Chapter 31
THIRTY-ONE
ISLA
The team gathers on the ice for practice, but Coach isn’t anywhere to be seen. Which isn’t like her—at all.
The arena is buzzing, but I suppose that being undefeated so far will do that. Our team has played exceptionally well for the first part of the season, and it feels good. I feel a level of respect here that I didn’t feel at my old school. And aside from Margo, I love my entire team.
“Where do you think Coach is?” Summer questions next to me. “She’s never late.”
I glance at the clock. “Well, technically, she isn’t late. She’s got one minute left.”
“For Coach, that is late,” a voice says from behind us.
Instantly, Summer and I share a look before turning slightly toward the woman who rarely speaks to me.
Margo and I may be on the same team, and sure, we have to gel together on the ice, but I think since the whole thing at the restaurant that night, we’ve maybe shared a total of ten words. And all of those were when we had to talk during practice.
She doesn’t look at either of us, just stands uneasily before she sighs.
“Look, Hardy, I’m not good at apologies.
” With each word, I can tell she wants to climb out of her skin because she’s so uncomfortable.
“I made an assumption that you only got to be our goalie because of the name on your back. That wasn’t fair to you.
” She chews the inside of her cheek, fidgeting with her stick.
“You were the right choice. I know that now.”
For a second—or maybe a full-on moment, I’m not sure—I’m just dumbfounded. I don’t know why, but I never expected Margo to apologize to me. And even though she didn’t actually say the words I’m sorry, she might as well have. And with Margo, I think that’s the best I can ask for.
Summer stands there, clearly uncomfortable, before turning around and leaving me and Margo to this conversation. But still, I know Summer, and I know she’s still going to be listening. Luckily, Eden skates over toward her, and the two of them begin to chat.
“Thanks,” I finally say. “That, uh … means a lot.”
“A lot coming from me, you mean?” She almost laughs. “Because I’m the biggest bitch on the ice.”
“What?” I almost choke out. “N-no. That’s not what I was going to say.”
“Nah, it’s the truth.” She sighs. “I know you and Hendrix have gotten close, so I’m sure he’s told you why I am the way that I am.”
Her words shock me because I didn’t even know she and Hendrix were that close that he would know something so deep about her.
Thanks for the heads-up, babe.
“Um, no,” I utter with a slight shake of my head. “He didn’t say anything to me.”
She seems surprised, smiling lightly. “Don’t worry; I’m not after your man or anything.
But with both of us being Brody O’Brien’s charity cases, we just sort of get each other, I guess.
” She shrugs. “I let my insecurities get in the way of being a good teammate. But it won’t happen again.
” Her eyes move to the opposite end of the ice. “Looks like Coach finally made it.”
She leaves it at that, not saying another word before she skates off.
That was all I needed to hear to know that we can finally put our differences aside and just play hockey.
I guess I could pull the girlfriend card and get angry that Hendrix didn’t tell me that they know each other on a sort of deeper level, but I find it kind of charming that even when she was being a bitch to me, he didn’t pour out her secrets and explain why she was being so bitter.
He could have, but he didn’t because those weren’t his secrets to tell.
For that, I respect him more.
“Well, that was interesting,” Summer mutters, turning back toward me.
Eden smiles, watching as Margo skates up to another group of players. “You know what the word on the street is, right?”
“No. What?” I shrug, having no idea what she’s going to say.
“I heard that Cash Hale has a thing for her.” She sighs, leaning on her hockey stick. “Cash Hale. I can’t even imagine if a dude like that was into me.”
I don’t say anything, just simply smile inwardly.
While everyone else might have thought that Hendrix bid on Margo, it was actually Cash’s money that did, and they just were helping each other out.
I know he’s got a thing for her. Before, I was kind of bummed because Cash was such a stand-up guy.
But now, maybe Margo isn’t as bad as I thought she was.
Our conversation, diving into Cash and Margo’s business—which we shouldn’t be doing anyway—is cut short when Eden scowls, looking past me. “What the hell?”
Turning slowly, I watch as the men’s hockey team files out onto the ice. The second Hendrix’s eyes meet mine, he grins.
“Well, this is weird,” I whisper as they get closer to us. “I thought we had the ice?”
Within seconds, Hendrix is next to me.
