Page 57 of Heartless As Puck

A jolt ran through me, and I met Jane’s eyes. Her cheeks flushed, and she snatched her hand away from my face. Somehow, Matt’s well-intentioned comment had done more to ruin the moment than Jesse’s teasing had.

The atmosphere in the changing rooms was like night and day compared to how it had been following our game against Detroit. The rookies were ecstatic, already talking about what they were going to order at Rinkside to celebrate and whether they’d be able to find puck bunnies to take home for the night.

I dabbed the last of the blood from my nose onto my shirt, removed my skates, and started to undress as the rest of the team filed in.

Coach Dunn whistled to get our attention but told us to keep changing while we listened.

“Good job, team.” He was smiling, his face red, his tone almost jovial. “You really pulled it together out there. It was a bit of a mess at first, but you got your shit together and showed that when you work as a team, you’re capable of getting the W.”

“Damn right we are!” Rasmussen hollered.

Coach shot him a look. “I’ve been talking it over with Stephen and Joseph Trent, and we want to accelerate your ability to function effectively together.”

I frowned as I slipped off my pants, wondering what they had in mind.

“That’s why we’ll be going on a mandatory team bonding trip next week. We’ll spend two nights staying at a camp in LaBagh woods. While we’re there, you guys are going to do everything our expert tells you to without complaint, and then we’ll come back and play hard the following weekend against the Colorado Dragons.”

Someone groaned. I scowled, imagining trust falls and hokey bonding activities, but then I was sidetracked by the thought that Jane’s brother played for the Colorado Dragons.

It would be my first time seeing him since I’d found out who she was—and since we’d announced our “relationship.” Would he expect to meet up afterward to give me the shovel talk or something? If Hazel were dating someone seriously, I knew I’d want to do that.

“Enough,” Assistant Coach Willets said. “It’ll be fun. We aren’t going to let you off easy, but we want you to enjoy yourselves too, which is why we’re allowing you to bring your partners, on the condition that you’re available during daylight hours for team activities while your significant others keep themselves busy.”

Jesse raised his hand.

“Yes, Young?” Coach Dunn asked, exasperated.

“For those of us who don’t have partners, can we bring someone else along?”

Coach glanced up at the ceiling, as if silently asking God for strength. “This is work, not an opportunity for an extended booty call or hookup.”

“That’s not fair,” Jesse protested.

Dunn didn’t seem bothered by that accusation. “Life isn’t fair. Now, if nobody else has any complaints, we have a new logo to show you. Our design team has new uniforms on order, but we’ve also got a key ring here for each of you so you can get used to it before the gear arrives.”

Assistant Coach Willets opened one of the unassigned lockers nearby and pulled out a Canvas bag. He started a circuit around the locker room, reaching inside and handing out key chains to each player. When it was my turn, I took the key chain and studied it with interest. While I didn’t really see the big deal in changing the logo, I was curious what the new look would be.

It was a blue fox head silhouette, side profile, with a silver muzzle, and the word “chaos” in bold, capitalized block letters beneath it. The background was also silver, a dark blue line around the outline of the head creating contrast between that and the silver of the muzzle.

Honestly, it was cooler than I’d expected. Foxes were clever little guys, but it was difficult to make them look badass.

The coaches told us to shower, and Dunn invited Nick and me to meet with the press. I tucked the key chain into my bag, finished undressing, and cleaned myself up, making sure to wash my hair thoroughly because it was soaking with sweat.

I dressed in tailored trousers and a pressed shirt, then accompanied Nick and Coach to the media room, where we fielded the usual questions. There was a buzz that seemed to be verging on optimistic, as if the local reporters were starting to hope that the season might be different, but they were still afraid to believe it.

I understood how they felt.

Once I was discharged from my duties, I found Jane and Hazel waiting for me in the corridor.

Hazel flung her arms around me. “Congratulations! I’m so happy for you!”

Chuckling, I wrapped her in a hug. “Thanks, Haze.”

“When you scored that goal, I screamed so loud.” Based on the flush of her cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes, I believed her. “Jane did, too.”

I glanced at Jane. She was blushing.

“What?” she demanded, her blush deepening. “It was nice to see you guys take the win for once. You deserved it. You played really well.”