The stakes were high, and we were all sizing each other up, sussing out the competition. I knew better than to think I’d make a bunch of bosom buddies here. We might be on the same team, but we were all each other’s competition.
So, yeah, this was a level of anxiety I’d never experienced before in a first practice. A lot was on the line.
I usually looked to my emotional support himbo for reassurance during moments like this, but Theo had been awkward around me for days. He was quiet, which was very unlike him. Theo could make conversation with a toaster oven; the dude never shut up. I looked over to see him digging his skates into the ice, very pointedly not looking in my direction.
He was nervous too—I could feel it from where I was standing. That made it even more heartbreaking that he wasn’t speaking to me. We’d always supported each other, since day one.
What did I do?
His silence only made my nerves worse. Everything was happening so fast. My whole life had changed in just five days—no mom, a new house, high-stakes hockey, and weird, distant Theo.
Can I get a break?
The coach blew his whistle and made a speech welcoming everyone. “I’m Head Coach Mike Wilson, and to my right we have Assistant Coach Myers, and to my left is Assistant Coach McHenry.” Practice began with the standard drills: laps around the ice, passing drills, target shooting, and so on.
Then, Coach blew his whistle and we all huddled around him. “We’re gonna do a scrimmage.” He called out. There was an audible gasp from the players around me. We all knew what that meant. With new teams like this, Coaches usually had a scrimmage to determine who would make the starting line. It would be a high-intensity game to suss out who had the skill and the emotional stamina to play under pressure.
“I took note of your skills as you practiced, and I’m dividing you into four teams of six based on what I saw out there. Each of you will get a shot to show your stuff.” His eyes scanned over the players, and a stern look spread across his face. “Yes, this is to see who the starting line will be, but I coach fairly. I want you all to get a shot on the ice. Some of you might play more than others, but each time you skate onto the ice is an opportunity to showcase what you’ve got. Don’t ever waste an opportunity, and don’t ever forget that you’re a team. Yes, you are all competing, but nobody watching you is going to want to see you sacrifice the team’s success for a shot at being a star. Especially not me. It takesallof you to win.”
With that, he blew his whistle and started calling out numbers, assembling us into our teams. He called mine and Theo’s number one after the other. We were on the same team.
I looked over to find his gaze on me. He skated closer and held out his gloved hand for a fist bump. “Let’s show them why we belong on the starting line,” he said.
Coach called out the match pairings and the order. We were in the second set, so we took a seat on the bench.
A guy with dark hair and a gleaming smile reached out to shake my hand. “I’m Quincy Forrester. You’re Asher Lachlan, right?”
I was almost positive I’d never met Quincy before, so Iwas puzzled how he knew me.Had he seen a Vipers game or something?I shook his hand and said, “Yeah, I am. How did you know that?”
Quincy smiled.Damn, he had a nice smile.He leaned in so closely that I could feel the heat of his breath and whispered, “This is gonna sound creepy, but I actually recognize you from a picture that a mutual friend of ours showed me. Do you remember Ross Giles?”
A cold chill ran down my back. Ross? As in the Ross I was kind of seeing in high school? I looked over at Theo, who was busy watching the game. Which was something I should have been doing, but I was on the verge of spontaneous combustion with Qincy’s little revelation. “Oh,” I said hesitantly. “You know Ross?”
Quincy’s smile turned into a devilish grin. “Yeah, you could say I know him,” he whispered. Then he waggled his brows.Oh fuck, this is awkward.He leaned in even closer and spoke directly into my ear. “I think you and I know Ross for the same reasons if you catch my drift.”
Oh, I caught it. I caught it big time. “Seems like Ross has a big mouth.” My face was four million degrees. Damn Ross for yapping about me! He knew I wasn’t out, and why was he showing my picture to people?
“He’s got a lot of big things,” Quincy replied.
Okay, that one was pretty good.And true. I barked out a laugh, and Coach looked over at me, shutting me up in a hurry. I couldn’t piss him off before I’d even gotten a chance to play.
Quincy and I looked at each other, then covered our mouths to muffle our snickering. We were giggling like schoolgirls over our mutual knowledge of Ross’s very impressive dick.
I won’t lie, it was kind of freaking awesome. I’d never hadsomeone I could do that with. Even Cody and I were pretty tight-lipped about everything.
“I hope I didn’t freak you out. I just wanted to introduce myself and let you know that I’m family. There aren’t many of us in the sports world. We have to stick together.”
That moment was monumental for me. A warm feeling enveloped my entire body like a lovely blanket. I looked at Quincy, who stared back at me with that thousand-watt smile.
“I’m glad we’re on the same team, and that Ross has a hockey fetish,” I said. “I guess we have him to thank for this introduction.”
Quincy nodded, then leaned in to nudge my shoulder. “I hope we make the starting line.”
“Me too,” I said.
Theo
I couldn’t hear a word Asher and that big-toothed bastard were saying, but I can tell you I wasn’t pleased. Asher was over there, giggling and fist-bumping some dude, while I was having an internal freak out over how much I wanted to kiss him every night! I didn’t even like guys! Or so I thought. I was so confused, and I wanted to talk to Asher. But I just couldn’t find the right words.
