Page 8 of Stick It
Gaze flicking around the room, he grunts, “Good, you’re all here. And I see you’ve met the newest addition.”
“Coach,” Reed interjects. “This can’t be for real.”
“What can’t be for real?” Coach challenges.
Looking at Coach as though he’s going senile—and perhaps he is; he is getting up there in years after all—Reed flings his arm out toward Dylan. “You can’t seriously be putting a girl on the team.”
“I am, and I have.”
Well, fuck. There goes any possibility that this was all one big misunderstanding. I’d really been hoping the girl was just batshit crazy or masterfully pulling off some sorority dare.
“She’ll be crushed the first time someone checks her,” Reed continues, undeterred.
“Your concern is noted and appreciated, Reed.” Clearly, Coach is not registering the hostility blazing from his eyes. Reed is not pointing out how easy it would be for any of us to snap a bone in her lithe little body out ofconcern. “However, the decision has been made. If Dylan is incapable of hacking it on the ice, then she is free to withdraw from her position. Until such a time, she is as much a member of this team as anyone else in this room, and I expect her to be treated as such.” When his words are met with stony silence, he snaps, “Do I make myself clear?!”
Choruses of “Yes, Coach,” and “Yes, sir” deafen the room, and Coach nods in approval. “Good, then get changed. I want to see every single one of you out there in five minutes or you’ll be doing suicides for the rest of practice.”
He breezes out through the locker room door as quickly as he appeared. I hadn’t wanted to question him in front of everyone else, but unable to let it go, I chase after him.
“Coach,” I call, jogging down the hall to catch up with him. “I don’t understand.” Searching his eyes, I question, “Is this some sort of publicity stunt?” Why else would he allow a girl on the team? “’Cause Reed is right. She’s going to get herself hurt out there. Not to mention that she will make a blatant weak point that all of our opponents will attack. No other team willtake us seriously, and we can kiss our chance at making it to the Frozen Four goodbye.”
There had been a hint of humor in Coach’s eyes when I started talking, but it had burnt out by the end of my little speech.
“I can assure you, Maddox, I wouldneverput someone’s health at risk—nor the success of this team—for a merepublicity stunt.” He practically spits the words at me. “As for our chances of making it to the championships.” He points a calloused finger at the closed locker room door. “I believethat girlis our best shot of making it this year.”
He must see the doubt written all over my face because he turns to face me fully. “Ethan, you’re their captain. That team in there will look toyoufor guidance. They’ll followyourlead. I’ve told Dylan that she has to bring her A game, to impress not only me but all of you. But she won’t even get a shot at doing that if every single guy in there is out to get her. Prove to me that you’re the captain this team needs. That you can be the captain I know you’re capable of.”
With that hard-hitting statement, he walks off, leaving me staring after him with no idea how the fuck to move forward.
3
DYLAN
Unsurprisingly,things went downhill after my warm welcome in the locker room. Everyone on the team gave me such a wide berth throughout practice that you’d think I was carrying the bubonic plague.
Despite the distance, from the second practice began, with dynamic warm-ups and drills, I felt eyes on me. It didn’t matter whether I was sitting on the bench while the defense ran drills or on the ice performing wrist shots. I was constantly being watched. Assessed. Judged.
I’d forgotten how exhausting it is. As if an early morning practice after a restless night’s sleep in the new house I now share withfourof my teammates isn’t exhausting enough.
By the time practice ended, I was so done with peopling for the day.
Except I couldn’t go back to my room and hide out there. I wasn’t yet ready to face my new roommates. Their outrage. Their questions.Hell no.Yesterday, I’d deliberately hightailed it to my room as soon as Finn invited me inside. I couldn’t have sat downstairs with him and the others once they returned and pretended I wasn’t who I am. Nor was I comfortable admittingthe truth. I’d wanted the news to come out the way it did—on territory I was familiar with. In a setting where I felt confident. WhereIwas in control.
However, because I hid away in my room last night, I didn’t get the chance to suss out who else I’d be living with. But I’d hazard a guess they’re the three other Steelhawks who entered the locker room with Finn this morning: Ethan Maddox, Jaxon “Jax” Keller, and Kyle Reed—my archnemesis since it’s his spot I plan on taking. Sorry, Kyle. I’d say it’s nothing personal, but I’m pretty sure he won’t see it that way when he gets beat out by a girl.
To say I’m intimidated to be sleeping under the same roof asthreeof the prime NHL draft picks for this season would be an understatement. I’ve admired Ethan’s hand-stick coordination from afar for years now. And the way he moves down the ice is just… I’d love to know how someone his size can move with such explosive agility. It should be impossible, and yet Ethan Maddox makes the impossible possible.
Plus, have you seen that guy when he takes his helmet off?Delicious. That’s literally the best word to describe him. He is atallglass of water in the height of summer. Wavy brown hair that he’s never quite able to contain. Pale blue eyes that pierce right through you. Sharp jawline with a five-o’clock shadow that makes me shiver, imagining how it would feel against my skin. Today was my first time seeing him up close without his helmet and gear on, and he was even more spectacular than I could have imagined. I struggled to keep my eyes off him.
Of course, any time I managed to rip my gaze away, it would land on either Finn or Jax. Both as cruelly hot, and also star players and shoo-ins for the NHL. Their talent on the ice is unmatched. So is their talent off the ice…or so I hear. Finn has playboy written all over him, and his reputation as a ladies’ man precedes him.
Where it’s evident that Finn uses his charisma and flirty winks to get what he wants, Jax is his opposite. He’s quiet, contemplative. He didn’t say a word this morning, yet I could tell he was taking in the entire confrontation, assessing it from a hundred different angles.
He’s built like a tank, towering above the other players and easily twice as wide as I am. With jet-black hair and matching eyes. He paints an intimidating picture. One that has me hoping I don’t run into him some night on my way to the bathroom. It’s always the quiet ones you need to watch out for, so I’ll be keeping a close eye on Mr. Tall, Dark, and Broody.
I was surprised to see Kyle with them. He’s not in the same league as the others, although, I guess, considering they’re all seniors, it makes sense that they live together. Truthfully, if Kyle wasn’t my competition, I’d have no idea who he was. He doesn’t stand out on the ice. Not the way the others do. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a good player, but I’m better.
Which is why, in a few short weeks when Bea—Coach—announces the lines for this year, he’ll be relegated to second while I’ll be sitting up front in first.
