Chapter 3
1889 Words
“So tell me you did her?” Ford asks the minute I step foot in the locker room.
I narrow my eyes. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“The blonde. New Year’s Eve.” He undoes his tie, following me to my locker. “You nailed her, right? So we should expect Shamrock on the ice again tonight?”
Ford means well, he really does. He’s just spoiled and lives a privileged life. But I have no doubt the day is coming when some woman will get him on his knees, begging.
“No, it’s not like that.”
Despite me assuring them I slept alone after the party, my teammates think I ghosted them on New Year’s Eve because I was getting laid. In their minds, I slept with Saige, and so in order for me to have another great game tonight, I have to sleep with her again.
“Let’s just say it’s taken care of,” I say like a f*****g weasel. I feel like I’m back in high school, except I never had time for girls in high school because I was always training and working on my game. But I don’t want to lie about Saige and me. She’s no puck bunny, that’s for sure. “But I didn’t sleep with her.”
“Sure, you didn’t.” Ford pats me on the back, practically jumping up as we enter the changing area. “No worries, guys, our captain did his duty!”
A roar of applause and shouts ring out from everyone.
I shake my head and sit in front of my locker.
Maksim joins me on my other side. “I’m so f*****g excited for tonight now.” He unclasps his slacks. “We’re gonna kick the Sharks’ ass,” he says in his Russian accent.
Another roar from our team. Everyone is in good spirits. I don’t think that telling them that the superstition might be a woman throwing white wine at my face will crumble their spirit, so I promise myself I’ll tell them after the game. Definitely after we come back with a win. Of course, if I don’t score, then it was all for nothing anyway and my last game was just a coincidence.
Ford gets everyone hyped up, playing his hip-hop, and dancing as he changes into his gear. The man loves to party. I keep to myself and change into my pads.
“Did you hear? I hired the blonde yesterday,” Maksim says, lacing up his skates.
“For your social media?”
He nods and smiles. “I hate that s**t. I can’t stand seeing all the shitty comments. Messes with my head.”
“You could forgo social media,” I tell him, and he balks.
“You might get away with that because you’re Aiden Drake, but for a lot of us, it’s how we gain fans and get sponsorships.”
“But now the blonde is doing your posting.” I quirk an eyebrow.
He laughs. “True, but she said I could post anything as long as I clear it with her. She gave me some great tips on how to keep stalkers away. She’s gonna be like my fairy godmother. Well, a hot fairy godmother.”
Hot indeed.
“One day, you’ll have to get back on social media.”
I shake my head. “Never gonna happen, my friend. I’m off the grid when it comes to s**t like that.”
I had accounts until… I stop myself from going down that line of thought.
“I guess it doesn’t matter since you’ve got the hot blonde in your bed.”
“I told you...” I run my hand through my hair. “I didn’t sleep with her.”
“Yeah right.”
“She’s dating Joran. I can’t sleep with her.”
His ass falls to the bench and he looks as if I just told him his puppy got run over by a semitruck. “But you said—”
“I said I took care of it and I did.”
“How?” His blue eyes look weepy.
I blow out a breath, but I know I can trust Maksim with this. He’s been there for me during my entire slump, staying in my ear about the hotshot I am. “Just trust me, okay?”
His eyebrows raise to his hairline. “So she blew you?”
My head falls back. “No. Nothing s****l. She’s dating Joran, remember?”
His head shakes. “I trust you, but if you don’t come out on top tonight, I’m thinking maybe you should nail her.” He stands on his skates. “I gotta use the can.”
“Should’ve done that before you put on your skates!” Ford yells and sits down next to me.
“It’s his superstition,” I remind Ford.
He laughs. “I know, but seriously, it’s just gross.”
I laugh and lace up my own skates. At least Maksim puts on new guards afterward. I eye our poor water boy, Tyler, waiting with the new pair.
“Did you hear about the therapist old Gerhardt hired?” Ford asks.
I nod.
“I told Coach I’ve seen enough therapists in my life. I don’t need one to play hockey.”
“You need someone to stop you from doing stupid s**t like getting in a bar fight.” Being captain, I have to say it how it is. Not that any other teammate wouldn’t tell him the same. He’s like a wild dog—hard to put a collar on, let alone a leash.
“Come on. The guy asked for it.”
“We have a reputation. We don’t want to be the team who starts fights off the ice.”
He holds up his hands. “Did Lena get a hold of you or something?”
