Page 6 of Game Changer
Noodles slipped from Kip’s chopsticks, sliding back into the box they came from. “What? Who? What do you mean?”
“You’ve had a dreamy look on your face all night. Who are you thinking about?”
Kip’s face flushed. He poked at the noodles with his chopsticks. “No one.”
“Christopher.” Elena liked to use his real name when he was exhausting her.
“You’ll laugh.”
“That doesn’t sound like me.”
Kip smiled at that. “It’s just... You know Scott Hunter?”
“Do I know Scott Hunter? Not personally, no.”
“You’ve heard of him, though.”
“Yes.”
“Okay. So he’s been coming by the shop.”
“The smoothie shop?”
“Yeah. The past couple of days. For luck, he says, because he played so well after he got a smoothie yesterday morning. So he came in today and got another one because they are playing again tonight.”
“Okay.”
“He’s just... He’s really hot, is all.”
Elena’s lips twitched a bit, but she didn’t laugh. “That’s exciting.”
“Yeah.”
They continued to eat in silence. And Kip, who apparently couldnotbe cool about this, lasted all of a minute before he blurted out, “He knows my name.”
Elena raised an eyebrow.
“He said, ‘Good morning, Kip,’ when he came in today.” Kip tried, but failed, to keep the dopey grin off his face.
“That must have been a thrill.”
“Yeah, and, uh, he said he hopes to see me again. You know, like, if the smoothie works, or whatever.”
“The magic hockey smoothie?”
“Stop making fun of me.”
“I’m not! And I’ll tell you what else: We are watching that hockey game tonight.”
* * *
Kip was embarrassingly nervous watching the hockey game. Every hit Scott took, Kip flinched. Every shot Scott launched at the net, Kip held his breath. He wanted this game to go well for Hunter, and there was no point in kidding himself about why.
At the end of the first period, the score was tied 1–1. Scott stopped on his way into the dressing room for a quick interview. He pulled his helmet off, and his damp hair stuck out in all directions. Kip’s heart fluttered. Scott was drenched in sweat, even more so than when he came into the shop after his runs. Kip could see the glisten of it down Scott’s neck, into the red collar of his jersey.
Scott was saying words about strong defense and working as a team. His beautiful mouth hovered above the microphone, his blue eyes looking neither at the camera nor at the man interviewing him. It was like he was barely present at this interview, already wherever he’d rather be at that moment.
“He’s definitely attractive,” Elena said.
