CHAPTER SIX
Strike out again
JAKE
“Murphy, get your head out of your ass and defend the net!” Coach yells from the bench area, “And Kieran, if you let one more goal in, you can kiss the rest of your week goodbye and spend every free waking minute in the weight room!”
Both Eli and Kieran wave over at Coach, motioning that they heard him loud and clear.
The boys went a little too hard on the booze last night when we went out for wings and beer. Nate told them they’d regret it this morning, but as usual, they didn’t listen to his advice.
It’s nice to not be on the receiving end of Coach Wilson’s yelling for once.We’re currently scrimmaging against each other, working on a new play that Nate helped Coach plan out.
Nate is our most powerful player. The other teams anticipate that he’ll lead the play, knowing that we try to give him the puck almost every time. Our plan this season is to catch them completely off guard.Coach wants us to explore more plays rather than become reliant on one or two players.
Instead of pushing Nate the puck like we always do, we have Nate start with the puck and drive it down the ice. He’ll act like he’s going for it, but instead he’ll fake a pass to the left and pass right to Sebastian, who’s already waiting behind him. Sebastian is our right wing on our starting line. He’s a freshman and new to the team this year, but he was scouted all the way from Montreal and has already been drafted to Ottawa once he’s done school. This kid has the best slap shot I’ve ever seen, there’s no question he’s going to do amazing things when he gets pulled up to the pros.
We reset the drill and start at center ice. Nate starts with the puck and flies toward the defending zone, straight toward Kieran and the net. Eli and I take our defensive positions against Nate, waiting for the play.
Coach likes to split up the first line when we do scrimmage drills like this. That way Eli and I can learn to defend against guys like Nate, Seb, and Levi. In return, they have to try to get past the wall of our defensive line. I don’t want to boost my ego more, but Eli and I are such a good defense duo, it’s hard for a lot of teams to get by and score.
Even if they do, Kieran rarely lets anything by him. That’s why we almost won the Frozen Four last year.If it wasn’t for Andrew Meyers, the center for Boston College, we would’ve won. He’s one of the dirtiest players in our division, always going for the cheap shots and knows exactly what to say to get under your skin. During the championship game, he said something to Nicholas Phillips, our captain last year who graduated, about his dad who recently passed away. Nick went fucking wild and checked him so hard the ref threw him out of the game. They got a power play and won by one goal.
Since last year, Coach Wilson has been working us hard, coming up with new plays to try out. Coach has some pretty good strategies when it comes to hockey, so I think we have a much better chance of winning this season.
Eli and I are on opposite sides of Nate, trying to distract him and the rest of the second line team from grabbing the puck. Nate closes in on the net and makes it seem like he’s about to shoot, when instead, he makes the pass to Sebastian, who is wide open. He slaps the puck, and lucky for Kieran, he blocks it.
We continue practicing this play and a few others until Coach calls it quits for the morning and we all head to the locker room to shower.
“What’s the plan after tomorrow’s game?” I ask Kieran as I walk back from the showers. He’s always the one who plans out where we go after a game. Win or lose.
Kieran pulls his sweater over his head, hair still damp from his shower. “We’ve got two options, the football team is throwing a party after their game at Alpha Phi, or we can chance our luck at Shaker’s.”
Two decently good options.
“Let’s go with Shaker’s.”
“I agree,” Nate adds as he passes by us in just a towel. “I don’t feel like dealing with dickhead frat guys this weekend.”
I slip on my jeans and pull my BCU hoodie over my head, my hair almost completely dry. Kieran and I both head toward the door to leave the locker room when Coach peeks his head through.
“Is everyone decent?”
Most of us have already showered and changed, although there are a few guys who take their time, still standing in towels.
“Before you guys head out, there’s someone I want to introduce you to.”
Coach walks into the locker room with a small brunette trailing behind him.
Oh, you’ve got to be shitting me.Vanessa ?
She’s wearing a black cropped sweater that shows a little bit of her tanned stomach, along with faded jeans and white Fila sneakers.I don’t know how she manages to look nerdy and casual yet hot as fuck at the same time. This style suits her so well. The jeans are a little baggy and they make her frame look so tiny. It would take zero effort for me to toss her over my shoulder and bring her home with me.
No, I don’t want to do that. I want to get her out of my head.
What the hell is she doing here anyway?
“This is Vanessa Nichols. She’s going to be the team’s new social media coordinator and photographer for the entire season. She has lots of ideas to boost game attendance, so be open to them.” Coach Wilson motions to Vanessa. “Would you like to say a couple of words, Vanessa?”
Vanessa smiles at him then takes a moment to look around the locker room, tucking her hair behind her ear. This is every college girl’s dream, to be in a room full of good-looking hockey players. I wonder if she’s freaking out on the inside or if she really is unfazed by us.
Her eyes settle on me for a moment, and I make sure to give her a knowing smile. The second I do, she averts her eyes back to the rest of the room.
