Page 15 of Puck King
My heart dropped. Her voice was sombre. The sides of my lips twitched as Gloria explained what was happening with my soon to be ex-husband, and the smile dropped off my face completely.
Seven
Colton
I usually didn’t lookat the stands, but it was only partway through the third period and half the fans had already left. The sea of blue jerseys that usually filled our home stadium were replaced with empty red seats.
In the dressing room, the mood was flat.
The door flung open and Everleigh walked in. Gunnar, one of the rookies, had just gotten out of the shower and froze, wrapping his towel around his waist. His knuckles quickly turned white from his death grip on the towel.
“Ever hear of knocking?” one of the guys whispered.
Everleigh cleared her throat. “I have heard of knocking.” She turned and rapped her knuckle on the metal door. “Did Brock politely tippy-tap on this door? Before I hear any of that ‘no women in the dressing room’ bullshit, I want to let you all in on a little secret.”
I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath. I knew that she was taking a hard stance with the team to establish her dominance, but Everleigh always took things to the next level. She dropped her voice to a whisper, and most of the guys had to lean in to hear her. It was an old school manipulation technique she’d told me about, but I’d never seen her use it in real life.
It looked like it worked. Everyone was staring at Everleigh’s bright red lips. When she had everyone’s attention, she smirked. “I’ve seen a dick before. And trust me, none of you are anything special. Well, maybe you.” She pointed at Gunnar, whose face went redder than the center ice line. “What’s going on out there?” She scanned the room with her hands on her hips. Most of the team looked at the floor, but some looked to me. As their captain I needed to put an end to this behaviour from my sister, but she was not just my sister anymore, she was my boss. I rubbed my hair with my towel and tossed it on the bench as I stood up. “We tried some new plays. They need some fine tuning, that’s all.”
“Yeah, we didn’t lose by much,” Tony added.
Everleigh slowly turned on her heel and glared at the defenseman. “You didn’t lose by much? That’s good news, is it?”
I had to step in before Everleigh ripped Tony a new one. “Everl—”
“It’s Miss King.” Everleigh whipped her head around to snap at me.
“Miss King.” My blood was boiling. “I think what Tony meant to say is that there was a significant improvement in our performance tonight. And that if we continue on this trajectory, we’re going to be moving up in the league in no time.”
Tony mouthed, “thank you,” behind Everleigh’s back.
I wanted to tell her that she didn’t have to be a cunt to establish dominance over the team, that her title as general manager was enough. But I had to be tactical and do it in a way that wouldn’t undermine her authority in front of the players.
With her arms still crossed, Everleigh sighed. “Does anyone else want to tell me what’s going on out there?” She scanned the room and then pointed to Gunnar, who shifted on the bench. “You. Lockwood, right?”
I was impressed. Everleigh had done her homework.
Gunnar nodded. “Yes, Ma’am.”
“Ma’am.” Everleigh shook her head. “Do I look like a ma’am to you?”
“No, Everleigh.” Gunnar was a polite kid, and a good player. “I mean, no, Miss King.” His cheeks were flushed, but he squared his shoulders and met Everleigh’s eyes. I was impressed.
Everleigh picked up a puck from the floor and tossed it to Gunnar. He caught it without breaking eye contact with her. “Tell me, number seven, what’s going on out there? Why is this team losing?”
Gunnar’s eyes shot to me and he hesitated before clearing his throat. “Miss King. There’s been a lot of distraction from the press. The photographers won’t leave us alone. It’s worse than anything most of us have ever seen.”
Everleigh pursed her lips and I saw her jaw muscles clench. “Is this true?”
Some of the guys nodded or grumbled. “Yeah. I mean, it’s pretty bad,” Tony said.
The photographers had been relentless with me, but I had no idea that they’d been harassing the rest of the team. Guilt flooded my body. As a team, we had already been on thin ice. But now my actions were like a blow torch, melting that ice away. We were sinking, and it was my fault.
“Thank you.” Everleigh tossed her hair over her shoulder and strode out of the room.
“Sorry, dude.” Tony glanced at me. “It’s true, though.”
“I know, guys.” I stood. “Listen up. Miss King wants the best for the team. What you have to understand is that she has your best interests at heart, even though her bedside manner could use a little improvement.”
