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“Alright, listen up,” Coach Bex says.
The whole locker room goes quiet as the assistant coaches settle on either side of him, clipboards in hand and ready for practice to begin. No doubt everyone’s going to be laser-focused on me, wondering if I’m worth all those damn zeros they signed me for when I’ve been sitting on a farm team for years.
I’m used to being underestimated when I walk into a new locker room.
It’s nothing new for me.
“As you all know, we have a new player on the roster now. Slade Matthews will be replacing Ryker Haynes on the starting lineup.”
Coach Bex looks over at me and gives me a slight nod, and I send one back.
“We don’t have time for morning chitchat. We’re all here to do a job, and we get paid well for it. I want to see a shiny new piece of hardware in our stadium trophy cabinet so you can all handle your introductions after practice. We’re not in the playoffs yet and have six more games to win. Nothing’s a sure thing. We still have to go out and win… one game at a time. So don’t get cocky, and don’t get sloppy, got it?” he asks, looking around until he sees a unanimous nod from all the players.
I can tell that Coach Bex’s coaching style is the polar opposite of Sam’s, but I can work with it. I appreciate Coach Bex calling it as he sees it. There’s no sugarcoating in his delivery, which I prefer. Being direct works best for me, anyway.
Yes, checking an opposing player into the sideboards might seem like an overreaction when they piss me off, but at least the player knows where we stand.
“Did you study every play in that playbook?” Coach Bex asks, turning to me.
“As if I designed them myself,” I tell him.
“Good,” he says and then looks around at the players in the locker room. “Let’s go play some hockey.”
And with that, everyone jumps into action, grabbing gear and heading out to the rink.
Being in a group of guys trying to break out from the pack and prove themselves to get recruited into the NHL meant that although we were a team, there was still an underlying “every man for himself,” too.
And as a kid that has spent enough of my years entering new schools where I had to fight for my spot and prove myself… I guess old habits die hard. Playing for Coach Roberts and being a part of the same team for four years was the first time in my life that I’ve ever felt the camaraderie of a team. It’s why we were unbeatable during those years I played under his leadership. And it’s why he gained my respect and loyalty… something I don’t give out freely to anyone, so I went without question when he sent me to the farm team in Canada.
I had lost his respect. He was the first person I ever cared about who respected me, and I was willing to do whatever it took to get it back. If I was ever going to get Coach Roberts to see me as someone worthy of his daughter, I knew I had to prove that I could bury my pride and take my punishment like a man.
I hope that Sam bringing me to the Hawkeyes as their center means that I have finally earned back what I lost when I threatened Sean Klein, the soccer team captain, after he asked Penelope out on a date. If Sam knew the reason behind Klein's motive for taking out Penelope, he would have done much more than threaten to end Sean’s soccer career.
Which is exactly why I never told Coach Roberts or Penelope why I did it.
Chapter Four
Penelope
After yesterday’s run-in with Slade, I really need a meet-up with my friends at Serendipity’s Coffee Shop during our lunch break.
I’m relieved not to have had another run-in with Slade this morning like we had yesterday, but it doesn’t change the fact that I could barely sleep last night overthinking our interaction.
I can only hope that, like this morning, I don’t see him around the stadium except on the ice during home games. And maybe I’ll get lucky, and some team will make a trade for him, whisking him as far away from Seattle and this franchise as possible.
“Has anyone met the new guy yet?” Tessa asks.
She sets her latte and plastic table number for our lunch order down on the square table that Autumn and I are already sitting at in the shop's back corner.
Autumn, the Hawkeyes PR manager and fiancé to Briggs Conley, our right wing, proposed lunch at Serendipity’s Coffee Shop to plan my birthday party in two weeks. Right now, turning twenty-five is the last thing on my mind with Slade back in town.
Ever since our run-in yesterday, I can’t think of almost anything else. I walked out the door this morning with my blouse inside out, which is the physical evidence of how Slade Matthews rattles me.
“I haven’t, but Briggs tells me the guy is a beast. He’s just worried about his anger issues on the ice and his unwillingness to share the puck. Briggs said that Slade carried the farm team his entire four years there. He was by far the best player on the team so he’s used to making most of the shots but he’s going to have to learn to play as a team if he wants to play for the Hawkeyes,” Autumn says, and then takes a sip of her iced water.
I’ve been curious how this morning went, but I didn’t want to ask my father, and he’s spent most of his day in meetings or in Phil’s office.
“His anger issues on the ice?” Tessa asks.
