Page 124 of The Recovery Coach
“Nothing!”Hazy and Livy said together.
The kids wore twin looks of confusion, but Hazy wouldn’t traumatize them twice in one night.
“Bomb Pop.It can’t be Livy.I need you.”
Cassie gave a dramatic sigh.
“Fine.What do you want?”
“Don’t worry,” Hazy said.“It’ll be fun.I need you to check me.”
“Check you.”
“Yeah.As hard as you can.”
Livy and Dylan talked over each other.
“Horrible idea,” Dylan said.
“You’re like twice her size, Connor,” Livy said.
He waved away their concerns.Cassie would be fine in full goalie gear.
“Hell yeah!”Cassie said.
Hazy waited close to the boards.Cassie skated at him, full speed, as Livy and Dylan watched on in horror.She hit him hard into the glass and bounced off, laughing.He laughed too.It was exactly what he needed.She weighed basically nothing, so the hit barely registered, but it still gave him confidence he could handle more.
“One more.Open ice,” he said.
He stood on one of the face-off dots and braced himself as Cassie charged at him, fearless.She knocked him on his ass, toppling over on top of him.
Dylan and Livy gasped, but Cassie and Hazy were fine.They lay in a pile for a few seconds before clambering to their feet.
“Nice hit, kid,” Hazy said.
“I learned from the best,” she said.
“Aww, that’s sweet,” he gushed.
“Why?”Cassie asked.“I was talking about Lover.”
“Fuck off,” he told her, ruffling her sweaty hair when she took her mask off.
Dylan and Livy led the way off the ice.Connor did one final lap by himself, as fast as he could.The familiar rush of accomplishment and determination he got from being on-ice settled in his chest, and with that he knew he was ready to get back to work.
Chapter 40
Olivia
OliviaandDylanwereleft alone while they waited for Connor and Cassie to change.
She expected him to ignore her, but he surprised her by saying, “Hazy is different with you.”
She grinned.“Yeah.We’re best friends.You’re different with Cassie, right?”
The boy’s voice cracked when he said, “Me and Cassie don’t like each other.”
Olivia shrugged.“Connor and I didn’t like each other until like a month ago.”
