Page 43 of Icy Pucking Play

"I liked you better when you were afraid of me."

"No, you didn't."

No, I didn't.

"Mr. Daniels?" A nervous Sophie had approached me during her first week as the Blades' intern. "I have those save percentage analytics you asked for."

I'd barely looked up from my gear. "Just leave them."

"Actually..." She'd shifted from foot to foot but stood her ground. "I noticed something in the third-period stats that might interest you."

"Did you?"

"Your save percentage drops three-point-two percent when defending your glove side in the final five minutes. But only in home games."

That had gotten my attention. "How did you…"

"I cross-referenced the data with arena lighting positions." She'd thrust a color-coded spreadsheet at me. "The sunset hits the west windows at exactly six forty-seven p.m. during winter games. It's creating a glare that…"

"That affects my depth perception." I'd stared at her analysis, impressed despite myself. "No one's caught that before."

"Well," she'd grinned, already backing away, "most people are too scared to tell the Ice Man he has a weakness."

"And you're not?"

"Oh, I'm terrified. But I figure good data beats fear any day."

"Incoming!" Ryland's shout snaps me back to attention just in time to catch another puck. "Maybe we should call it a day, Uncle Evan. Before you take one to the mask."

He's right. I'm too distracted to be effective, and the last thing we need is me getting injured because I can't stop thinking about how Sophie felt pressed against me by my kitchen counter. Or how she's somehow become such a fixture in our lives that even Natalia begs for her to show up to things.

"Hit the showers," I tell him. "Good work today."

"Thanks!" He starts skating off, then pauses. "Oh, hey, Sophie? Mom wants to know if you're coming to family dinner Sunday. Says she's making that pasta thing you liked last time."

I nearly drop my water bottle.

Family dinner?

When did that become a thing?

"She's good for you," Julia had said last week, watching Sophie teach Natalia how to calculate shot trajectories using her hockey stats.

"She's doing her job."

"Face it, little brother. She's not just here for the story anymore."

"It's complicated."

"Only because you make it complicated." She'd nudged my shoulder. "Not everyone is Chelsea, you know."

The name had hit like a check to the boards. "This isn't about…"

"Isn't it?" Julia's voice had softened. "At some point, you have to let yourself trust again."

"Wouldn't miss it," Sophie calls back to Ryland. "Tell her I'll bring dessert!"

"Cool! See you then!" He disappears into the locker room, leaving me to stare at Sophie.

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