“That should be interesting.” I walk into my office and toss my phone on the desk.
“It should be.” Eric sits in the chair in front of me with a smirk on his face. “Seems to me half the team or better yet the whole team, including a couple who are not happy with you are not happy with Timothy.”
“No shit.” I pull out my chair and sit down. “I dare him to fuck with me today.”
He doesn’t say anything because Ken walks into my office. “Good morning.”
“Why is everyone here so fucking early?” I lean back in my chair.
“Got shit to do,” Ken replies. “You and Jaxon have a press conference after practice.” I put my hands down on my desk. “And we just got word that if we win the next game and get the two points we need, we will officially be in playoff contention. Chasing that wild card spot.”
“I take it that is good news.”
“Haven’t been in this spot in the last four years, so yeah, good news.”
“Great, it might be nice to go a week without my job being threatened,” I mumble, making Ken laugh.
“It’s only Monday, still a lot of week left,” he jokes and I can’t help but laugh.
When the guys come out, we head to practice. Cam comes in right before Eric and I are about to walk out to the ice. “Nice of you to join us,” I tell him, putting on my gloves. “It might be a good idea to get on the ice before the players.”
“Why?” Cam asks, going to sit down at his spot. “It’s not like I’m the one who needs the practice.”
“You lead by example.” I shake my head as he rolls his eyes.
The practice is good, and the boys push hard. I grab my phone from the desk as I head out to the press room, bumping into Jaxon. “We have press,” he reminds me and I nod my head.
We walk into the room and head over to the stairs that lead to the elevated desk in the middle of the room. Some of the reporters are there as I sit down in the chair, and I look around to see Timothy in the back, leaning back with his pad on his knees.
“Let’s start this,” Jaxon urges. “Who is going first?”
“Jaxon,” one of the reporters in the front starts, “this year has been challenging for everyone.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” he jokes.
“Your line has been the constant the whole time,” he continues, “but the other lines are always being switched up. Has that been helping you guys?”
“I think that changing things up is good for the team,” Jaxon replies. “We started off the year in a slump and you have to make those changes in order to find out what is working for us.” He looks up at Timothy. “We’re in a good spot for the next couple of games. We’ll see what happens.”
“Coach Gilmore.” Timothy puts his hand up. “You’ve been in the press a lot these last couple of months. Both good and bad.”
“You don’t say?” I lean back.
“Do you think that maybe your focus has shifted in light of the recent events?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I play dumb. “My focus has always been on the team. I’m sure no one would come to you and ask you if your focus was on your job if you have one article that is bad.” I raise my eyebrows. “We all have good and bad days. As much as I want to win every single game, it’s just not possible. But I have faith in the guys who are on the ice.”
“So you aren’t playing favorites with the guys?” he asks me.
“I’m giving ice time to the guys who want to be on the ice.” I look him dead in the eyes. “You come at me right now and tell me who on that ice doesn’t merit being there?” I wait a second for him to answer. “That’s what I thought.”
We walk out of the press conference and Jaxon looks over at Timothy, the two of them sharing a look. I push him out of the room, and he looks back over. “What a fucking tool,” he mumbles as we make it back to the locker room and get ready for the big game the next night.
I get to the rink the next day at the same time as the guys. The press is there snapping pictures. My head is down as I walk into the rink, going to the coaches’ room. The lines are going to stay the same as the last game.
My phone rings an hour before the game and I look down to see it’s Victoria. “Hey,” I say, putting the phone to my ear.
“Hi,” she replies breathlessly, “I was hoping to catch you before you left.” I smile. “Good luck tonight.”
