Page 18 of Rebound
If I can help my team win, I’ve done my job. If I can stop the other team from making a goal, I’ve done my job. Bonding with my teammates has never been a priority. Each team I’ve played for, the only thing that’s mattered is our chemistry on the ice and how we play against the opposing team. My personality off the ice hasn’t factored into the game.
Until now.
The Boston Titans are a tightly knit team, and they don’t like me amidst them.
They were my opponents for so long and I’m good at remembering my opponents’ weaknesses and exploiting them. Suffice it to say, the Titans are not huge Roman Maddox fans and things haven’t changed in the eight months I’ve been playing with them.
When my agent told me I was being traded to the Titans, my first visceral reaction was to say no. I didn’t want to play forthe same team my father built his career with and be compared to him the whole time I’m here. I get enough of that when I’m playing for other teams.
There’s only one reason I said yes.
And she’s sitting behind the boards, keeping one eye on the score and one eye on the game. Just like I am, sitting with the rest of the team while the game plays out in front of me. My leg jiggles as I map out the plays and think how I can do them better or assist in a different way.
Here’s the thing.
I haven’t had much play time since I signed on to the Titans, all thanks to their new coach Silas Cross. Cross was a hockey player himself, a damn good one; winner of the Ted Lindsay award, an All-Star player for each season he played, Rookie of the Year his first year.
He was a Titan for most of his career, and when he retired five years ago, he disappeared off the face of the Earth, until he resurfaced recently as the Titans coach.
He’s been keeping me on the bench after my first couple of games with the team because I didn’t like his plays, and I went against them. And because I nearly got into a fight with the referee for a bad call.
I’m a ‘liability’ on the ice and I’m only getting enough game time to not violate my contract. What the fuck did they expect when they hired a player who was nicknamed The Brutalizer in his rookie year? I hate the nickname, yet I can’t help living up to it.
“Maddox, you’re going in!”
I snap my eyes to Cross, surprised he’s sending me in. But I don’t question him because I’m antsy sitting on the bench and I need to play.
“Don’t fuck this up, Maddox, or I swear you’re going to spend the rest of the season on the bench.”
I smirk under my helmet because we both know he can’t keep me on the bench.
“You can’t control what happens on the ice, coach,” I call back when I’m on the ice.
I’m a team player, okay. I never said I’m not. When I’m on the ice, all I want to do is win and I don’t care which of my teammates scores. I’m chasing a win, not glory, and whatever I can do to ruin my father’s legacy, I’ll do it.
So, the collective defense of my team against me is a little too much. It’s like they see me as the opponent instead of the Knights. And coach tells me to play nice.
No one passes me the puck from the Titans, but I manage to get it from the Knights and pass it to Drew. I try not to think about Lavinia watching us, though I am all too aware where she is in the crowd. Her copper hair is unmistakable and stands out against her black outfit.
Don’t think about her, Maddox. Focus on the game.
I steal the puck from the Knights right wing and I’m down the ice, keeping my eyes on the goal. The defense is on me and there’s no one around to pass the puck to, so I make a crazy decision and shoot the puck. I swear the audience holds its breath as the Knights goalie tries to stop the puck and it slips past him.
The roar of the crowd is deafening. The goal puts us at 2-0.
I don’t look in Vin’s direction because I really don’t want to know what she’s thinking.
I spend the next hour in interviews and end up snapping at a reporter for asking the same damn question that the three before him have asked. I’m sure the team’s publicist will love that. I can imagine myself sitting in Ethel’s office as she berates me for being the idiot who makes her job harder.
I shower, change, and exit the dressing room before the other guys. They’re making plans to go out and celebrate their victory.And it is their victory because I’m not sure they consider me a part of this team.
I’m exiting the tunnel into the family room when I see Lavinia standing off to the corner, talking to Coach Cross. Something he says makes her laugh, her whole face lighting up, and jealousy burns through me.
First, some man her parents set her up with, and now Coach. There’s no limit to how many men want this woman. Why will she want me?
It’s like she can sense my thoughts because her eyes drift to me over Coach’s shoulder. She blinks slowly, her head tilting as if asking me a question, before she looks away. Coach sees someone else and pats Lavinia’s arm before walking away. How can I be civil with this man now knowing he’s trying to steal Lavinia?
Leave it alone. Don’t fucking go up to her.
