Page 7 of Trick Play

“You ever driven a manual transmission?” I asked.

“Nope.”

“Consider this your first lesson.” I reached for her hand and set it on the shifter, covering it with mine. Then I pressed the clutch and shifted into reverse. With her.

Again, it was intimate, shifting together as we drove through the city. Kelli was stiff in her seat, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of the awkwardness of driving or from being together like this. A school crush didn’t mean she wanted to spend time with me now.

* * *

When we got to the arena, we had to shimmy out of the car in reverse. Kelli’s wig was a little crooked, so I helped her straighten it out then pulled my nose out of my pocket and headed for the door. I recognized some of the vehicles in the lot as belonging to my teammates.

The arena itself was a little old and not as well maintained as the ones I’d gone to as a kid getting into hockey. The door was open, so we went in, finding some of my teammates gathered around in the lobby. There was a pile of hockey sticks, helmets and gloves, as well as hockey skates and figure skates in a variety of sizes. The guys were dressed in a hodgepodge collection of clown costumes.

“Hanny? Is that you?” Crash asked in surprise. “What the hell?”

“Long story,” I answered.

“Oh no, you’re not getting out of it. What’s with the baggy costume and Raggedy Ann?”

Kelli turned to me and shrugged.

I sighed. “So, the shop had a Chucky costume for me.”

“That’s not Chucky,” said Luke Walker, another defenseman.

“I know that. I specifically asked them not to give me a scary costume. But the only other clown one they had left was this, in a 3XL. I went to my mom’s to get it fixed, since she sews.”

“That’s not your mom you’re cuffed to, is it?”

Kelli covered a snort with her free hand. “No, I’m one of the neighbors.”

“Still got questions.”

I rolled my eyes. “I had to get some sewing stuff from Kelli’s house, and her brother, a moron I used to go to school with, handcuffed me to her for a joke. The key fell down a grate, so Kelli and I are stuck together.”

Crash frowned at me. “For how long?”

“Till we can find a key. Or a hacksaw?”

Kelli bit her lip. “I’m sorry to mess things up, but I’m happy to help. I work with kids.”

Crash sighed. “I think Oppy knows someone in the police department. I’ll message him. Meantime, can you skate?”

Kelli nodded. “Yeah, don’t worry.”

“How good?”

“I used to figure skate, in competitions, when I was a kid.”

“Ever play hockey?”

She shook her head.

“Then I guess you two are on kid duty on rink two.”

When we’d discussed this beforehand, kid duty had been a rotating responsibility, since we all preferred to play hockey with the older kids rather than babysitting. But with Kelli, I didn’t really mind. She had to be good with kids, since she chose to work with them. I wouldn’t want to be in charge of the kids on my own, but with her? It sounded like fun.

Kelli