CAMERON
Chapter Eight
Get your goddamn head straight, Martinez, I snapped at myself as I watched the puck go sideways because my mind had been miles away. I skated ten more feet before stopping and twirling back only to bump into Partridge who was trying to correct my blunder.
“What the hell is up with you, dude?” Beckett asked, not unkindly.
I growled in return and shook my head, helmet weighing heavy today.
The sulking creature on the other side of the rink played as badly as I did, today.
He dropped his stick in agitation once and nearly fell off his skates for no reason whatsoever.
The few times our eyes met, he was close to snarling and I wondered what he was playing at.
Maybe he was begging for me to tower over him and spank that bratty attitude out of him.
Or maybe he was so fucking over this entire ordeal.
Whatever his reasons, Riley embarrassed himself today when he stared at me from across the rink, leading the puck between enemy lines, and slamming himself into the boards because his gaze lingered on me for a moment too long.
I fared no better. Sweat was freezing on my face all day and I’d fallen over Sebastian, sprawling on ice and biting my lip so hard I drew blood. It was far from my first split lip, but it was the first for these specific reasons.
Yesterday, I had gotten the closest to feeling alive in years.
The electric current between Riley and me in those moments of heavy expectations coursed through my bones.
It was like the static buildup that soared through the charts until it ignited a lightning bolt.
Destructive as fuck, yes. But also awe inspiring and breathtaking at the same time.
I wanted to assert my dominance over our captain just as much as I wanted to feel the companionship of my first guy. I wanted to teach him a lesson in manners just like I wanted to feel every inch of his body under my lips.
God, I was a lost cause. We both were.
If one thing was certain in all this goddamn mess, it was that Riley didn’t hate me enough not to give in. Whether his reason told him to run away or not, it hardly mattered. His body bowed to me. And his heart was in it.
But this knowledge made me clumsy like I’d never been on ice in my life. A waddling penguin had higher odds of scoring a point than either of us.
The blow of Coach Murray’s whistle was both a blessing and a curse. “Martinez. Brooks. My office.”
Riley tore his helmet off and glared at me like I’d caused his bumbling and stumbling today. I fucking hadn’t. If I had that kind of power, I’d have used it a month ago.
We skated to the edge of the rink and let other guys file out before we took our skates off and dragged our sorry asses to Coach Murray’s office.
The man was turning red, one of his eyes twitching.
We hadn’t even kicked this season off with a friendly match against the Blizzard Breakers and we were already a disaster.
“Never in my career has a player made me question my sanity the way you two seem to do every day,” Coach Murray rasped, his voice metallic with anger, like a whetstone sharpening a knife’s blade.
He pointed his finger at Riley and I wanted to leap and stand between them.
It took all my strength to stay still and not interfere.
My turn was still coming. “I’ve given you the captaincy of this team because you were well liked and respected, Brooks.
Those guys followed you all the way to the top and stood by you in the face of defeat. ”
Riley fidgeted, his breathing stopping abruptly.
“Coach,” I said, my voice choking.
Coach Murray’s finger snapped from Riley to me.
“We offered you a full scholarship just to have you here, Martinez, because your skill on ice was wasted at SBU. One leading man with a band of rascals never even licked the door of the NHL. And now I discover that you’ve only been great in comparison. ”
His words felt like a very unskilled hand dragging a stitch from an unhealed wound. I stiffened in shock.
“The only thing I can think to explain it all is if I lost my touch. Have I misjudged the ones who I believed were this team’s best players in three generations?
Or am I seeing something wrong? I can’t seem to make you two work together.
And pitting you against each other to push the other off the team is failing, too. So, what do I do with you?”
I didn’t dare open my mouth. If this was a hypothetical question, he wouldn’t appreciate a smart-ass answer.
Silence dragged on for an eternity and soured everything else in the room.
Coach moved his gaze between the two of us like he was trying to see something that wasn’t there.
“Very well. Brooks, seeing as you are the captain of the team, you are going to bear the responsibilities for the discord of the entire team. The lack of focus, purpose, and camaraderie is solely on you. You will…”
“You can’t do that.” Silence dropped between us like an anvil.
All eyes were on me before I realized these had been my words.