“Thank you, Coach. It’s nice to meet all of you. I can’t wait to get to know you and build up your team on social media. I would like to have a conversation with each of you to learn about you and your stats, so I’m going to leave this sign-up sheet with Coach. If each of you can fill in a date and time that works for you, I’ll be in touch with a time we can get together.”
She gives her clipboard to Coach and waves goodbye to everyone. The guys all mumble a nice greeting as she leaves the locker room. I notice a few of them staring at her ass on the way out and that has my blood boiling. If she turned me down, then I highly doubt any of them would stand a chance.
“I’ll leave the sign-up sheet in my office. Make sure you stop by between classes and sign up. And boys…” He’s now glaring at all of us with his ice-cold stare. “Treat her nicely. She’s doing this for a course assignment, and we will not interfere with her work.”
After that Coach leaves us to finish getting changed.
Kieran whips his head toward me. “Dude, wasn’t that the girl who was sneaking out of your bedroom Sunday morning? The one from the bar who turned you down?”
Kieran was in the kitchen when Vanessa ran off after our weekend encounter and he hasn’t let me forget it. He’s been constantly chirping me for getting turned down.
“I’ve seen her around before, she’s in one of my photography classes.” Levi walks over to me, looking me up and down even though he’s a few inches shorter than me. “She turned you down?”He hunches over laughing, clutching his stomach as if he just heard the funniest thing ever said.“Wow.” He pretends to wipe a fake tear off his cheek. “I never expected Jake Shepherd to be rejected. Oh man, this is going to be so entertaining.”
“Fuck you, Brody.”
“Hey, Nate, I think you owe me twenty bucks.”
Nate shakes his head before reaching into his wallet, grabbing a folded bill, and sliding it into Levi’s awaiting palm.
“I really didn’t think I’d win that bet.”
“Again, fuck you , Brody.”
He chuckles and leaves the locker room. Levi is a little shit, but he’s also like a younger brother to me. I don’t want to say that I took him under my wing when he first joined the team, but we’ve gotten closer over the years. When we first became friends, he told me a bit of his backstory, where he came from and his family life. The kid has a difficult relationship with his dad, so we try to help him where we can—Nate more than all of us.
“This is going to be an interesting season. C’mon Kieran, I need an omelet and a pound of bacon ASAP.”
I gather my hockey bag and sling it over my shoulder. I walk fast through the lobby to try to catch Vanessa before she leaves the arena. To my surprise, she stopped before the sliding glass doors leading outside, her phone pressed to her ear.
I slow my pace and make it seem as though I wasn’t breaking a sweat trying to keep up with her.
Her face is neutral, almost blank as she listens to whatever the person on the phone is saying to her.
“Mm-hm, okay, yeah. I guess I’ll see you at Thanksgiving then. Yeah, bye.” She ends the call as I walk up to her, her attention now fixated on me and not her phone.
Her green eyes lock onto mine and it feels like she’s swallowing me whole. Her eyebrow quirks up, as if she’s studying me, trying to figure out what I’m about to do next.For a second, she looks a little disappointed, but her expression changes the moment her eyes find mine. The disappointment is now replaced with…annoyance. She puts a hand on her hip, waiting for me to speak.
I’m going to have so much fun with her this season. Looks like it’s time to turn the charm on.
“ Well, well, well , it seems that fate clearly wants us together.” I smile, trying my hardest to get a reaction out of her.
She rolls her eyes at my comment.
Fuck, I could look at her eyes all damn day, they’re a deep green with flecks of gold surrounding her pupils.I don’t know how she doesn’t have guys wrapped around her little finger.
“It’s not fate, it’s just a term project.” She starts to walk out the doors, and I follow alongside her, not caring if I leave Kieran behind.
“Mm-hm, whatever you say, sunshine. I bet you were happy to get assigned to us.”
She stops abruptly, facing me again, sticking her finger at my chest. “Trust me, I wasn’t. And don’t call me that.”
Her tone is hard and cold as ice.I’ve never had a girl get mad when I gave her a nickname. This might be interesting, getting under her skin while she’s forced to be with us.
“Don’t call you what, sunshine? ”
“Yes. That’s not my name.”
I hold my hands up as if I’m surrendering. “Anything for you, sunshine .”
She huffs and I smile at her before running over to Kieran’s truck, where he’s already waiting for me. I glance back to Vanessa as I climb in. She looks around for a moment, almost in a shocked stance. She averts her eyes back to her phone, puts her earbuds in, and walks in the opposite direction of us. I don’t realize I’m staring so intently until I hear Kieran chuckling to himself.
“What?”
“Your face lit up like a kid on Christmas when she walked into the locker room. And you’ve had that stupid grin plastered on your face ever since.” He cocks his eyebrow at me.
“I like a challenge, what can I say?”
“I can’t wait for you to strike out again.” He laughs.
Strike out again? Not going to happen. It was a one-time fluke. Too much alcohol involved. I know I can win this girl over with my charm.
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure it’s entertaining for us all.”
“Oh man, you’re going to make her time with us a living hell, aren’t you?”
Am I going to make her life a living hell? No, that’s not my style. But am I going to have some fun? Hell yes.