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I shake my head since his charm is kind of hard to resist, and he turns right as the whistle blows. Once the drills start, all my nervousness is gone and I’m ready to play. I’m on a winning line. I’ve watched the tapes with Dad, I know that with Jace and Markus, we are going to be a good line. Great even, and once the puck drops, I know that Dad and I were right. We have chemistry off the bat and things are great.
Until Jayden gets involved.
Then all my nervousness is back and shit is going downhill.
Rushing the goal, I send the puck to Jace, who I thought would send to Markus who was waiting by the goal—he could have deflected it in with no problem. But instead, he sends it back to Jayden, who then cuts it hard to me.
And I miss it.
Fanning over the puck, not only making myself look dumb but also pissing my dad the hell off.
“What in the Sam Hill, Moore? Simple pass! Get your head out of your goddamn ass and play!”
Biting into my lip, embarrassment floods my face as I nod slowly. I don’t even try to explain myself because there is no excuse, but I do know that everyone is just eating that up. They want me to fail, but I won’t. Little hiccup. No big deal. I look from my dad to look at, hell, anything but Jayden, but somehow our eyes meet. His eyes are dark, holding mine as he slowly shakes his head. I don’t know what the fuck that means, but within seconds, my embarrassment is gone and only white-hot anger is there.
Who is he to shake his head at me?
Lining up for the next drill, I refuse to fuck up and I don’t. Not even the next four plays, and I feel back to normal. When Jayden rushes the puck up the middle, past the forwards and defense, I follow up behind him for support, but he doesn’t need it. He has a clean shot, or so I thought. I don?
?t see the defense rushing his left, and before I know it, he’s dropping the puck off to me. I take it, wristing it right over the goalie’s left leg pad.
It is a beauty of a play.
“Attagirl, Moore,” Jayden says in a way that I somehow confuse with sex.
Looking up, I watch as he sends me a nod before skating off.
What happened to not talking to each other?
And why are those two simple words giving me butterflies?
Damn it!
When practice is over, I look up at my father as he looks down at me, shaking his head. While I thought I did okay, he apparently has decided I sucked ass.
“You think you’re gonna get captain with that performance? Shake the nerves, Bay, that’s fucking ridiculous.”
I look down, mortified, as I nod. “Yes, sir.”
“What the hell happened? You were sloppy, not disciplined, and I’m pretty sure that’s the worst I’ve ever seen you play.”
Shrugging my shoulders, since that’s probably not true, tears still sting my eyes. I can’t admit why he might even be kinda right. Hell, I won’t even admit it to myself. “Just rusty, I guess.”
“Rusty, eh? I’ll fucking knock that rust off! Tomorrow, six a.m., we’ll be on the ice.”
Camp doesn’t start until eight, which means I’ll be going to bed as soon as I leave this place. But he’s right. I fucked up. Gotta pay the price. “Yes, sir.”
“Go, get out of my face,” he yells before turning and throwing his clipboard across the ice. It’s easy to say he’s a little intense about hockey, and I know he should be. Still, it doesn’t make getting yelled at any better. As I skate toward the boards to get off the ice, he yells, “How am I supposed to back up that you’re the best when you perform like that?”
Looking back at him, I say, “You’re not.”
“That’s right, and believe me, I won’t say it again until you prove it to me.”
“Yes sir,” I answer again. “Tomorrow will be different.”
“It better fucking be,” he yells and I turn, getting off the ice to head to the locker room.
My dad may be hard on me, even a bit mean, but it’s for the best. I need to be pushed, I can’t get sloppy, and if I’m honest, that’s what I was today. I’m not one of those girls who cries because Daddy is hard on me. I crave it because I’m not perfect. He told me all the time as a child that it’s okay to think of myself as a glow stick because you have to break them to make them shine. And that’s what he’s done to me. He’s broken off all the things that could hold me back and has allowed me to shine.
