“First of all, you’re lucky I didn’t bench your ass after that goddamn pre-game stunt. Just because you have a fucking giveaway on a game night doesn’t entitle you to do whatever the hell you want. That was disrespectful to me, to your teammates, and to the league.” He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You know you’ll be fined for this.”
“Yes, sir,” I solemnly whisper. I’m not naive enough to know there won’t be a fine, but I am enough of a prick to not care. I can pay for it, I canalwayspay for it, but if I hint at all that I am not worried about the money, that’s going to make this worse.
“Second, you are a damn good player. You have the potential to be one of the top defensemen in the whole goddamn league.” My heart lifts, the idea of finally being seen formerushing to the surface. “But your attitude and your lack of maturity are becoming a problem. A big one. I try not to say anything when I see you in the press with your flavor of the week, but when this type of immature bullshit spills onto my ice, it becomes my issue, and we can’t have that. Not on my team.”
“Sorry, Coach.” My stomach knots tighter than the laces on my skates. I wish I could spit out the words that I don’t want to have to fake having a girl every night. I regret the mistakes I made. I regret the outcome. I regret all of it. I wish I could tell him the truth.Exceptfor the bobblehead skating routine—that was one-hundo percent worth it. I run my hands through my hair, wanting to pull the strands out at the direction my life has taken.
“Don’t ‘sorry Coach’ me. Fucking fix it.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Get dressed and get ready for the flight. This is your last warning, Boucher. I will place you as a healthy scratch if you ever do something like that again.”
I nod and walk out of his office, feeling like a kid who got sent to the principal’s office. I deserve it. I was an idiot for doing that, but I’ll own up to my shenanigans. But the fact that my coach, and everyone else, thinks I am actually sleeping with all those girls? I exhale every last bit of air from my lungs, hoping it takes the weight of the last few years with it. I want something real. I want something meaningful. Blonde hair and a silk scarf flash through my mind. I wanther.
“Bougie got in trouble! Bougie got in trouuu-ble,” Mac sings as I shuffle down the aisle to my seat on the plane.
“Shut the fuck up, Mac.” I tighten the grip on my bag, stopping at his row. “At leastImade a save tonight.”
“Enough,” Vladi grunts behind me. “Both of you.”
“Fine,” Mac spits. “But if I got called into Coach’s office like that, he’d sure as shit be making fun of me.”
“I didn’t say he wouldn’t,” Vladi growls. “I simply saidshut up. And that means shut thefuckup.”
Mac raises his hands in surrender, his eyes wide as we walk past him to our seats. I plop down against the window, my muscles tense as I try not to throw my bag beneath the seat.
Vladi sits next to me, calmly stowing his luggage as if we didn’t nearly fight one of our own. He is my seatmate on every flight. I’m basically his good luck charm, and despite his pretend hatred of me, he never lets me sit anywhere else. I hold back the smile threatening to crack across my face. He kind of just totally defended me. I’m not sure if I should be scared or…I look at the mountain of a man out of the corner of my eye. Actually, I don’t know what the hell to think right now.
“Jordan,” he says, taking his earbuds out of their case.
I snuggle up to his arm. “God, I love it when you call me that.”
“You love it when I call you your name?”
“It makes me feel special.”
He rolls his eyes and shakes me off before speaking in his slight Russian accent that makes everyone swoon.
“That pre-game shit was absolutely ridiculous. Yet, sadly, not out of the ordinary. However, you’ve been pleasantly distantfrom me lately. It’s not normal. So, are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?”
Goddammit, this goalie really does see everything. But…this is very friend-ish of him, something I genuinely never expected, so I’ll allow it. My shoulders slump as the weight of everything that’s been going on the past few months settles over my body.
“It’s nothing. I’ve just…I’ve got some stuff going on. But I swear, Vladi, I’m not letting it affect my game. Those goals were not my fault.”
“No. They were Tay’s fault. You saved him from my wrath with your dive to block the final shot. Thank you for that. But it’s not your game I’m concerned about. It’s your demeanor. Dare I admit it has been slightly less peppy than usual? Not un-peppy by any means, but not fully obnoxious.”
My brows raise to my forehead.Wow, he’s good.I haven’t been my normal exuberant self since I started getting the threatening texts, their presence constantly gnawing at the back of my mind. And now that Tay brought up the fact that Kennedy could be in danger, I’m even more worried about it.
“You know you can talk to someone about it, yes? Perhaps Larsy? Or Zack?”
I snort. I know this is his broody goalie way of telling me I can talk to him without ever admitting it. That’s his personality, and I fully accept it.He’s one of my best friends, whether he will ever admit it or not. He couldn’t give two shits about my money or my family’s status. And that’s why I love that damn goalie so much.
I buckle my seatbelt, settling in for takeoff, and see Vladi about to pop in his earbuds.
“Wait! Before you zone out, can I ask you about it?”
He lowers his hands with a loud sigh. “If you must.”
