Page 91 of Holding Penalty

“What if the ref were allowed to randomly introduce another puck into play at any time? He didn’t have to, but he always had the option. Some refs would be known as puck refs, others wouldn’t.”

I blink dumbly and look at Cooper and Noah. “What are we talking about?”

“Hayden is sharing some of his brilliant ideas to modernize the game of hockey,” Cooper informs me.

“I’m just throwing ideas out there. You always gotta be open to ideas,” Hayden says.

“And both pucks are equally in play?” Noah asks.

Hayden nods. “Right.”

“Write to the commissioner, I’m sure he’ll get back to you,” Cooper deadpans.

But Hayden totally misses his tone, eyes lighting up with excitement. “Really? You think he would?”

Cooper just gives Hayden a long look until his enthusiasm deflates. “Forward thinkers are always persecuted by those stuck in the past,” he laments.

“Could he introduce as many extra pucks as he wanted to?” Normally, I stonewall Hayden’s absurd conversations, but after spending all day wrapped up in Piper’s body yesterday, I’m in a good enough mood to humor him.

Hayden’s eyebrows pop, a thoughtful look overtaking his face. “Now that’s an interesting question. What about a hockey game with five pucks?”

“At a certain point, wouldn’t every player just take a puck for themselves and take shot after shot on their opponent’s goal, with the other team doing the exact same thing on the other end of the rink?” Noah asks.

Hayden presses his lips together, his eyes bouncing around his head, clearly deep in thought. “Okay, I need to work out some of the wrinkles with this idea. But I still think it’s promising.”

I turn to see Vaughn and Adriano walking side by side. Adriano is sipping a cup of coffee, wearing dark sunglasses, looking like he’s only half-alive. His shoulders are hunched, his hair is disheveled, and every sound seems to make him grimace.

“What happened to you?” Noah asks.

Adriano just replies with a groan and hobbles to an empty chair to sit down.

Vaughn sighs. “He got so drunk last night he lost his keys. He called me to pick him up. I took him back to my place to sleep it off.”

“Vaughn is a surprisingly gentle man when you’re in need,” Adriano says, every word he utters drenched in misery from his hangover.

Vaughn grunts and furrows his brow.

“You called Vaughn instead of me, bro?” Hayden says, a stricken look on his face. “I’m offended.”

“He was the first name in my phone I recognized,” Adriano explains. “Besides, you probably wouldn’t have made me coffee in the middle of the night and cooked me breakfast in the morning.”

Noah whistles and slides a wry look Vaughn’s way. “Damn, this night you two had sounds kind of romantic.”

Vaughn folds his arms across his muscular chest. “If the damn rich kid doesn’t know how to take care of himself, someone has to do it for him.”

“Ouch,” Adriano says.

“Truth hurts,” Cooper quips.

“So does this damn hangover.”

“Alright, team,” Coach says loudly, slapping his hands together as he enters the room. “Let’s get this meeting started!”

Adriano’s wincing in his seat. “So do loud noises,” he grumbles.

After Coach’s introduction, the analytics staff launch into their findings.

In the middle of the meeting, my phone rumbles in my pocket. Normally, I’d have no problem ignoring it, but the thought that it might be a message from Piper makes it impossible to resist checking. It’s like I’m addicted to any kind of contact with her. That’s alarmingly possible.