My mouth dried and I worked it for a trace of saliva, but found none.
Instead, I inhaled a shallow breath of air and avoided Riley’s eyes.
I stared at Coach Murray. “It’s not his fault. ”
“Pray tell.” Coach’s words were clipped and he seemed to forget all about his anger with Riley. As far as I could see, Riley could have walked out this very instant and Coach Murray would still be slicing me to pieces with a look.
“I’m the cause of discord,” I said.
“Shut up,” Riley hissed under his breath.
“I am. And you both know it. Since I got here, it has all gone downhill.” Shut up, I yelled at myself internally.
“If you have to scratch one of us, it should be me.” My voice softened by the end of that and I couldn’t believe the stupid things that had come out of my mouth.
In no universe was it my fault that Riley couldn’t focus on captaining this team because I played alongside him.
Except, I kind of was.
No matter how often I told myself that high school crushes were just passing fancies, I never made myself completely believe it.
Riley had never moved on. Not truly. And I had never felt as complete as I had yesterday, not since I’d run away.
I’d thought I was sacrificing something small, something temporary, but it had been more akin to severing a limb.
Or carving my heart out, if I were being sappy.
Even the impatient side eye he had given me this past month filled me with annoyance. Every eye roll and every contemptuous snort. Every time he insisted he could run as fast or lift as much. But in that annoyance, I felt myself drawn to this stubborn, heart-bruised, silly guy.
Nobody on this planet pushed my buttons quite like Riley. Which wasn’t to say I would let him be full of himself, but I was going to try this risky mind game with the coach for both our sakes.
Come on, I thought. Please work.
Coach Murray narrowed his eyes at me, then looked at Riley. “Brooks, do you agree with Cameron’s assessment?”
Riley dragged his gaze off Coach Murray to meet mine. There were sparks of anger bursting out of his eyes, but he blinked and shook his head. “You were right, Coach. I’m the captain. It’s my job to ensure we get along.”
Coach Murray measured us for a time, then gave a grave nod. “Very well. If I see anything less than exceptional on Wednesday, you will share the responsibility. You are dismissed.”
We knew better than to argue or draw attention whatsoever. The way we left his office was easily the stealthiest on record. But it was only when we crossed the long hallway to the empty locker room that either of us felt safe enough to breathe again.
The locker room had a unique after-practice scent of sweat fading away to the overpowering body wash scents all the guys had used in the shower.
There, we shut the door and began undressing in silence.
By the time we stripped down to our waists, Riley couldn’t hold his tongue any longer. “You just had to play the hero.”
“What?” I demanded.
“He was almost done, Cam. You didn’t have to meddle like some sulky Prince Charming.” Riley looked right into my eyes, his face still glowing from the exertion on ice and the following embarrassment.
“I was trying to save your ass, you ungrateful little shit,” I snapped, my mind narrowing to annoyance as I rounded on him.
“I didn’t need you to save my ass.” He fought back for the sake of pride and that rubbed me the wrong way. My frustration was spilling and spreading, but I knew where it was coming from. And it wasn’t Riley’s stubbornness.
“He was about to scratch you and I intervened,” I said. “You’re welcome.”
“Now both our asses are on the line,” he hissed, tossing his jersey into the locker and shutting the door while still wearing the bottom half of his attire.
“Do you seriously think we can just magic our way out of this, Cam? That we can just start playing well together by Wednesday?” He scoffed and gave a jerky shake of his head, his chest rising as he inhaled. “We’re screwed.”
“We’re not.” I wasn’t admitting defeat now. “I bought us time.”
“Great. Now all we have to do is figure out how to learn to play together.” The sarcasm cut me deeper than it should have.
I narrowed my eyes and leaned closer to him. “No. We just need to figure out how to focus on the game, rather than the player.”
His breath hitched audibly when he pulled a few inches back to look into my eyes. “Cam…”
I licked my lips with care. “I know what’s distracting me. And you know it, too.”
His eyebrows trembled briefly before he surrendered into a small frown. “Aren’t you getting the message from the universe?” His voice was thinner than ever as he asked this. “It keeps interrupting us.”
I allowed myself the liberty of grazing the side of his torso with my fingertips. “I know you’re stubborn enough to listen to the universe.”