Page 99 of Changes on Ice
“College. Defense.”
He nodded slowly. “Seems like he’s great with the kids.”
“He is. They listen to him. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. I mean, I do in hockey, but with eighth-graders?” Rusty was trying his best, but seriously, he didn’t remember being that obnoxious just five years back. Maybe his coaches would say differently.
“You seemed on top of the job to me.”
“They were on their best behavior with the pro in the stands.”
Cross turned to smile at him. “Then maybe I need to come around more often.”
“I’d like that. You could lounge on the bench and give us tips. It’d be like a vacation for you. A working vacation, anyhow.”
Cross pushed to his feet.
Rusty stood too, skates in hand, not helping. Maybe hovering just a bit, since he’d noticed that the first moment up on his feet was Cross’s wobbly point.
Cross sighed. “I need to be doing something. I have tape coming out of my ears, and there’s only so much arm work I can do.”
“I’m loving the arm work,” Rusty murmured, rubbing one of Cross’s increasingly powerful biceps. “And I don’t see any ear tape.” He dared a quick bend and nip at Cross’s earlobe, to make him yelp and laugh.
They didn’t touch, of course, once they left the locker room and moved through the rest of the community center. Still, Rusty liked having Cross crutching along at his side. He slowed down, strolling casually, imagining a future when Cross was ready to be a couple out in the open.
In the main lobby, they passed a red-headed woman with a camera crew who glanced their way, then strode over waving to her assistants. “Roger LaCroix! Of the Portland Rafters, for those who don’t recognize the man without his uniform. I’m Louise Anderson, LVRQ Portland. I didn’t know you were affiliated with the Forsythe Community Center.”
Cross turned a calm smile on her, no doubt used to cameras stuck in his face. “Not officially. I was visiting the hockey camp they’re running for local youth. I was very impressed with the program.”
“Are you interested in youth hockey?”
“As a past participant, I can’t overstate the importance of youth programs of all kinds. Not just the intense junior levels that prepare professional players, but all of the local and rec and school programs that teach kids the joy of the sport.”
“That’s very eloquent.”
“Hockey was my—” Perhaps only Rusty noticed the slight hitch in Cross’s delivery before he went on, “—favorite moment of every day, growing up. I wish every kid could have that experience.”
“Why can’t they?”
“It’s not cheap. I was lucky. I had parents who could easily afford the gear and the fees and the ice time. Many kids aren’t so lucky and they turn to cheaper sports. Not to knock those,but there’s no adrenaline rush like hockey.” Cross grinned, that same heartfelt grin Rusty had noticed in a post-game interview on TV years before he ever met Cross, and had carried inside him a long time as an impossible dream.
The reporter couldn’t help grinning back. Then she glanced at Rusty. “Are you a player too? I don’t recognize you, I’m sorry.”
Rusty would’ve demurred with, “Nothing special.”
But before he could get the words out, Cross said, “Rusty Dolan of the Eugene Gryphons. Give him a couple of years and you’ll be hurrying across the lobby to interview him too.”
“Wow, that’s an endorsement.” She asked Rusty, “Are you and LaCroix friends?”
“Yeah. I’m coaching at the hockey camp here, and he came to give me a hard time and teach the kids stuff I was missing.”
“You weren’tmissingstuff,” Cross said, somewhat undoing the breezy feel Rusty was going for. “You were doing fine. I had other insights, is all.”
“And shared them. Loudly.” Rusty elbowed him very gently, not forgetting the crutches.We’re all just good bros here.
Cross blinked, staring at him, then turned a fake smirk back on the reporter. “Like I said, those kids deserve thebestcoaching available.”
“I’m sure you made their day. And what about the Rafters? Am I allowed to ask how your recovery’s going? Will you be back on the team by the time September comes?”
“I’m going to refer you to the team’s official statements on that,” Cross said. “I have the very best medical team in the nation and I’ve made a lot of progress.”
