“Seriously?” The rookie’s voice rose with his indignation. Elliott could hear the subtext. The audacity. Why would his team not jump to the defense of their star player? Gasp. Hand-on-forehead. Dramatic wail.
The kid was seconds from either throwing down a “don’t you know who I am?” or a “you’d all be fucked without me” comment. His shoulders were square and his jaw, firm. When he stood up, Linc reached over and tugged the hem of his jersey, hard, forcing the rookie to splat back onto the bench. Linc switched places with Russell and leaned close to Theo’s ear, but Elliott couldn’t hear what was said.
The rookie stayed quiet, but anger radiated from Theo as he took his next shift.
“What’d you say to him?” Elliott couldn’t help but be curious.
Linc shrugged. “Just that on this team we don’t play for the names on the back of the shirt. No matter how good we might be by ourselves. I just reminded him that even the greatest hockey players in the world can’t do shit without the help and support of their team.”
Elliott nodded. Linc was right. His method of delivering the lesson to Theo was risky—he could have gotten seriously hurt if de la Peña hadn’t landed the hit right—but what he’d said was true.
“I told him we’d be only too happy to have his back, against the de la Peña brothers or anyone else who fucked with him, as long as he had ours. And right now, he doesn’t.”
Pride swelled in Elliott’s chest at the growth he’d seen in Linc since he joined the team. So many of the kids had stepped up over the years, but few had stepped up in a way that left their mark on the team like Linc had, like Will had.
True leadership was hard to find, but the team was rallying around Linc like he’d been born to lead. Just like his father.
He smacked a hand on Linc’s shoulder. “I’m proud of you for taking your responsibilities seriously, Linc. But that hit could have gone wrong and ended up with Theo getting hurt. How did you know de la Peña would help?”
Linc laughed. “After what happened during pre-season?”
His stomach dropped. “What happened during pre-season?”
“I need to get back on the ice, Coach.”
He didn’t like it when his players kept shit from him, but Elliott couldn’t say he hadn’t gotten up to no good when he played college hockey, so he let it slide. “He could have done real damage out there, Lincoln.”
“De la Peña knew to be careful.” Linc spoke quietly and turned his head, probably to make sure no one was listening.
“And how many times have you done something carefully on the ice that produced an unexpected result?”
Linc winced. Message received. “Sorry, Coach.”
“Let’s just hope Theo got the memo, okay?”
Linc nodded, took his next shift, and led the team to a 3-1 victory over Cedar Rapids. A knot of anxiety that had been weighing heavily in Elliott’s abdomen unraveled at the final buzzer. He hadn’t realized how much he’d wanted to impress Clare until the team had taken to the ice.
What a fucking idiot. Clearly, the matter of personal pride as an athlete was hard to shake, even as a coach. But it all went through the roof when it came to impressing his girl.
His girl. It had been an age since he called her that, even to himself.
They’d won, they’d given the crowd a fun game to watch, and he could face Clare without her looking at him with pity swimming in her eyes. Was there anything worse?
“Great game, Coach.” She bumped her hip against his when he came to a stop next to her in the corridor outside the locker room.
“Thanks. Where’s Mason?”
She jerked her thumb over her shoulder toward the locker room door. “One of the players asked if he wanted to take a look around behind the scenes while the rest of the team got dressed. Then he’d take him for autographs and to get a jersey left aside for him.” She folded her arms and arched a brow. “You know anything about that?”
His mouth dried up. “It’s too much, right?” He nodded before she had a chance to answer. “Totally too much. I just… I dunno, I guess I wanted to make it special for him.”
He’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to stick it to Mason’s dad, Clare’s ex, just a little. Okay, a lot. Any guy who left her for another woman, was an idiot who deserved everything he got.
Was he showing off a little in hopes that Mason would talk about how it was the best night of his entire life? Sure. Did he give a flying fuck? Nope.
Was he also hoping to melt the inch-thick ice around Clare’s heart and nudge her toward forgiving him? Absolutely. The more he saw of her, the more he realized just how much he missed his best friend and partner in crime.
Her frown flickered, a small smile teasing at the corner of her lips. “You’ve always been a bit flashy.” She shook her head.
