Page 121 of What Are the Chances
Setting my helmet in place, I skated towards Coach for my turn. Despite this being his fourth round, he wasn’t even slightly out of breath.
“What have you got for me, Caufield?” Coach jested.
I simply smirked in response before moving the puck, though my cockiness faded quickly. Coach was like a brick fucking wall. He seemed almost impenetrable to get around.
This was going to be my fulltime reality soon. I’d always been one of the best for my age, but next year, all the guys would be top-of-the-league types of players. This was a reminder that it certainly wouldn’t come easy. Though knowing it would get me out of a shit ton of burpees, I managed to summon the energy.
I got the upper hand and fooled Coach, managing to skate past him. The team cried out, tapping their sticks against the ice. Coach mumbled something under his breath, but I think it was more at himself than me.
As I skated past the bench, I caught sight of Riley. She was grinning hard. We’d agreed to keep things discreet. Not because we had anything to hide, but because keeping things professional here was smart. She had a lot to prove with Richard, and I didn’t want any rumours starting that could link back to us being together.
“No pressure,” Ryan chided as he smacked Tripp’s back.
Tripp was a showy guy. He was never one to crack under pressure. If that changed now, he owed me one dollar for each burpee I was forced to do.
He started well, moving the needle quick enough to keep Coach distracted. Though as he attempted to round Coach, Coach managed to swipe the puck away and sail it towards the opposite empty net.
As Coach and the training staff cheered with triumph and the team groaned collectively, I remained completely silent. Light-hearted wager or not, I hated losing.
“Hell no,” Tripp shouted, skating after Coach. “That would’ve got you sent to the penalty box. You totally would’ve been called for slashing.”
When Coach didn’t immediately dismiss Tripp’s claims, it basically confirmed them as true. The team were quick to murmur their agreement, though I doubt half of them had been paying proper attention.
“That can’t stand,” Ryan declared. “We need a tiebreaker.”
And the plot thickened.
Coach rested his gloved hands on his stick, his jaw twitching while he pondered. There was no point throwing in suggestions of our own. This was Coach’s show now. Whatever he decided on was what we’d have to go with.
After trailing his gaze along the bench, Coach sneered triumphantly. “If Riley can make a shot from the centre line, you all get out of dryland.”
Levi’s eyes widened in shock, and mine followed suit. That seemed completely random. Riley anxiously blinked as though she was in one of those dreams when you’re naked and everyone is staring at you.
She defiantly shook her head. “I don’t play hockey.”
“You’ll be fine,” Coach returned. “You’ve been around it for enough of your life.”
She had? Did Coach know something I didn’t?
“Come on, Dover,” Ryan encouraged. “You’ve got this.”
A few of the other guys started uttering their support as well. Most of the team knew her now. Whenever I looked up, there was always a new guy beneath her while she tended to his injuries. Even Levi had been having regular check-ins this past week.
Riley didn’t know Coach well enough to understand, but now he’d settled on the idea, he was going to see it through. Whether we succumbed to hundreds of burpees or not was in Riley’s hands.
The same hands that’d tangled in my hair this morning while I’d divulged in her sweet pussy for breakfast.
I slipped off my helmet so she could see my face. She immediately caught my eye. After nodding my encouragement, she let out a defeated sigh.
It was odd seeing her amble onto the ice. She looked so small, surrounded by the arena and hulking hockey players.
Coach skated to the centre of the ice and dropped the puck. Taking the stick from his hand, Riley shifted into position.
“Make sure you–”
“Yeah, yeah,” she drawled, interjecting Coach. “I know how to handle a stick.”
That earnt a series of laughter from everyone on the team, except me. Nobody cut off Coach. And if you did, you didn’t get away with it.
