Chapter 6
Conner
Conner pulled on his skates and started to suit up for morning skate. He was the first one here since he was meeting Sasha to film some videos with her. He had been kicking himself since their conversation on the plane. The look on her face when he had called them little videos made him instantly regret it, but he needed a clear head, and she was not good for clearing his head. His road trip hadn’t fared any better. He still couldn’t find the back of the net no matter how hard he tried.
“What’s going on with your shot?” Coach had asked him after their last game.
Conner just shook his head.
“You’ll get it back,” he assured. “Have you talked to the trainers?”
“Yeah, my wrist is pulling, and I don’t know why. We’re working on it.”
“You may need to see the counselor. Are you feeling more stress than normal?”
“Not that I know of, but if I don’t improve next practice, I’ll set something up.”
That conversation had been playing over and over in his head. It was the first time in a long time where the coach had talked to him like a player and not an extension of the coaching staff and he didn’t like it one bit. He knew what had changed. The day he lost his shot was the same day Sasha showed up. He knew the team counselor was there for problems like game anxiety that usually caused this, but this was not game anxiety…he didn’t know what this was.
He had a problem. A beautiful Sasha problem. He looked for her in every room. Then when he finally found her, his eyes went places polite work appropriate eyes should not go. The way he actually missed being bugged by her told him all he needed to know. She was a distraction.
But it wasn’t just the distraction, he was also fighting the guilt. When Ethan had invited her to drinks with the team, she declined and made a comment about her ‘little videos’. That moment as well had been playing over and over in his head. His head was a mess. He really hadn”t meant to hurt her feelings. And while social media wasn’t something he cared about, he understood it was necessary, and it was a valid job. She was just such a distraction, but he needed to deal with that like a gentleman. It wasn”t her fault he was attracted to her. She was just trying to do her job.
All of that coupled with the fact that he hadn’t scored a single goal since she arrived had him spiraling. With a deep breath he stood and made his way to the ice.
As he skated out, he saw she was already there ready to film.
“Hi Conner,” she said very professionally. “I thought maybe you could do a video on your slapshot, since you have one of the best in the league. And maybe one on the best way to change directions while you skate.”
“Yeah, I can totally do that,” he said with his famous smile, but she didn’t even look up from her camera. “I thought maybe I could do one on being a team player on ice too. That is one of the things I”m known for.”
She looked up from her camera with her eyebrows raised. “Yeah, that would be good. If you have time, I don”t want to keep you.”
“It”s no problem.” He was still kicking himself for being an ass. Her shocked reaction stung, but it tracked.
He shouldn’t be nervous out here. He was just filming a video about his slapshot on empty ice. Surely, he wouldn’t miss. But with whatever his wrist had been doing the past couple weeks, he was a little uneasy. He looked over at Sasha who was still setting up the camera. He could do this. Pulling a puck with his stick he set up his shot and let it rip.
No twitch. He found the back of the net with ease.
He didn’t know why, but he looked over at Sasha to see if she saw what he just did. And really what he just did was an easy shot at an empty net, but after the past few weeks it felt like a small victory. Once again, he put another puck right where he wanted it. When he looked and saw the big grin stretched across her face it lit him up inside.
They continued filming the videos. He skated and made some shots with no twitch and talked to her about team culture. He told himself he was just doing his job, but he could feel himself trying to impress her. The way she smiled as he pulled back and sent the puck flying into the net made him feel like he was in college again with his girlfriend in the stands. It was something he hadn”t felt for a while. He had forgotten how much fun it could be to show off.
While they had been on the ice Conner had noticed Sasha wasn’t on skates. Instead opting for ice cleats. Once they had finished filming, she walked over to get off the ice and he glided easily next to her.
“Do you skate?” he asked.
“No, I think I did a few times as a kid, but I haven’t since then. Is that against the hockey rules?”
He chuckled and shook his head with a smile. “Not against the rules for a job like yours.”
Her eyes shot back to him. “A job like mine, huh? You mean one where I play on the internet and post little videos?” She was already off the ice and slipped off the metal cleats from her shoes.
