"Guess what," I told Monica later that evening as our small group of friends pushed and shoved each other around one of the two tracks that were taped onto the floor of the practice arena. There were two tracks to accommodate all the skaters who'd taken Medusa's warning literally. That meant everyone had shown up for our defensive-blocking practice.

Monica pushed Zoey off the track. "What?"

"There was waffling today," I said.

She gave me a high five as Zoey scrambled to catch back up with us. "Congratulations, Lucy!"

"Zoey, you have to come back onto the track behind Monica!" Maven shouted at us.

"You saw him again?" Olivia, our mock jammer for the drill, asked as she tried to push between me and Grace.

I nodded. "He came by my office and took me to lunch."

"That's awesome," Grace said.

"Congrats," Zoey added, shaking my shoulder.

"Does the waffling constitute a relationship serious enough to tell your friends who this mystery man is?" Monica asked.

I bit my lower lip. On one hand, I really wanted to tell them. It had been such a long time since I'd had girlfriends to share boy news with and much longer since I'd had boy news worth sharing. But on the other, West was a team sponsor. What if Olivia was right, and word got around that we were dating? Would the girls think I was trying to whore my way onto the team? Would the coaches feel obligated to keep me even if I didn't deserve to be there? Nope. Couldn't do it. Not yet.

"Can't. Afraid I'll jinx it," I lied. Sort of.

Grace bumped me with her hip. I didn't wobble nearly as much as I expected. "How are we supposed to live vicariously through you if you never give up the details?"

I laughed. "So you're living vicariously through my love life now too?"

"Yeah. Not exactly. I'm just hoping someone can tell me there's still hope in the dating scene, in case I ever stop hating men," Grace said.

Zoey shoulder checked Monica. "How's the divorce coming, Grace?"

Grace's arm was anchored against mine. "It's coming, but not fast enough. We're currently fighting over the dog."

"The dog?" Olivia asked, her face squashed between Grace's arm and my shoulder as she tried to come through the wall we'd formed to block her.

Grace pressed into me. "Yeah. Our Golden Retriever, Bodhi. Technically, I gave him to Clayton as a birthday gift a few years ago, but he's my dog. Clay doesn't give a shit about him."

"Your husband's name is Clayton?" I asked, straining to keep contact with her.

"Yeah. Clayton Byron Maxfield the Third."

"He even sounds like an asshole," Olivia said.

Grace laughed. "Right?"

Olivia finally busted Grace and I apart. She patted my helmet. "You're the jammer."

I skated to the back of our little group, and she took my spot with Grace. I skated as fast as I could toward them to try and break through, like a vicious game of Red Rover on roller skates. I hit Grace's protruding backside and bounced back without breaking them apart.

She did stumble a bit though. "So is this thing with the mystery man getting pretty serious?"

"I wouldn't call it serious. Today was our first real date, I guess. I mean we can't really count him driving me to urgent care." I skated at them again and collided where their shoulders met and pushed against my toe stops to try and burst through.

"But you still like him?" Olivia's voice was strained and she pushed against Grace to hold me back.

I sighed and my face broke out in a gooey smile against Grace's arm.

She turned and pointed at me. "Enough said."

I took advantage of her movement and broke through the small space. "He wanted to go out again tonight."

Grace took my spot as jammer. Olivia and I braced for her impact. She busted us apart like a bowling ball, knocking the wind out of me. I held up my hand, panting. "I need a break. Go attack Zoey and Monica," I told Grace.

"Wimp," she teased as she caught up with our other friends.

Olivia and I skated easily. "Did you tell him you're doing this?" Olivia asked, motioning around the track.

I shook my head. "Not yet. The skills test is coming up soon. I'm going to try and keep it quiet till then. There's no point in making myself look even more stupid if I don't pass."

Olivia smiled over at me. "You'll get there, Lucy."

"You really think so?"

"I do." She looked down at her skates. "To be honest, I thought you would've already quit, but you didn't. I really think you can do it. I'm proud of you."

I gave her shoulder a playful shove, a move she usually used on me. "Look at you being all sentimental and shit."

She laughed. "Don't get used to it."

We skated for a half a lap in silence. "I'm really afraid I'm going to fail. I don't know how I'm ever going to get twenty-seven laps. My record is only twenty-four."

"You just need to skate more. We'll start going to the park and the skating rink on my days off. I'll help you."

"Olivia, all your days off are spent here."

"Yeah, I guess that's true." She looked around. "Maybe Zoey, Grace, or Monica can go with you."

I stopped skating. "That gives me an idea."