Even Landon gave the moment the respect it demanded, and saluted it with the rest of us. “So are the Oilers rumors true?”
The silence that followed his question made me sit up a little straighter. It sucked missing practices with the guys the past few weeks, because it meant I was more out of the loop than in it. I caught up with Hunter all right, but it was just one of “had to be there” things that meant I missed out on most things.
“What about the Oilers?” I asked, and all eyes turned to Mason.
He gave in under the pressure, and said, “They’re just rumors. That’s all it is.”
“Not what I heard,” Landon pressed.
I started getting a little antsy with the lack of information, and also wanted to push the topic because it steered us further away from the game we just lost. And Hunter’s role in that.
“Guys, seriously…” I looked from Hunter to Tucker, but it was Landon who finally spilled. He’d probably been dying to.
“Mason’s getting an offer,” he said. “Apparently they’re horny for our golden boy.”
“Just rumors,” Mason said again, smiling into his drink.
The conversation swung to trades, dream teams they would choose to play for if they could… And I just sat there and listened, my gut twisting harder the longer it went on.
Because I wasn’t gonna be fielding any offers from top teams. Shit, with my shoulder, I’d be lucky to land in the minor leagues. Coach threatened me with a trade, but it was clear he wasn’t talking about anything as flashy as the Edmonton Oilers. Worse than that, was the reality that I’d probably never get a chance like that, even after I healed up.
“You okay over there, Bouchard?”
I met the question with a stiff smile, desperate to hide the shitshow in my head. “What are you gonna do, Calder? Once the offer lands, I mean?”
Mason shrugged, and took a long sip to avoid answering.
“I’m pretty sure it’ll be a crazy pay jump,” Tucker said, then muffled a burp. “If I were you, I’d take it.”
“It’s not just about money,” Hunter offered. “You gotta think about the move, team chemistry—”
“Careful, Callahan,” Landon said with a smirk. “You’re beginning to sound like our captain. Where is he, by the way?”
“Ran out of free credits with Josie, so he’s stuck giving her alone time.” Tucker passed his bottle around the table to accept the cheers, basking in the rolling laughter.
But Mason grew serious fast. “It’s not about any of those things for me. The Surge is like family. My team is my home. I don’t care who offers what… I’m not going.”
This brought on a round of cheers and slaps on his back, and I managed some sincerity in that. As fucked off as I was feeling.
“What about you, Bouchard?” Landon grimaced through his third shot. The kid could knock ‘em back, that was for sure.
I sighed, already bracing for whatever bullshit he was about to come at me with. “What about me?”
“Oilers want Calder because of his killer season,” he started, “and I heard the amateur league’s been asking about your availability.”
The guys started laughing, but it died pretty quickly after the table shook with how fast I shot out of my seat. I lunged across it, and grabbed Landon up and over by the scruff of his fucking neck. In the background, I heard them yelling my name, telling me to stop.
But I didn’t.
I shoved the kid into the wall so hard his head bounced off it. “Say that again, fuckwad. Say it. Say it again.”
I ignored the screaming pain in my shoulder to punctuate my words with knocking him into the wall over and over.
“Chill the fuck out, man,” Landon choked out. “Can’t you take a joke?”
“Hey—” Hunter tapped me on the arm. “He’s an ass, but he’s a harmless ass.”
I didn’t let go immediately. I tightened my grip instead, watching the little fucker squirm as I glared at him. “You better grow the fuck up, Cross. You’re in the team? Then fucking be in it.”
