“You’re joking,” Enzo yelped, wild eyes darting to me. “Tell me he’s joking.”
I shook my head, smirking. “I’m sure they won’t be venomous ones. Probably.” All the guys around us laughed as Enzo moaned.
Up ahead, Ryan Cane was ignoring the teasing of our young goalie, choosing instead to leer at the head of PR as she led us down the hall. “How am I supposed to pay attention tothe facilities when that fine ass is right in front of me?” Cane asked his friend, grinning wolfishly, voice just loud enough for Skylar to hear. I saw her cheeks go pink but she ignored him, telling us about the top-of-the-line weight room in her steady, professional voice.
“That guy’s an asshole,” Jay muttered, and I nodded. I didn’t have warm, fuzzy feelings about Cane when we went head-to-head over the years—dude was pretty dirty on the ice—and I had a feeling we weren’t going to get along any better as teammates.
Skylar led us through the weight room, which was huge, then into a connected room full of cardio equipment and a third, smaller space for stretching. “In the next few days, we’ll be able to get into the training facility,” she explained. “The gym there is far more extensive, since that’s where you’ll hold a majority of your practices.” I saw a few guys exchanging glances. It was difficult to imagine somethingmoreextensive than this set-up.
After the gym area we saw a dedicated massage room, several rows of ice baths and jacuzzies, and a player’s lounge still under construction. Just as I expected, Knight spared no expense. The place was as swanky and high end as any NHL arena I had ever seen.
“Pretty big difference from the minors, huh?” I asked one of the younger looking guys as he stared around the lounge with wide eyes.
“You can say that again.”
Finally, Skylar led us to the main event. Everyone got quiet as we stepped out onto the ice—even Enzo seemed to snap out of his arachnid terror. The new kids were clearly more than a little awed by the size of it and the rows and rows of seats stretching up to the rafters. Hell, I was pretty awed myself. There was just something about a smooth stretch of unblemished ice and a silent, darkened arena. It almost felt like church, the way our quiet voices echoed. Every guy in this room had spent his lifedreaming of this, of making it to the NHL. It didn’t matter how long I’d been playing or how much success I’d had—it still hit me just the same way it had when I was a rookie.
We ended up in what Skylar introduced as the film room. Filled with squishy looking armchairs and a fifteen-foot-high projection screen, it would have been easy to mistake this place for a swank movie theater, as opposed to a place for sweaty hockey players to watch film on our opponents.
“In Mississippi we watched game tape on the most ancient monitor,” Enzo said, laughing. “You know the old tube style TVs on a cart? Like the ones teachers used to roll in to watch movies at school? I swear to God, we didn’t even have a flatscreen.”
“This is much nicer than what we had in New York,” I assured him. Every other team I’d been on had watched game tape in a basic conference room. Andrew Knight’s insistence on showing off struck again.
“Okay boys, I hope you like what you saw in here,” Duke Olsen said, stepping to the front of the room. “The owner is running a little bit late, so I’m going to introduce you to your coach, Wayne Dillion.”
A surly looking man with a shiny bald head and a barrel chest joined him. “A few of you worked with me in Atlanta and you know my style,” he said in a raspy voice that hinted at a two-pack-a-day habit. “For the rest of you, you’ll figure it out pretty quick. I want hard work and I don’t like a lot of back talk.” He looked around the room at us, his scowl growing. Then he sighed. “We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
“Wow,” Jay muttered. “Pearls of inspiration from our fearless leader.”
I turned my head to agree with him and the words died in my throat. Andrew Knight was standing in the doorway to the film room. And next to him stood Grace.
“Well, she looks familiar,” Jay said, amusement in his voice, but I barely registered it. I was too busy staring at Gracie. If she was feeling the effects of her drinking the night before, you’d never be able to guess. She was looking bright- eyed and rested, her curly hair pulled up in a messy bun on top of her head. Her denim skirt was tight on her curvy little frame, the flowy sleeveless top she wore showing off gold-tinged skin that I immediately wanted to touch. My dick twitched at the mere sight of her.
God, how did she still affect me so strongly, after all these years?
“Who the fuck isthat?” the guy next to Ryan Cane asked quietly, and I had to fight back the growl that rose in my chest at his clearly interested tone.
For once in my life, I was relieved to hear Andrew Knight’s voice, because it meant I wouldn’t have to listen to whatever response Cane gave his friend. I didn’t think I could handle hearing the two of them talk about Gracie the way they had been talking about Skylar throughout the tour. I’d been tempted to call them out, but I didn’t want to embarrass her any further. I was going to have to have words with them in private, though—it was abundantly clear after twenty minutes in their company that the two assholes had not progressed to behavior beyond that of a middle schooler.
“Good morning,” Knight was saying at the front of the room, and I tried to tear my gaze from Grace to look at him. She hadn’t seemed to notice me yet, or maybe she was purposefully avoiding me, but either way, my eyes wanted to get their fill while I had the chance.
“I hope you’ve all found the facilities adequate,” he continued, and I saw more than a few incredulous looks in the room.Adequateis not the word I would use to describe this place.
“I want you all to know that it’s my intention to make this team as successful as it can possibly be.” There was some grumbling at that, probably from the bitter guys who’d stuck around since Atlanta, but Andy ignored it. “I know it won’t be easy. We have some challenges right off the bat. Several of you have been through the ringer with everything that happened with the team’s previous situation. But I know we can work together to have a fresh start here in Austin.”
“Fat fucking chance,” Ryan Cane muttered.
Knight must have heard it, because he fixed Cane with a flinty glare that was so familiar to me, I almost laughed. Andy had glared at me over a face-off circle more times than I could count.
He continued on, his voice a little harder now, eyes still set on Cane. “You all should know that I don’t make these kinds of investments lightly.” He let his gaze drift across the rest of us. “You’ll find me to be a hands-on owner. I’ve been working closely with our management team since day one and I’ll continue to do so. I plan to do everything within my power to make this team successful.”
He glanced over to the interim GM. “Duke is going to tell you about some staffing decisions we’ve made and go over the schedule for the next few days. After that we’ve catered lunch for you in the lounge. I hope you take the chance to socialize with your new teammates and get to know each other a little bit before camp. Management and myself will be around if you have any questions or issues to address.”
My eyes shot back to Grace. Was she going to be joining us for lunch as well?
But Andrew’s next words distracted me from that train of thought. “One last thing. Duke, Wayne and I have been discussing team leadership, and we wanted to let you know that we’ve chosen a captain and two alternates. These positions areparticularly important on this team this year. Most of you are experiencing a pretty big transition. We have a lot of young guys on the roster. Your captains are all veteran players with years of experience between them. Rely on these guys. Ask questions. If you’re having any issues, talk to them first.”
His eyes scanned the room. “Your alternate captains are going to be Gabriel Dalton and Jason Briggs.” I felt Jay go absolutely still beside me.
