Page 37 of Here and Now
“Yeah?”
“You should visit that town I was talking about.”
I burst out laughing, ever grateful my brother married this woman.
seven
Miles
“All right, kids, skate from goal to goal three times. Go!”
That should tire them out a little.
Who am I kidding? It’s not even going to deplete their ever-refilling reserves of energy.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been around young kids this much, and after just an hour, I’m beat. I’m going to propose a raise for our K through five teachers. They’re the freaking heroes of the teaching world.
Although middle schoolers are pretty tough.
The ones in high school are mostly little assholes.
So, all in all, there are various ranges of suckage.
“We’re done!” Ethan says as he skates up to me, struggling to catch his breath.
Next in the line is Joe, who cracks me up because he’s a total natural with skating. However, he has zero hand-eye coordination when it comes to the puck. The kid can do figure eights around the ice, but put that stick in his hand and forget it. I’m not sure how to tell his parents that maybe figure skating would be more his speed.
“You’re done, huh? What about your teammates?” I ask the boys as they’re starting to approach.
“They’re slow,” Ethan notes. “No one can catch me.”
“And that earned you another lap. Teamwork is everything, and you never leave your team behind. Go.” I point to the other side.
Now he’ll be last.
The next kid to approach is Kai. He’s getting better and better each time he gets on the ice. “Done, Coach.”
“Good job.”
“I tried,” he says in between panting.
I laugh a little as he drops his head, pulling in huge gasps of air. “I’m proud of you, Kai. You’re giving it your all.”
“Mom says I have to try my best. Otherwise, what’s the point of doing it?”
“I like that. She’s right.”
My gaze moves to the stands, where she sits each practice. Today she’s wearing a pair of leggings and a tank top with a sweatshirt that falls off one shoulder. Her auburn hair is pulled up on her head, and I swear no woman has ever looked more beautiful to me.
Penelope’s gaze finds mine and she smiles before waving. As I go to lift my hand, I see Kai waving frantically at his mother and thankfully don’t make a freaking fool of myself because I thought she was waving at me.
When I glance back down at him, his gaze meets mine. “Do I need to do another lap too, Coach Miles?”
“No, buddy, you’re good.”
He grins. “Can we hit the puck at you again?”
There is zero doubt what their favorite part of the clinic is. Try to hit the coach as goalie.
