Page 106 of Jaded

Avery sighs, grumbles. But when he stumbles off towards my room, Syd lingers behind. Her big green eyes find mine. And she gives me a small smile. “Dad . . .”

“Yes, Syd?”

“You know I think you should skate in the open tryout, right?”

And somehow, as she stands, leaving me alone in the living room, somehow that’s how I know. This is where I’m meant to be. In this town. With these kids, at the rink. Surrounded by ice and snow, not the desert. Not out on the tow truck.

Hockey’s my future, as much as it’s my past.

And whatever Olli James needs to ensure this town keeps its team, I’ll help him do it. Whatever it takes. Whatever that means.

Hockey is my life. And I’ll do whatever it takes to keep it here.

Chapter 25

Olli

ThenextDingoesgameis packed to the very gills. Everybody wants to make guesses, study players, take bets. Speculate about whether this allegedopen tryoutthat's been all over the Dingoes’ socials is real . . .

Syd’s a wizard, I tell you. Suddenly the town’s hockey team is all anybody can talk about.

We win that game. And the next one. And the next.

We dominate with such resounding finesse, Coach actually offers to take us all out to dinner on his dime. Correction—the team, the staff,and our families.

Which is how we wind up packed into a tiny family restaurant, crushed into a collection of too-small tables that clearly wasn’t designed with professional athletes in mind—our height, our shoulder breadth, our general rowdiness.

Probably doesn’t help that we’re drunk on the nectar of this latest win.

The poor waitstaff looks like it’s torn between throttling us or kissing us—or Coach’s wallet, anyway.

I’m backed into a corner of the room, near the window, so the cool press of winter brushes my neck as it leaks through the cracks. What’s really wild, though, is that Nat and Syd are here too. They’re both in button-downs and ties—and let me tell you, does that man know how to fill out a dress shirt. Goddamn—

Stop it, Olli.

Syd’s sort of adorable in her tomboy garb, though she keeps tugging her tie like she can’t get comfortable. She must have wanted to come, but maybe she didn’t realize the, uh, gravity of being surrounded by a pro hockey team.

So I get up and plop down in the empty seat beside her. “Hey, Syd.”

“Olli!” She grins, and her fingers sweep away from her tie. I swear her shoulders drop a solid three inches. “Good game today.”

“Thanks. I caught the beginning of your game too.”

“Oh.” Her cheeks turn a shade darker. “Really?”

“You got your dad’s hockey talent, eh?”

“Oh, my God.” She claps her hands over her cheeks. “You have to stop. You’re embarrassing me. Am I blushing?”

“Nah, not too bad.” I laugh. “So, did your dad drag you along, or are you here of your own volition?”

“Eh, little of both.” She shrugs, sending her glossy ponytail cascading over her shoulder. “It’s sort of . . . homework?”

“Your homework is having dinner with a bunch of oversized men?” My brow furrows as I try to puzzle through that logic.

“Um.” Syd bites her lip. Her gaze skates sideways towards Nat—engaged in conversation with Charlie. So I lean in closer, and Syd mimics the motion. “I had this idea for my senior project . . . that maybe I could use the Dingoes’ social media stuff—but it’s stupid.”

My brows shoot up like I’ve lost control of my facial muscles. “I don’t think it’s stupid at all.”

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