“So you know how Tina has an older sister? Well, I never realized it before, but her sister’s son, Tina’s nephew,” her mom added for unnecessary clarification, “plays hockey.”

“Isn’t that something.” Since Shelby had started The Biscuit, her mom had been sure to share every tangentially related hockey connection she came across. “Does he play minors?”

“He plays for the Ice Knights. His name is Adam Christmas or Andy Crawford or—”

“Alex Christensen?” The forward was one of the best players on the team and an integral part of their efforts to lock in their first-place spot in the playoffs.

“That’s it.” Her mom let out a little crow of triumph. “But that’s not the big news.”

No doubt this was going to be about whomever Alex was currently dating—or more correctly, several of the whomevers Alex was dating.

“His dad is David Petrov, so that means—“

Yep. Mom and Tina definitely stopped at Tina’s for Bellinis after their walk. “No, Mom, Ian Petrov’s dad is David Petrov.” The man was a hockey Hall of Famer who’d once scored eight goals in one game. He was a legend on the ice and the players who came after him still whispered his name as if the man really was a hockey god. “Ian plays on the Ice Knights, too.”

“I know—that’s what makes it so amazing.” Her mom’s exhausted, you-never-listen sigh took Shelby right back to being thirteen again. “Alex and Ian are brothers—well, half brothers, I guess—and now they get to play together on the same team. How sweet is that? You really should do a post about this. Very heartwarming.”

“That can’t be right.” Surely someone on the team would have let it slip if it were. The two were basically inseparable on and off the ice. Someone would have noticed a family resemblance or connection.

“I think Tina would know who the father of her nephew is.” Her mom paused, lowering her voice into her version of a whisper, which was still loud enough to be heard halfway across Target. “She has pictures of the two guys on her phone from a family Christmas they had eons ago. She was going through old pics and found one of the Alex guy and his humongous dad in the background. They were wearing matching sweaters. Tina said she remembers that Christmas, her sister was all weird about taking photos while the dad was there. She thinks that maybe the cops were after the David guy.”

“Wow,” Shelby said, her brain spinning out.

David Petrov hadn’t been hiding from the cameras because of an outstanding warrant. It was because he had a whole other family. Ian’s parents were still married up until a few years ago. And if what Tina was saying was true, then—