I nod since there’s no mention of Jayne, which is all that matters. “Yes, sir.”
“I want to see extra effort tonight, Bodi.” His eyes narrow. “You have more to offer than what you showed in Vegas.”
“I’ll do my best, Coach.”
“You’d better.”
He turns and hoofs it in the other direction.
But now I’m pissed.
Who the hell ratted me out? And did they not recognize Jayne? I’m sure that conversation would have gone differently if they had.
“What happened?” West asks under his breath as I start undressing.
“Someone on this team is a fucking rat,” I grunt. “Told Coach I had company last night.”
His eyebrows nearly reach his forehead. “Did they?—”
“No.” I don’t mention Jayne because he already knows she’s in town. “Just Billie and Rome.”
“Someone on the team told him?” He frowns.
“How else would he know?”
“That’s bullshit right there. It’s a good thing I decided to accept the C. Coach is going to announce it tonight. And I’m going to find out who the rat is because that’s not how we do it on teams I play for. Someone needs an ass-kicking, verbal or otherwise.”
I nod. “Yeah, I’m more pissed about the fact that one of our teammates went right to Coach rather than anything else. Who would do that?”
He hesitates. “I may have an idea but give me a few hours.”
I nod again. “Yeah, okay.”
“Focus on the game. We’ll deal with the rest later, when we get back to Atlanta.”
“Any idea who he’s going to give the A to?” I ask, referring to the Alternate Captain positions. Most teams have two or three, so there’s always someone in charge on the ice.
“He said he’s coming up with a list. He wants whoever it is to be someone the team looks up to.”
Well, that rules me out.
But that’s okay. I don’t know how I’d handle any position of leadership under Coach Morrison. I was hoping this would be a positive experience, a fresh start. Instead, it’s turning into drama central. I could definitely make other choices. Certainly, dating my head coach’s daughter isn’t the smartest thing I could do, but she’s special.
And we’re not doing anything wrong.
Just because Coach has a burr up his butt doesn’t mean I have to give up something that’s become really important to me.
She thinks she doesn’t bring anything to our relationship but that’s ridiculous.
I’m crazy about her.
She soothes me in areas I didn’t realize were frazzled. More than anything else, I’m not lonely anymore, and that’s huge for me. It has nothing to do with the fact that I have a girlfriend—I’ve had dozens of opportunities over the years and never felt that kind of pull.
Everything is different with Jayne.
She grounds me.
For the first time since I lost my parents, I don’t feel lost anymore. She brings meaning to my life, gives me something to look forward to beyond hockey. And now that she and Billie have met, she fits right in with everything that’s important to me—my career and my family. I can’t explain what I’m feeling or how quickly I’ve fallen for her but I don’t have to.
