“Only if it’s yours,” Douglas replied, making a kissing noise to taunt him.
Coach blew her whistle. “That’s enough, boys. None of that talk on the ice. Save it for the bedroom,” she chastised. Fletcher laughed as he shot the puck towards the goal but missed. Taylor took possession and passed it to Roca. Fletcher sped to catch up with him, but he had Leering on his tail. Roca made a clean pass to Fletcher, and he could feel Leering narrow in on him, putting him in a vulnerable position. Taylor wedged himself between the two of them, which gave Fletcher enough space to make a shot and score.
“Beautiful, Armstrong! Now do that every time,” Taylor said, skating over to him. He looked at Fletcher with a genuinesmile, patting his back. They tapped their sticks together before getting back into the ready position.
Fletcher faced off with Douglas again but ended up losing because he couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that for the first time ever, he had seen Taylor really smile. One way or another, Fletcher would chip away at the guy’s rock-hard exterior.
5
The Question Game
“Can I sit in your lap next, Cap?” Sánchez snickered. A bunch of the guys were standing next to the abomination to take pictures with it. A life-size picture of Taylor sitting in Pancek’s lap was about to overshadow his first career hat trick.
The team was never going to let him live it down. Douglas catcalled Pancek as he walked over to the picture and laughed. “I’m going to kill my wife.”
For as long as they were together, Gretchen had insisted upon sending out a Christmas card to everyone and anyone. Everyone on the team and in management got one. Taylor didn’t know she would include the Santa photo.
He had been living with the Panceks since the end of June. After originally saying no to Pancek’s offer, he and his wife invited Taylor over for dinner again leaving him under the impression that it was another team bonding thing. But then he got there and was instantly greeted by Pancek’s two young kids.Marina was thirteen and the spitting image of her father. They had the same brown hair and blue eyes. Marina also had his nose. Caleb was six and favored his mother. He and Gretchen both had messy ginger hair and green eyes. Marina did have her mother’s freckles, though.
Gretchen turned the corner and beamed up at him. “Taylor, sweetie, come on in.” She reached up to hug him and kiss him on his cheek, which was kind of awkward considering she was like five feet tall, and Taylor was a whole foot and a half taller. Pancek was kind of a short guy too. His official record had him at five foot eleven, which was short compared to Taylor and some of the other guys on the team. But the guy was an absolute unit. Strong, swift, and agile. Like a pitbull.
“Am I the first one here?” Taylor had asked.
“No, sorry. We kind of lied to get you here. The kids kept asking when you would be back and my husband has a hard time saying no to them.”
Taylor had to hand it to her; the woman was pretty freaking smart. Gretchen worked as a plastic surgeon at Seattle General. Apparently, she’d even operated on a few of the guys on the team after getting face injuries.
She was the one who finally convinced him to move in. Taylor packed his bags and moved in the next day.
“What did you ask Santa to bring you?” Fletcher Armstrong asked. Taylor narrowed his eyes at him and answered with a grunt.
Fletcher Armstrong was the last person he’d expect to be traded onto the team. His family were die-hard Manatees fans because his dad and grandfather were both team captains when they were in the NHL. Fletcher had come from a long line of NHL players, spanning multiple generations.The Armstrongs were one of the most notable names, even to people who weren’t huge hockey fans.
Three weeks ago, when the kid showed up for practice, Taylor knew he was in for a rough time. And then he stepped out onto the ice and immediately won over the hearts of the entire team and management. Taylor was the only exception. They had crossed paths a few times growing up. Somehow, they were almost always paired exclusively with one another for interviews during conference championships. The golden boy and the up-and-coming hockey star. Taylor didn’t mind at first. The kid was easy to get along with and just had a way with people that Taylor would never fully understand.
They were both a product of their upbringing and it showed both on the ice and off. Taylor had always spoken his mind. He valued candidness, and he was always very candid about how some players were harder workers than others. He was always really witty in his interviews and made for an entertaining interviewee. Fletcher, on the other hand, had always sounded superficial in his interviews. In the dozens of interviews Taylor had seen, he observed the way the kid would always pause before answering a question. His tell was a slight nod before flashing a charming smile. Fletcher was admittedly very charming and charismatic. But his whole persona was a facade that had been carefully curated to align with the rest of the Armstrong family. They were practically NHL royalty.
It seemed like Taylor was the only person who could see him for who he really was—a daddy’s boy who had been handed a golden hockey stick and a free ride to the NHL. He had fully made up his mind about Fletcher during a hockey camp where he had cried his way into being made a team captain. It was the first one Taylor had gotten to go to. Most of his inheritancefrom his dad had been spent on hockey. Flights to nationals, better gear, nicer skates.
Four years after his dad died, he had been invited to go to a hockey camp in San Jose that had been run by all the southern NHL teams. Taylor was a freshman and had somehow managed to earn himself a spot on the top team in his club league. He went with a few of his teammates. For each age group, the player who showed the most potential by the end of the camp would receive a $5,000 scholarship. Taylor needed that money. He figured the easiest way to turn heads would be to earn himself a nice C on his uniform.
One of his coaches had pulled him aside and told him he was going to be the team captain. Taylor was ecstatic. He woke up the next morning expecting to see a fresh C on his jersey, but when he made his way into the locker room, he had seen a number 22 jersey with the C instead. Taylor’s had an A. His coach apologized and told him it was a miscommunication with the other coaches. Taylor didn’t let it bother him too much. He still had a chance to blow them away on the ice without it.
He and Fletcher played really well together. Fletcher was a center like his father and grandfather, while Taylor had fully embraced his unofficial enforcer defensive title. Just as he was starting to tolerate the kid, Taylor had stepped off the ice and overheard a conversation the coaches were having. It turns out Sean Armstrong caught wind of Taylor being made captain and had convinced them Fletcher was a better choice. Taylor assumed Fletcher had complained to his dad about it.
Taylor had never really considered Fletcher to be a serious rival. Not like it was with Sánchez and their teams. But because they had played so well together on the ice, he and Fletcher had kind of been thrust into this weird pairing each time they’dcross paths.
And then Fletcher got traded to the Seaporters. It was the biggest news the NHL had in years. Seattle had poached an Armstrong. He knew it was a huge investment. Pancek had told him beforehand that management had wanted him on the team. They set up this huge, elaborate multi-team trade that made it almost impossible for the Manatees to turn it down. Valuable players were shifted around like pieces to a game just so they could have Fletcher Armstrong in Seattle.
After their first practice together, Fletcher had tried asking Taylor a bunch of random questions. He wanted to know why Taylor chose to play hockey. What was the highest number of goals he’d score in a single game? Where was his favorite place to eat?
“Why do you even want to know, Armstrong?” He had asked, exasperatedly.
“I’m just doing my homework. I try to keep tabs on all the best players in the league.” Taylor got a little kick out of being considered one of the best players in the league. Especially coming from an Armstrong.
“Why does it matter? We’re on the same team now, Einstein.”
* * *
