Page 9 of Behind the Bench

We spend the next half hour talking about the team. Hunter has always had a knack for the game that goes above and beyond typical hockey smarts. He sees things most other people miss which is exactly why he’s a phenomenal video coach. He goes over a few things he’s already noticed in film, even though he only spent a few hours watching it. I can’t help but smile and be overcome with happiness that my friend is on this journey with me.

Just as Grayson’s about to say something, I see his gaze flick over my shoulder. He seems to have lost his train of thought, and dare I say, he even looks a bit scared? He takes a long gulp of his beer, his eyes never leaving the spot over my shoulder.

Following his eyes, I turn my head to see what has him utterly speechless and I think my jaw hits the damn floor.

Ellie just walked through the door.

She must’ve run home to change because she’s no longer dressed in her sophisticated suit. Now she’s dressed casually in jeans, a team polo, white Converse shoes, and her hair is pulled up into a messy bun. Although she’s rocking the girl next door look, she still looks just as fierce as she did in her suit. As soon as she notices us seated in the corner, a smile stretches across her face. With all the confidence in the world, she turns on her heel and heads our way.

Grabbing a chair from a nearby high top table, Ellie drags it over and makes room for herself at the corner of ours. She’s sitting on the opposite side of the table from me, but it’s a table for four, so she’s still within arm’s reach.

As cocky as I’ve ever seen her, she rests her arm on the back of her chair and looks at each of us. “My invitation get lost in the mail, boys?”

Dmitri, Hunter, and I all lower our gazes, sheepishly avoiding eye contact. We may be ashamed, but not Grayson.No, his eyes stare straight into Ellie’s. I’m pretty sure I can see the muscle in his jaw twitch.

The waitress makes her way to the table, causing Grayson to avert his eyes from Ellie straight to the waitress's ass. What a dick.

I clear my throat and with a single look, give him a silent warning to keep his eyes up.

He has the decency to shift in his seat and take his eyes off the waitress while Ellie orders her drink. “Strawberry margarita on the rocks, please.”

Once Ellie’s drink arrives, she fits in seamlessly with Dmitri and Hunter. Grayson chimes in every now and then, but he’s still distracted by the group of women sitting next to us. Hunter and Ellie seem to be going on about some TV show they’ve been watching, laughing loudly and freely together.

As for me, I sit back and take in the scene in front of me. Ellie has always been carefree and exudes happiness, but for some reason I’m still wary, unsure of who she really is as a person. Sitting back in my seat with feet crossed at my ankles, I simply watch.

Dmitri joins their conversation about the ridiculous TV show, trying to imitate one of the characters in his thick Russian accent, and it sends Ellie into a fit of giggles. She reaches for her drink on the table and catches me staring. I raise my glass in salute to her and take a sip of my beer, my eyes still watching her over the rim of my glass.

She takes a sip of her margarita and as soon as she sets it down on the table, Grayson leans over to whisper something in her ear. The hairs on the back of my neck immediately stand and my grip on my glass grows tighter. What the hell is he up to?

As he’s whispering in Ellie’s ear, a dark look moves across her face and she leans away from him. Grayson raises his hands in surrender, laughing obnoxiously, before hespeaks loud enough for the whole table to hear. “Just a joke. Chill.”

Ellie downs the rest of her margarita and turns back to Grayson. “Well, Grayson, since you’re an assistant coach,exactly like me, it was probably the same guy who’s dick you sucked to get the job too.”

Dmitri and Hunter both laugh to themselves while I do my best to hide a smirk behind my glass. Ellie catches me smirking in her periphery, and her own menacing grin appears as she turns back to Grayson. “How about we go to HR in the morning and you can ask them.”

Grayson cowers and slumps back in his seat, seemingly done with the conversation.

Ellie, completely unfazed, turns back to Hunter and picks up right where they left off.

It’s nice to see that Ellie still has the same fire she had when we were kids. I’m still not sure how I feel having her behind the bench, but she made one thing clear tonight.

She can definitely hold her own with the boys.

Last night was interesting.

I only briefly met the rest of the coaching staff yesterday. After my first run in with Grayson, I was afraid the other coaches would be misogynistic like him, but was pleasantly surprised to learn that isn’t the case. Hunter and Dmitri, while initially shocked by my presence, both welcomed me into the fold and made me feel comfortable. We had a quick half hour coaches’ meeting before we were whisked away by management to do other things.

The day was spent getting a lay of the arena, meeting our captain, Niko, and talking with Jerry about his support and passion for women in sports. Listening to Jerry’s plan on how he’d like to transform the organization to include more women in the workforce totally blew me away.

A decent first day took an unexpected turn when I walked into the bar for dinner and saw the entire coaching staff enjoying a night out—without me. Am I used to being an outcast? When it comes to working on men’s hockey teams, I wish I could say that isn’t always the case. But it definitely takes some men longer to get used to the idea of a womanwith them on the ice. This wasn’t my first rodeo so I strolled right up to them, undeterred, ready to prove that I belonged.

Grayson made yet another derogatory comment to me, this time accusing me of having to suck dick to get this job. Unfortunately for him, there’s nothing he can say to me that I haven’t heard before from unruly fans or keyboard warriors on the internet.

Going from a meeting with Jerry, who is full of support and respect for me, to being intentionally left out and ignored by my peers isn’t exactly my idea of fun. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t sting a little bit.

I still tried to make the best of my night. Dmitri, Hunter, and I actually bonded over our love ofSchitt’s Creek. We all ordered ourselves dinner but went our separate ways shortly after. Exhausted after an albeit shocking but overall decent day, the moment I got back to my hotel room I turned on my sound machine and flopped onto my glorious hotel bed and crashed.

My brain is still reeling over the events of yesterday. Finding out that Lincoln Scott is not only working beside me, but he’s kind of my boss, rattled me a bit. He’s the head coach and he gets the final say on most matters, which could end up not in my favor.

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