Page 129 of Rookie Rules

Finn returned to the bench breathing hard.

"My man," he said before Rowan could identify the missed coverage.

"Next one," Rowan replied.

The phrase settled the hockey. It did nothing to the anger beneath it.

In the intermission, Vale drew Kaito's routes on the tactics board. Every line curved away from pressure.

"He wants you reaching," Vale told the forwards. "Stop giving him your hands and feet for free."

His marker tapped Finn's position once. No name, no public reprimand.

Finn retaped the knob of his stick though the tape was intact. Luca sat beside him.

"Does he always reverse under contact?" Luca asked.

"Only when the pressure comes from his left."

"Why?"

Finn tore the tape with his teeth. "Because he's predictable."

"You make predictable sound personal."

"Everything sounds personal in your accent."

The joke arrived on schedule and carried none of Finn's usual warmth. Luca let him keep the escape.

Rowan passed behind them toward the trainers' table, his stride shorter on the right. He had dismissed the stiffness twice that week. Luca almost followed, then remembered the parking level and stayed seated.

Early in the second, Luca intercepted a pass near center and broke forward with Finn joining on his left. One defenseman held the middle. The goalie's shoulders squared to Luca.

Finn's lane opened below the defender's stick.

Luca saw it.

He also saw the narrow strip of space above the goalie's blocker and imagined the shot crossing every highlight account before the team reached its hotel.

He pulled the puck inside and fired.

The goalie caught it cleanly.

Finn continued past the crease, struck the end boards with one shoulder, and circled back without comment.

Rowan waited at the bench door. "The pass was available."

"So was the shot."

"Not after the defender set his feet."

"I have scored from worse."

"That does not make worse correct."

Luca climbed over the boards. The correction was precise. It was also the longest direct sentence Rowan had given him since the foundation event.

Kaito scored on the next shift.