Page 44 of Penalty Box
My socket wrench clattered to the floor and I gaped at her, confused about whether I wanted to report her or be best friends forever.
The decision made itself, and I grinned. “Me too.”
She chuckled, and walked over to the trailer with more swagger than a frame as small as hers should’ve been capable of.I returned to my job, acutely aware of the random person who was just randomly watching me work.
“I saw a sign that said ‘Authorized Personnel Only’, but must’ve gotten turned around when I tried to follow it.”
The sound of a wrapper crinkled over my shoulder, and then the unmistakable pop of a sucker.
“You always this obedient?”
“Only when I’m bored.” She crouched down and peered at the open control panel, the sucker bulging in her left cheek. “What’s this do?”
I slapped her hand away before she could poke anything that mattered. “Stabilizes the lift pump.”
“Cool.”
When I was sure there’d be no more unsolicited questions, I went back to work. My best friend forever stayed crouched beside me in silence, which wasn’t as weird as I thought it’d be.
“Do they just bring you along wherever, so you can fix things?” She brandished a sucker she’d pulled from her pocket. “Want one?”
I wiggled my stained fingers at her, and she popped the sucker back with a shrug.
“I don’t always travel with the team,” I said. “But yeah, I’m usually the one fixing things.”
“Cool.”
I snorted a laugh, and shook my head. She couldn’t have been older than a high school senior, but her blue eyes held a wisdom of the ages. Striking against her pale skin and black hair. It reminded me of—
“So is it true everything in hockey’s held together with duct tape?”
“Mostly zip ties,” I replied with a soft laugh. “Duct tape’s for emergencies.”
She grinned for the first time, and it opened her face. Made her look half as intimidating. It also made me miss Mason, for some reason. I guessed I was getting used to working with company.
“Your job looks really cool,” she said, dropping to sit flat on the cold concrete. “I still haven’t decided what I want to do. Graduated last year. My dad keeps putting brochures for the most random online classes on my desk. I don’t think he even knows me.”
I let out a dry chuckle. “Big fan of unsolicited advice?”
“It’s his love language. He doesn’t do hugs or ‘I love yous’.”
“Well,” I said, returning to the panel, “for what it’s worth, not knowing what you want yet is normal. Don’t let anyone rush you into a version of your life that doesn’t fit.”
She cocked her head, watching me like I’d just handed her a missing piece of a puzzle. “You make me miss having my brother around. He used to be cool like you.”
I smiled faintly, still fiddling with the stop latch. “Oh yeah? Where’s your uncool brother now?”
“Here.” The admission was perfunctory. Like she was sharing the day of the week. “If you’re online in any capacity, you probably know him.”
My fingers froze on the panel, and slowly turned to look at her. Really look. Those blue eyes, dark hair… Now that I saw it, the obvious relation hit me square in the face.
“Mason’s your brother?”
“Yup,” she said, and pulled the sucker off its stick by tugging it tightly between her teeth. It came loose with a dull thunk, andshe stowed the stick in her pocket. “We had some free time so we flew up here for the road series. You’re probably around him a lot, working for the team.”
“Something like that,” I muttered, my stomach fluttering with a thousand tiny knots. Had she not seen the video, or was she coyly teasing me?
Before she could press any further, the intercom buzzed. “Final warmup starts in ten. All staff report to assigned sections.”
