Page 9 of Slap Shot
Their eyes met and she smiled. Not her polite smile, but something warmer, more personal. Like she was enjoying watching him work.
His next pass sailed three feet over Dmitri's stick.
"Mother of God," Dmitri groaned, chasing down the errant puck. "Is getting worse."
"Chenny's got it bad," Kane laughed, following Oliver's gaze to the observation deck. "Oh shit, is that the new IT lady?"
"Her name's Heather," Oliver said quickly. Too quickly.
The entire power play unit stopped skating.
"Don’t you mean, Dr. Quincy?" Mateo repeated, a grin spreading across his face. "Or are you on a first-name basis with the new IT security chick?"
"It's a professional relationship," Oliver said, which was technically true and completely misleading.
"Professional my ass," Ethan said..
"Enough," Coach Vicky called sharply. "Chenofski, if you can't focus during practice, you can watch from the bench. Everyone else, back to positions."
Oliver tried to ignore the mutterings from the team, but when he glanced back at the observation deck, Heather was no longer alone. A woman in a business suit had joined her, and whatever they were discussing was making Heather's posture go rigid.
The rest of practice passed in a blur of drills and increasingly creative commentary from his teammates about his obvious distraction. By the time Coach Vicky blew the final whistle, Oliver was ready to escape to the locker room and figure out what that conversation upstairs had been about.
"Chenny," Noah called as they headed off the ice. "Word of advice from an old married guy?"
"I'm listening."
"Whatever's going on with you, just be careful. Front office relationships can get messy fast, especially if management decides they don't like it."
Oliver nodded, the warning settling uneasily in his stomach. In the locker room, the chirping continued as everyone showered and changed.
"Twenty bucks says Chenny asks her out within a week," Mateo announced, pulling on his street clothes.
"Twenty says he's already asked her out," Kane countered.
"You're both wrong," Jax said. "Twenty says she asked him out."
"Now that would be something." Dmitri laughed. "Smart woman making first move on shy hockey player."
"I'm not shy," Oliver protested.
"You are totally shy," Ethan said. "Remember when that reporter asked about your dating life last season? You turned red and ran away."
"I didn't run away. I had somewhere to be."
"The bathroom," Kane added helpfully. "For twenty minutes."
Oliver was saved from further humiliation when his phone buzzed with a text. He glanced at it, trying to keep his expression neutral despite the way his pulse kicked up seeing Heather's name.
Can we talk? I need to discuss something that came up today. - H
"Gotta go," he said, grabbing his bag.
"Hot date with Heather?" Mateo called after him.
"None of your business," Oliver shot back.
As he and Charlie made their way through the building's corridors, Oliver ignored a text from his sister Andi. They had tickets to Shubert for Stomp for tomorrow night. She was probably looking to nail down the details with him. He’d call her later. First, he needed to find out what was going on with Heather and the woman who had pissed her off during practice.
