Page 1 of One Good Puck
Chapter 1
Gavin
“You sure this is the hill you wanna die on, Gavin? You’re positive?”
I nod at Alan Arden, General Manager of the Bashers, and look him in the eye. “I’ve never been more certain about anything. Get rid of this guy. I don’t want him on my team anymore.”
Alan huffs out a breath and shakes his head. He’s pissed at me for this. I know he is. But I don’t care.
He leans back in his chair behind the desk in his office and glances to the side. He shakes his head. “We’re gonna catch hell for this.”
“I don’t care,” I say. I cross my arms over my chest while standing in front of his desk.
Alan aims a hard frown at me. “I’ve always admired your conviction, Gavin. Your no-nonsense approach to coaching and the way you treat the guys on our team. But I gotta say, I’m not with you on this. Zach McCoy is a great player. He played his ass off for us during the Stanley Cup series. And he had some key plays during the championship game.”
“I don’t care,” I repeat. “He released revenge porn of his ex. I don’t want a player like that on my team.”
Alan lets out another heavy sigh before he’s quiet for a second. In the handful of years I’ve been head coach of the Denver Bashers, I’ve always been on good terms with Alan. We’re not friends, but we’re cordial. He’s my boss. I don’t like to blur the lines with professional colleagues.
But this is the first time I’ve questioned his character for standing up for a player like Zach McCoy.
The last forty-eight hours have been an utter shit show since the news broke out that McCoy shared nude photos of his ex-girlfriend on a revenge porn site. Reporters have been hounding the team’s coaches and management about it. The players are getting bombarded with questions too. My phone and email have been blowing up nonstop. It’s a fucking mess.
Rage simmers inside of me when I think about what a piece of shit McCoy is for doing something so cruel. It reminds me of what my late wife Nicole went through all those years ago…how it almost destroyed her…
I push that awful memory aside and refocus on the moment.
I look at Alan. “You can keep McCoy if you want, Alan. You’re the general manager of the team, so you get the final say when it comes to our roster. But if you choose to keep him, I’m gone.”
His eyes go wide at the ultimatum I’ve thrown at him. “Come on, Gavin. You don’t need to make threats.”
“I’m not making a threat. I’m just telling you the facts.”
I could tell him why I feel so strongly about this—because someone close to me was a victim of revenge porn and there’s no way in hell I’m ever working with a perpetrator of that crime.
I could remind him that our star player, Xander Williams, was a victim of revenge porn two seasons ago, and we as a team rallied around him. It would be pretty damn hypocritical of us to take a stand against revenge porn with one player, but then let it slide with another.
But I shouldn’t have to explain anything. Because what McCoy did was wrong. Illegal. Immoral. Beyond fucked up. And if Alan were a decent person with any semblance of a moral code, that should be enough to convince him.
Again, he shakes his head. Like he’s disappointed with me. Too bad I don’t give a fuck.
“Fine,” he mutters. He picks up his phone. “I’m calling McCoy’s agent right now. He’s gone.”
“Good,” I mutter back.
I walk out of his office without another word, knowing this will change our working dynamic forever. Whatever. It’s honestly a good thing that I know what kind of person Alan is deep down. Apparently, he’s fine with protecting a predatory piece of shit as long as he’s good at hockey.
I walk down the hall of the arena where the Bashers play, toward my office. I grab my suit jacket from the back of my chair, unlock my phone, and pull up Xander’s contact info. He’s the star center of our team, and the fiancé of my daughter Sophie. I didn’t like the guy when I first met him. He’s an incredible player on the ice, but off the ice, he was a playboy. Only interested in fucking around and hooking up. Until he met my daughter.
I wasn’t thrilled when the two of them started dating. Actually, that’s an understatement. I was fucking pissed when I found out my beautiful genius daughter was dating the guy whose nickname was panty dropper. But over time, he won me over. I saw how committed he was to Sophie, how he put her needs and happiness and well-being abovehis own. I saw just how much he loved her. And now we’re good. I’ll be proud to call him my son-in-law next summer when they get married.
I tap his name in my contacts and call him. He answers right away.
“Hey, Coach. What’s up?”
“I met with Alan. McCoy’s off the team.”
Xander lets out a slow breath. “I’m really glad to hear that.”