“What’s this about anyway?” I say, a little nervous.
“I have no idea,” he says, and I can tell right away that he has no clue either. “Coach told us to gear up and come out here instead of watching game tape.” He winks. “And then I saw my hot girlfriend out here, looking all sexy in her uniform.”
“Ew, stop being so cute,” Summer groans. “Seriously, before I barf.”
I laugh but quickly shut my mouth when Coach stands in front of us, and I know it’s time to listen up and find out what the hell is going on.
“Ladies!” Coach calls out. “I ran into Coach Huff in the hallway a few hours ago, and we got to talking.” She nods her head toward Cade.
“We talked about how well our teams have been playing. We talked about how proud we are of the gains this season. And … we talked about how …” She stops, looking at Cade again.
“What was that last thing we talked about, Coach?”
Cade grins a true Uncle Cade grin. The kind that warms everyone’s soul around him because we’re so damn lucky to have him in our lives.
“Hmm … let me think,” he says playfully, tapping his chin. “Oh, right. We talked about how both our teams are undefeated this season.” He tries to keep a straight face, but as soon as the word undefeated leaves his mouth, the arena erupts into cheers.
“Right, that was it!” Coach Sanchez yells. “So, we were thinking, if it were the ladies’ team versus the men’s team, who would still be undefeated?”
From the corner of my eye, I glance at Hendrix, and I know right away that he’s eating this up, smirking like a damn fool.
“Oh shit,” I utter, looking at Eden and Summer. “This is really about to happen.”
“Fucking right, it is,” Hendrix says, leaning over so his lips are against my ear. “Prepared to be smoked, Nineteen.”
“All right, let’s do it! And instead of three twenty-minute periods, we’re just doing two thirty-minute halves.
We’re keeping the clock running during time-outs, water breaks, and when subs come in and out,” Sanchez yells before motioning the women’s team toward her as Cade does the same to the men’s team.
Hendrix skates backward, away from me, giving me the biggest, slyest smirk I think I’ve ever seen.
And I know one thing: this practice is going to go down as the most interesting one I’ve ever taken part in—that’s for sure.
HENDRIX
I take a drink of my water, watching the game play in front of me.
I’m covered in sweat because after basically forty-five minutes of going nonstop, someone subbed in for me.
Normally, I hate sitting my ass on this bench, but right now, I get a front-row seat to my girlfriend while she does what she does best. Tend the goal.
After a short break of her own, she looks fierce, ready to attack, but every now and then, depending on what player is trying to score on her and what they say, she smiles and shakes her head at them.
Even though all of us in the arena play every game with a certain level of competitiveness that there’s no way we’d drop—even when it’s men versus women—we’re all still having fun.
And to be honest, I’m not quite sure who will win this game because while we’re strong, the women players are fucking fast and downright sneaky.
When there’s a short time-out, Isla grabs the bottle on top of her net before squirting some water into her mouth.
I wish I could squirt something else into her mouth …
I don’t know if there’s anything sexier than watching my girl play hockey, to be honest. And right now, I’m just thinking of all the filthy things I want to do to her when we get back to the house.
So far, it’s zero to zero because both goalies are so damn good.
Cash is naturally just insanely talented in front of the goal.
And Isla? If I didn’t know from that hockey camp that her main position was a center and not a goalie, I never would have believed anyone who said that after watching her so far this season.
The woman is tiny—even in her big, bulky gear—and still doesn’t let anything get by.
Physically, I don’t know how she does it.
But I have a hard time believing that they are going to pull her from there once the other player returns.
Standing up and leaning forward, I call out, “Hey, Nineteen.”
Her helmet swings in my direction, telling me I’ve got her attention.
“You’re looking pretty good out there.”
I swear that even through the helmet, I can see her eyes roll, but I also see a flash of white when she smiles, and I plop my ass back down, grinning like a fucking idiot, just like I always do when it comes to that girl.
Isla has brought me a sort of comfort I never knew even existed.
Even though we’re both busy, balancing school and hockey, we spend every free second we can with each other.
When I have late games or practices, I sneak into The Nest afterward and climb into bed with her.
And a few times, she’s done the same at The Tower.
Of course, those times, I end up waking up, and my dick is suddenly hard once I realize she’s beside me.