Page 90 of Her Coach

But when I heard the guys slamming their way into the locker room like a bunch of spoiled princesses, I couldn’t contain myself.

“What in the absolute fuck was that!?” I bellowed.

The guys sighed and groaned as they dropped down onto the wooden benches in front of their lockers.

“Oh, don’t worry!” I exclaimed. “I’ll wait for someone to get their fucking wits about them!”

Jett went to say something, but I pinned him with a look and he clammed the fuck up.

“Since where the hell do you guys get off thinking you can act like shitty sportsmen because of your own fucking performance?”

That snapped their attention up to me, but Rhett was the first to speak. “What do you mean?”

I walked over to him, placing my hands on my knees, and dipped down into his vision. “What do you mean, what do I mean?” I glowered, knowing damn good and well I had the attention of the whole locker room. “That pathetic display out there? Shoulders hunched? Eyes downcast? Awful fucking posture? Frank!”

“Yeah, Coach?” he asked.

I stood, whipping around, and faced him. “The fuck was that posture when you scored? I’m stunned you even made it between their goaltender’s legs! All of you look like you were born against the broad side of a fucking barn this morning. Since when do we fuck around with posture in the middle of a god damn game!? Come on, guys, this is elementary school shit!”

The locker room fell silent before Jett murmured, “If the refs would⁠—”

I charged toward him, grabbing his jersey, and ripped him to his feet and stared directly into his face. “You think the refs are to blame for hunched shoulders and shitty conduct? You think the ref’s got control over that? Huh? You don’t get to blame the refs during this game, Jett. They aren’t even paying attention to you guys.” I shoved him back down into his seat. “And you want to know why!?”

“Why, Coach?” they all asked in unison.

My voice roared over their heads. “Because you’re not giving them anything to fucking pay attention to except for bad posture and a bit of fucking humor!”

Then a red light in the corner of the locker room flashed twice, signaling that we had one more minute before we had to be back out on the ice. So I chose my words carefully before I lowered my voice.

“If you want to be the team that everyone pays attention to, then you have to stop working for their attention and start working for the benefit of your team. We aren’t here for the audience. We aren’t here to put on a show. We’re here to play a game and represent Las Vegas the best way we know how. Got it?”

Their heads nodded as they all stood.

“Good,” I said as I snatched up my clipboard, “Now, let’s get out there and show them what being a Viper is all about.”

36

BRYNN

“Heeeeeey!” I said as I picked up the video call from Dani. “I don’t have long, the second period is about to start.”

Dani scoffed. “I don’t know why some of those stadium seats aren’t filled. The snapshots of the game you sent me are pretty good!”

I shrugged. “Ehhh, not as good as it could have been. I have a feeling Colton’s giving them a piece of his mind back there in the locker room.”

“Well, it looked good from where I’m standing.”

“States away when you should be here?”

She snickered and shot me that award-winning smile of hers. “When’s the second period?”

I looked at the countdown clock. “Here in a few seconds. Want to watch the second period like this? Or do you want me to keep sending you pictures and stuff?”

“Pictures for now, but hit me up when it’s the last period. I may be wrapped up with my blanket then.”

I paused. “You’re crocheting again? Since when?”

But the buzzer went off, signaling for the teams to gather once more, and I sighed. “Hold that thought, I’ll call you back.”