“No,” he said quickly. “I just meant you don’t have to be a good skater since you’re not on the ice.”
“Well, I’m glad you think I’m qualified.” She clipped out. “Thank you for your help.”
And before Conner knew what hit him, she was gone. He kept putting his foot in his mouth around her. He was trying to keep his distance so he could focus this season, but he wasn”t trying to be a jerk. Trying or not it did seem to keep going that way.
He took another shot once she was off the ice. Once again, he felt his wrist twitch and he hit the post. Damn.
“Hey man, I”m usually the first one out here for morning skate.” Cash said, skating towards him. “What”s got you out so early?”
“I was just shooting some videos with Sasha,” he said, distracted.
“Oh yeah? She”s got you doing thirst traps too?” he asked with a grin.
“No.” He looked over at Cash who seemed to be amused by the whole thing. Maybe he was okay with that, but Conner wanted to focus and be taken seriously. “She had me do some tips, it”s actually a pretty good idea.”
“Nice, she just has me winking at the suit camera, but I”ll take it. Keep adding women to my out-of-town roster if she keeps posting things like that,” Cash said as he wagged his eyebrows.
More players were starting to filter onto the ice as Conner started to stretch. He was glad Cash didn”t mind that kind of attention, but it was not the kind of attention he wanted. He’d had his fill of attention like that in college. That kind of attention had always made him uncomfortable and had been the cause of some nasty fights back then.
He had one serious girlfriend in college, but it had always been an emotional roller coaster. She would get drunk and pick fights. He was her rock, he was lots of people’s rock to be fair, but being the calm in her storm often meant he was thrown off balance more than he cared to be. When they broke up, he decided not to be seriously involved with anyone until he was done with hockey. But he was pushing thirty now, and maybe it was time to think about settling down.
But first he needed a cup. He closed his eyes and finished stretching before getting up to practice. Hopefully this practice would help him clear his head, but he didn’t have his hopes up. His head had been a mess for weeks.
As the week went on Conner was practicing, his shot was still off. He kept seeing Sasha around the building. He saw her the next day filming with Kyle the stick guy. Everyone knew him, he knew everyone”s sticks and how they liked them to be stored and during the game he was always watching getting ready to hand you your stick if you broke one on the ice. He was going down the line showing her how everyone taped their stick differently. He couldn”t help but smile to himself as he walked by.
The next week he found her in the weight room taking footage of one of Ethan”s training sessions. His trainer was taking the time to explain to her and the camera how goalie workouts differ from the other players, the two of them down in a low squat tossing medicine balls back and forth.
The work she was putting into this impressed him. The behind-the-scenes glimpses into team life were going to be a hit with the fans. She was doing something he hadn”t seen other teams’ social media do before. The fans would find this engaging, he knew that.
He found himself just standing watching them.
“Hey man, I was just checking to see how the Mystic Falls team was doing. Did they win?”
It took him a minute to realize someone was talking to him. He looked over at Wes standing next to him.
“What?” he asked, still distracted by Sasha.
“Your dad”s hockey team we did a training session with. Did they win?”
“Oh right, sorry. Yeah, they’re headed to sectionals, still the favorite for the state championship,” he said, his eyes still on Sasha.
“Distracted by our pretty social media manager?” Wes grinned at him.
Conner turned to him with a scowl. “What? No. I”m not.”
“I get it man—“ before he could even finish that statement Conner cut him off with a glare.
“Wes, I don”t care about our social media manager,” he said to Wes, his tone a little harsh. He wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince Wes or himself.
Wes”s eyes got big.
“The feelings mutual, Conner. I”ll catch up with you later, Wes.”
An icy chill ran down his back as he turned and saw Sasha. Her brows were pinched, and she let out a rough chuckle.
“Unbelievable,” she muttered under her breath. And just like that she swept out of the weight room leaving him there in his own shame.
He hung his head. “Fuck.”
“Smooth,” Wes said, giving him a pat on the chest.
Conner was left standing there alone wondering how it all went so wrong. He needed to stop this, but he was at a total fucking loss. He always knew the next move, but this woman had him stumped.