Lena is Ford’s family’s PR rep, and by now, we’ve all seen a time or two when she’s called to give him hell about something or other that’s been in the press. I’ve yet to bring up the rumor I heard about Ford sneaking out of the New Year’s Eve party and flying back to New York with her. If anyone wants to put him on a leash, it’s his father, but he relies on Lena to do it. Too bad she’s yet to figure out Ford.
“Come on. You don’t want that reputation. You have a lot more years in hockey.”
He finishes lacing up his skates. “Well, I plan on having my therapist write a letter to Gerhardt to say I can’t be counseled by two people, it’ll just mess me up even more.” He grins as if his plan is brilliant.
I shake my head as he walks away.
Maksim comes out of the bathroom and switches out his guards before walking out to the hallway.
I grab my helmet, gloves, and stick and head out of the locker room. All the guys are roaring and screaming, patting me on the head since I go out on the ice last. The second my skates hit the ice, the cool air rushes up my nostrils—my body calms. The best feeling in the world is when I push off on my skates and glide with my stick out in front of me.
I circle around on our side of the ice and give a wave to the crowd, then take my spot. My eyes search for the seats I left the tickets for. They’re both empty and I shake my head. I hoped Saige would come tonight. She’s Joran’s girl and I have to remember that. At least he’s not here, since he had to go smooth over another client’s situation. When he comes to games, more times than not, he ends up in the locker room. Drives Coach crazy.
Halfway through our drills, Ford finds it funny to moonwalk past the fans. They all scream and wave, putting him up on the Jumbotron. The guy will do anything for attention. But if he hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have seen Saige coming down the stairs with her friend, an usher directing them to the front row.
Fuck me because I know I’m smiling a little too wide for a girl who’s not mine.
Ford skids to a stop. “You gave your puck bunny front row seats?”
“She’s not a damn puck bunny.”
“What would you call her then?” He skates off before I can answer.
I wish I knew.
Tedi spots me and waves. She comes to the glass with a sign that says she’s single and has her phone number on it. Saige joins her, looks at the sign, and tears it out of her hands with a pissed-off look.
I skate by and nod at them, watching Saige as I pass. Tedi frantically waves and elbows the man next to her, pointing at me.
This is my favorite part of the game. The anticipation in the air while the arena is filling up. You can feel the excitement coming off the fans as we get closer to the start time. We all feed off that adrenaline.
Most of the team files onto the bench, but I stay out on the ice with Maksim and Ford and the other guys since we’re on the first line.
“Goddamn, I hate that f*****g prick,” Ford says, his eyes on the Sharks across the way.
“Whatever beef you have with him, you guys need to end it. I’m not fighting your battles this time,” Maksim says.
We all know that as soon as Ford and Warner Langley set eyes on one another, it isn’t gonna be good. I don’t know the entire story, but they came up together in the same league and some fight happened that turned them from best friends to enemies. Every time we play the Sharks, it’s hard to keep Ford on task. It doesn’t help that Warner is one of the best left wingers in the league.
“Don’t go acting like you slam him into the wall on account of me. His chirping gets under your skin too.” Ford shakes his head, securing his helmet.
“Let’s just worry about winning, okay?” I put my gloved hands up in front of both of them.
“Hey, you three monkeys want in on the play, or are we gonna talk about the cute boy in English class?” Coach yells at us.
The three of us skate forward to see his play. Once we’re all on the same page, and the national anthem is sung and the rest of the pregame crap is out of the way, it’s game time. My fist clenches as I skate to the red line at center ice.
“Ready to get your ass kicked?” Warner Langley says across the line to Ford.
“In your f*****g dreams. Everyone knows we’re the better team,” Ford says.
“Until your center turned into a head case,” Warner says, making me turn my head and lose the f*****g drop.
“Told you why I f*****g hate the guy,” Ford shouts while we both skate like hell toward the puck.
“Maksim, take him to the board every chance you get!” I yell.
I don’t need acknowledgment from him. He’ll do it.
I try to gain control of the puck from the Sharks’ center. I can’t believe I lost the drop. f*****g Langley.
The crowd is in an uproar and I slide my stick in, miraculously stealing the puck and passing it to Ford. He takes control and I skate like hell to reach him. When he gets cornered, he shoots it to our left winger, Tweetie, and he gets it to me right by the net. All I have to do is practically tap it in. I do my signature celebratory goal move, but as I pop back up, my gaze is on Saige.
Her attention is on her phone, but Tedi’s jumping up and down.
“Looks like the hot blonde did the trick again,” Ford says, patting me on the back, and skates off.
Is it bad that I would’ve liked her to see me score? It’s not the best sign since she’s my agent’s girl.
- Writer
