Evan stops close enough that our shoulders nearly brush. He is six-two, stupidly skilled, and irritating in the way only a defenseman with options can be.
“They’re loading the weak side on breakouts,” Evan says. “If we sit back, they dump behind Kowalski all night and hit Lex until Finn takes a penalty.”
“We adjust after we see the first two shifts.”
“Or we make them adjust to us.”
“We are not turning a rivalry game into your personal audition reel.”
Evan’s smile thins. “Already got a reel.”
“Then protect the lead you haven’t earned yet.”
For a second, the air between us sharpens. Not mutiny, not even close. Evan does not want the C. He likes being the guy everyone watches when he decides to stop pretending he is only a defenseman.
The standoff holds. The room watches him, and so do I.
Giving Evan the rope tonight means giving it every night.
The C is mostly this. The small nods nobody thanks you for.
Coach Sully’s whistle cuts through warmups. “Bring it in.”
The team gathers at the bench. Tape rasps. Blades scrape.
Sully keeps it short. “They want the extra. Do not give it to them. First five minutes, we play our game. After that, we still play our game, because apparently I enjoy repeating myself to grown men.”
Finn coughs, “Barely grown.”
“O’Sullivan,” Sully says without looking. “I will staple you to the bench.”
The veterans laugh. Finn grins and flushes. Good. Embarrassment cools him faster than lectures.
As they skate off, Samantha Cole steps around the media rope with her camera lifted. New PR hire, already learning where not to stand unless she wants six hundred pounds of hockey player in her lap.
“Captain,” she says. “Quick pregame shot?”
“No.”
“Jennifer said natural images.”
“That was natural.”
Samantha lowers the camera. “You know saying no to a camera while scowling is technically an image.”
Colt points at her. “I like this one.”
I look at Samantha. She holds my gaze, then raises the camera anyway and catches me mid-annoyance.
“Perfect,” she says.
“Delete it.”
“Absolutely not.”
Evan skates past. “Frame it. Hang it in the room. Label it Emotional Availability.”
The bench cracks up, and I let them.
