Page 18 of Monstrous Serpent

“Hayashi! You're cheating off your angle again. One of these days, a shooter's going to make you pay for it.”

Shin gives his back to Coach Sawchuk, lifts his helmet, grabs the bottle resting on top of the net, then squirts water into his mouth.

“Are you listening to me?”

He stares at her, pink hair matted to his forehead. “I caught it.”

“That's not the point—”

“Mmm.” He drops the puck, lowers his helmet, and settles into his stance. “Let me know when you have feedback worth my time.”

Coach Sawchuk mumbles to herself. One day, she's going to strangle him with that whistle lanyard, and I'm buying front row seats.

We run the drill a few more times. By the fourth time, we’re back out. Hunter and I shut down every pair that comes at us, and Coach Byfield has moved on to yelling at someone else.

Progress.

Coach blows the whistle. Thank God practice is over, but how the hell am I going to concentrate in class when my eyes are still stinging and watering?

Hunter was right about the fucking doctor. Not that I'll tell him that.

Rua pulls up alongside us. “Getting tickets for the Rangers vs. Devils game in December. You two in?”

Coach Reed huffs.

Rua waggles his brows at him. “Aw, do you want to sit with us?”

I snicker. “Let him sit with his own friends. But I’m in. No way I’m missing the Petrov vs. Blackwell showdown.”

Shaw arrives with that bright, wrong-edged laugh of his already spilling out. “I think about Petrov sometimes. Like, how much force do you think it would take to knock him down now? See how big he got.” He looks at me, waggling his brows. “I kind of want to try it. There's a fifty-fifty chance he'd try to kill me. Honestly, that sounds fun.”

Cap steers him off the ice by the back of the neck. “Stop being a dick.”

“I'm being friendly—”

I shake my head. “He’s a fucking maniac.”

Rua snorts, then stretches his arms up. “Next week should be fun. Think Walsh told Henneman about Miami?”

Coach Reed shakes his head. “Maybe worry less about my friends and more about your teammates.” He looks right at me. “Think you can stay out of the penalty box?”

I snort. “Fat chance.”

He quirks a brow. “So, you enjoy fighting certain players more than playing hockey?”

“Yeah, well, I owe him.” If they think I’m letting Jenkins skate around next week after what he did to my eyes, they’re out of their fucking minds.

Jenkins will be lucky if he gets off the ice in one piece.

Chapter 6

Cody

Thank God my parents' house is only seven miles from campus because if Doyle asks me one more time if I'm okay, I might break his nose. All I need right now is quiet and my dog. Especially after sitting through fifty minutes of Professor Demir's lecture, where I stopped trying to keep up at the twenty-minute mark because the words coming out of his mouth weren't matching the ones landing in my notes. The last half hour of class had me drawing a stick figure getting checked into the boards.

Blue is on me the second I push open the front door. Eighty pounds of muscle and slobber slamming into my legs, his whole body wiggling so hard his backend nearly takes out the entryway table. His nails click against the hardwood, and he shoves his blocky head straight into my thigh, tail whipping back and forth.

I drop my bag and crouch. “Hey, buddy.”