Page 47 of Drop Pass

“At the game?” I was surprised he asked, but he nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll probably be doing interviews again.”

He smirked. “We’re glad to hear that.”

I narrowed my eyes, about to ask who ‘we’ was, but Coach Romney called him and he waved before hurrying away.

“Hey Derrek,” I called out to the second goalie. He lit up when he saw me and walked over to me.

“Hi Elena. How are you doing?” Despite how young he was, he had a maturity about him. Whenever I spoke to him, he was calm and collected.

“Good. How are you?”

He shrugged. “Pretty good. I get to play the game after Boston.”

“That’s great. I bet Olli needs a chance to rest, and you’re ready to go.”

He nodded. “I can’t wait to get out there.”

I hadn’t really planned on interviewing him. I just wanted to say hi, but since he was playing soon, I decided to get on top of the next game.

“What team will you be playing against?”

“Detroit.”

I smiled, pretending I knew anything about that team. I put my pen to the paper ready to write down his next response. “How do you feel about the team’s odds playing against them?”

He stood up a little straighter, realizing I was quoting him. “Detroit is solid with their offense, so we’ve got to make sure our defense is tight. We’ll be in their territory but as long as we keep doing what we have been, we’ll be set.”

I smiled, proud of his response even though I was just the reporter, not actually involved with the team. “Thanks. That’s perfect.”

He smiled up at me and winked before turning away. I laughed until I noticed Nikolay glaring in my direction. I waved and he nodded once before turning away. I fought the urge to stick my tongue out or something equally immature. It was a constant internal battle for me. Half the time I wanted to smack him and tell him to leave me alone, and the other half I wanted to march up to him and kiss him and tell him to stop acting like there wasn’t something between us.

The chances of me doing either was a big fat zero.

Instead of trying to burn a hole through his helmet with my eyes, I stood and left the arena. I glanced over at my office building across the street, but decided to head home instead. I could finish everything I needed to from my computer, and I didn’t want to have to pretend I was in a good mood.

The bakery below my apartment was enough to tempt me on my way home. I stopped in and ordered a salad and chocolate chip cookie to go before finding a chair to wait. I’d come during the lunch rush so I pulled out my phone and did some mindless online shopping until my name was called.

It took over twenty minutes, but I didn’t mind since I didn’t have anywhere to go. I headed upstairs and the elevator doors opened to the sound of crying. I stepped out and found Nikolay sitting on the floor holding his phone on his knee with one hand and holding his face with the other.

I rushed over and set my bags down before sliding down the wall next to him.

“Nikolay? What’s wrong?”

He didn’t look up and I realized the crying was coming from the phone. A woman, with thick brown hair and Nikolay’s eyes stared back at me.

“Hi, are you Nikolay’s mom?”

She nodded. “Mama.”

I glanced back at him but his hand covered his eyes. He wasn’t speaking, just sitting there holding his phone while his mama watched with a worried expression.

I took the phone out of his hands and smiled at her. “I’m Elena. Nikolay’s...friend.”

That might not have been the most accurate description but I figured it was better than explaining our neighbor but friends with the same people but also kissed relationship.

She nodded, worrying her lip. Her eyes held so much pain but I didn’t know what to do or what to say.