Page 29 of One Good Puck
“What?” he asks.
“Most of the younger guys on the team would neverapproach me this early, asking what they can do to be better. That’s such a mature, older guy thing to do.”
He chuckles and runs a hand through his damp hair. He clears his throat. “I’m just grateful to be playing for the best team in the league. Never thought I’d be here at my age.”
“You were solid tonight. Clean and quick with your passes. You were faster than a lot of the younger guys. Your edges need some work, though. I notice you were a little slow on some of your transitions.”
“I’ll work on that.”
“Rest and recovery are the most important things for you right now,” I say. “Get plenty of sleep tonight. Eat enough, drink way more water than you think you need. Your bounce-back isn’t going to be as quick as the younger guys, so you need to give yourself plenty of time to recover. And don’t overtrain.”
He nods. “Absolutely. I’ll do all that.”
He stands up and thanks me before walking out the door. I grab my things and get ready to head home, the tension from my argument with Alan lingering at the back of my mind. But then I think about what Ryker said. How I have his support and the support of the rest of my players.
That counts more than anything I could ever get from Alan.
Chapter 13
Abby
Iwatch the highlights of the Bashers game on my phone screen, mesmerized.
I still can’t believe I’m doing this. I don’t care about hockey or any sports. I never have.
But after I met Gavin all those months ago, I was so smitten by how kind and handsome he was that I started watching Bashers highlights. And his interviews after the game.
And I was smitten even more. He’s so calm and cool when he’s coaching. It’s wild to me, honestly. Hockey games are so loud and stressful. But he stands there looking like James Bond in the suits he wears, his facial expression always focused. He frowns a lot, but not like he’s upset. More like he’s concentrating. Like the chaos of the game makes perfect sense inside his head.
I’ve watched clips of other hockey coaches losing their temper during games. That’s not at all how Gavin is. He doesn’t lose his cool. He doesn’t throw things or scream at refs. He keeps that focused look when he talks to his players,the team staff, and the officials. It’s like nothing fazes him. It’s honestly pretty hot.
My face heats when I think about how silly it is that I do this—that I watch clips on YouTube of the hot older guy I have a crush on. I’m acting like a teenage girl.
As the last of the highlights wraps up, I reach over and grab a blanket from the back of the couch, covering Emma with it. She’s fast asleep with her head on my lap, her tablet on her chest. I smile as I pull it away and brush back her messy blonde hair.
The post-game press interview starts playing automatically, so I watch that too. They interview Xander about scoring the first goal of the season. He’s all smiles, cracking jokes with the reporters.
“Do you think your soon-to-be father-in-law was happy with your performance in this game?” a reporter asks him.
A grin splits Xander’s handsome face. “You’d have to ask him. But I think he’s pretty happy. I’m like the son he never had,” he jokes. The reporters chuckle.
The camera cuts to Ryker St. George, who I just met at Sophie and Xander’s engagement party. He looks older than Xander by ten years. With his shaggy, dark brown hair and beard, he kind of reminds me of a lumberjack.
“Ryker, how does it feel being the oldest player on this team?”
I wince at the reporter’s question. What a rude thing to say.
But Ryker doesn’t seem fazed. He doesn’t even blink when he answers.
“Just happy to be able to play for the Bashers,” he says.
“Nice work on the assist you had tonight. Do you wish you could have scored a goal, though?” a differentreporter asks.
“Especially with your history,” someone else says. “Your nickname early in your career was the patron saint of slap shots. We don’t see those out of you much anymore.”
Ryker slow-blinks at the reporter who asked him that question, clearly annoyed.
“I’m a different player than I was when I was younger. I don’t like to live in the past,” he says curtly.
