“It’s complicated.” Tucker says.
Sleeping with the wrong woman almost cost me my career last year. Nothing good can come from two of my teammates being into the same girl. “Un-complicate it for me then.” I insist. “If Coach punished us all because you were distracted today, can you imagine what will happen if you two began fighting over a woman?”
“There won’t be any fighting.” Colsen chimes in. “We both like her and we agreed that we should both pursue her. She’s into both of us, too. So I’m fine with Tucker shooting his shot and I’ve already told her that I want to see her again.”
I don’t know if these two are delusional or really naïve. “But what happens when one of you inevitably gets jealous?”
“Col is my best friend. I’m closer to him than some of my little brothers—they’re little shits. I’m confident that we can see where this goes without ruining our friendship.”
“What he just said. As long as we’re honest with each other, we’ll be fine. I want to see you happy, bro.”
Tucker smiles. “And me, Col.”
Right. This has the potential of turning into a real shit show. “Just as long as you keep whatever happens off the ice.” I grind out.
Mack wraps one sweaty arm around my shoulders. “Don’t worry, Nash. They’re grown ups. And if you knew them as well as I do, you’d know that they would never let a woman, or anyone else, come between them.”
“I’m glad their bromance is solid. All I’m saying is that I came here to play great hockey. Being benched for most of last season has my agent nervous that the San Francisco Paladins mightdecide to drop me or send me off to their farm team. I need a great season this year with a strong team behind me.”
If that sounds selfish, then so be it. Hockey is my entire life and my teammates can fuck whoever they want as long as they don’t fuck with my game.
Surprisingly, Mack smiles. “Oh, don’t worry about that. If anyone fucks up on the ice, they won’t live to see the end of the season. You’ve only seen Coach Harrison’s nice side so far.”
“Thatwas him being nice?” I can’t help but laugh.
My three teammates look at me like I don’t know what I signed up for when I decided to come here.
“Just hope you’ll never see Coach Harrison really angry.” Tucker shudders. “I’d take a real bullet to the leg rather than risk his wrath.”
Aside from his reputation, I can’t argue with the “fuck with me and find out” vibe he gives off.
“Fine,” I sigh. “Let’s make sure we aren’t late for this judging gig, then.”
“Speaking of the auditions.” Macklin calls out as my hand is on the handle of my bedroom door. “Gen, my ex, is auditioning too. I don’t know how the day is going to play out, but please make sure you stick close to me if she approaches me. She’s been a pain in my ass since I ended things. And fuck knows what she might do with a film crew on site.”
Tucker claps him on the back. “You got it, Mack. But didn’t she break up with you? That’s what she’s been saying, according to Talia.”
“I couldn’t be with her anymore. I was tired of her bullshit.” Mack says. “But if telling the world that she dumped me keeps her ego satisfied and her drama out of my life, I don’t care what she says.”
I don’t blame Mack.
Hockey is my only focus this year and I want to stay as far from drama as humanly possible. This is why I swore off women until the hockey season is over.
Once my future is secure, I can let my guard down.
I feel in much higher spirits when we get to the main building.
But you know that saying that life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans? I don’t know what the universe is trying to tell me today, but it definitely decided to fuck with me.
We enter the room where the Shooting Stars Director, Carole Sawyer, is waiting for us to explain the judging process for today’s auditions.
Each of us is offered a tablet loaded with the photos of the candidates.
I listen intently to the instructions and maybe this isn’t gonna be so bad after all.
Watching all these beautiful women in amazing outfits dazzle us with their dance moves is fun.
The day is interesting and time flies. I’m not too mad at Coach Harrison for choosing me to be a judge.
