane never shows any sign of having an off game. He’s the one guy on the team you can always count on being where you need him to be. Every single time. Defensemen don’t always get a lot of praise, but he sure as hell deserves it.
“All right, you can both stop blowing smoke up my ass,” he says, turning around and putting his headphones on.
“The kid doesn’t know how to take a compliment,” Cillian says.
“I’m not sure any of us are that great at it. Except Letty, he eats up praise.”
“Letty’s like a poodle,” Cillian says, looking Letty in the face as he moves down the aisle.
“Woof, woof,” Letty says, grinning like a kid.
“Good boy,” Cillian says.
“Unhinged,” I say. “Every last one of us.”
“There’s a lot of truth in that.”
After we reach altitude, Coach Cole stops by our aisle.
“The new program is live. Check it out,” he says, handing a tablet to Cillian. “You can move any combination of players onto the ice, pick a play from the left-hand column, and it will show the stats. The right column lets you pick your opponents, so you know how well you do against any team’s players.”
Cillian moves to the middle seat, holding the tablet between us so we can both manipulate the program.
“How current?” I ask the question because it’s only been hours since our last game, and it’s late. I wouldn’t expect tonight’s statistics to be uploaded already.
“As current as it gets. Tonight’s game is included.”
“Damn, this is cool as hell,” Cillian says.
“She’s pretty fucking amazing, isn’t she?” I muse, awed.
“Kit? Yes, there’s a reason we wanted her. This is just the tip of it,” Coach says to me. “I hear you’ve been spending time with her.”
“We’re neighbors.”
“And?”
“And I like her. She’s…special.”
“She is,” he agrees. “Take care with her.”
