Chapter 3
THREE
Logan
Present
“Your fucking timing is off,” Oliver Trent, the goalie coach for the Austin Aces yells right after blowing the whistle. “Mantei, you’re next.” He points a threatening finger at me. “You better show me that you’re worth it.”
I nod at him and skate to take my place at the net, getting in the position.
My mouth goes dry as I watch one of the first line forwards coming right at me, moving the puck back and forth as he tries to keep me guessing.
Three more players are behind him, each one with a puck they’re ready to launch at me.
“Fuck, yeah,” I mumble to myself when I stop the first one with my forearm. The next two are a bit more difficult, but I get them as well. The third one wheezes right by my ear, but I bring my hand up just in time and catch it.
Oliver blows his whistle, motioning for the first line goalie to take his place at the net, which requires for me to move out of the way. Coach doesn’t say anything to me about my performance, but I guess that’s a good thing as long as he doesn’t tell me that I suck.
The last six months have been brutal. Getting traded by the New York Sliders felt like a nightmare at the time.
There was a lot going on, and they made the deal a day before the deadline.
That caused me a lot of stress and anguish.
I got lectured by everyone I knew including a lot of my teammates.
Things with Elizabeth got suspended, and I have no idea if we’ll ever pick up where we left off.
Her father refused to allow me to see her before I left, and she didn’t make any effort to come see me.
That pretty much told me everything that I needed to know.
And now, all this time later, I am playing for another team, but at least it wasn’t a step down since my biggest fear had been going back to the minors. I didn’t get more money, but I did get the second line goalie position, as opposed to the third line I had back in New York.
I move a little to the side when one of my teammates, Sebastian Roonie, joins me against the boards.
“Good job, man. I think you impressed Oliver, and that’s no easy task.”
I nod in thanks but don’t have much else to say. He is actually the only person here who I talk to. He and I played together while on the Sliders. He transferred to the Aces as soon as the portal opened. I have to admit that it does feel nice to have a familiar face here.
“You wanna go have a drink after we’re done here?” He now elbows me to get my attention. “I hear all the guys are going. And some of the staff…”
The sweaty hair on the back of my head raises at hearing that. I don’t need to know anything about staff or what they do after hours. If I hear one more time the term morality clause or fraternizing with the staff, I will lose my shit on everyone around me.
“I better not,” I tell Sebastian. “I’m tired anyway.”
“Dude,” he chuckles. “I’m not telling you to get naked with the staff. Just come and have a good time with us, loosen the fuck up a bit, yeah?”
I roll my eyes at his obvious tease of my situation. He knows about the circumstances that brought me from New York to Austin, mostly because I never made it a secret. It is what it is, I guess.
“You need to get out more, dude.” Sebastian won’t let up. “Get to know the guys more. They’re actually not that bad,” he informs me.
I look around us, noticing how they all seem to be in their little groups, and I miss the camaraderie that I had back in New York.
Over there, the players didn’t care if you were a first or a third line player.
They were down to hanging out with you no matter what.
It was a bit of a different vibe I suppose.
Then again, I do have to remind myself that I came here after the season already started.
I missed on all the team bonding period leading to that.
“At the pub?” I make sure to ask Sebastian.
“Yep,” he confirms before skating off.
The next couple of hours go by in a blur. The drills we run are no less intense than what I experienced with the Sliders, but I still feel like I am fumbling my way around at times. With that said, I am pleased with my performance overall, and my coaches seem to agree.
“Good job,” Coach Mack taps me on the helmet as I make my way off the ice. “I expect to see you at the pub with the rest of the team.” He pauses briefly as he stares at me. “No excuses.”
I nod and keep on walking. “Yes, sir.”
Right before exiting toward the tunnel that takes me to the locker room, I stop to talk to a group of kids.
They get excited, not necessarily because they are big fans of mine, but they are of the team, and getting attention from one of the players makes their day.
We take some selfies and exchange some fist bumps, then I pass my stick to one of the smaller boys that’s a couple of rows back.
Sebastian pops to my side after I finally take my leave.
“Look at you, charming all the little kids,” he teases. “That’ll get you points with the ladies, too.”
I roll my eyes at his last remark. “That is the last thing I need right now. I am still in recovery from the last lady I was with.”
There’s this tightness in my chest every time I think of Elizabeth. I don’t know if I made a mistake by not trying to contact her more often once I moved to Austin. Maybe, despite us confessing our feelings to each other, we rushed into things.
“I heard they invited everyone to the pub tonight,” Sebastian tells me as we get to the locker room.
As luck would have it, our assigned lockers are next to each other. I remain standing so that I can take all my gear off while Sebastian sits down and starts unlacing his skates.
“They invited all the office staff, too,” he continues. “And this new girl is…”
“I don’t care about any of the office staff, Bass,” I cut him off. “I got enough problems in my life.”
He snorts at that. “I know what you’re thinking, but that’s not what I wanted to tell you at all. Besides, the girl who got you in trouble was not an office girl.”
“No,” I admit. “It was worse. I was the ultimate moron. And I haven’t even heard back from her since I left.”
“Yeah, but, listen to me,” Sebastian insists. “Tonight…”
The door to the locker room opens, and a bunch of the guys on the team bust in. Everyone is talking and laughing at the same time, making it almost impossible for me to hear my friend anymore.
The rest of our time in the locker room goes by in a blur. I get pulled into a couple of conversations, and I discover that I like talking to everyone here the more that I give them a chance. I have no idea what’s been pulling me back. I’m just gun shy at this point, I suppose.
By the time I take a shower and change into my street clothes, I am more relaxed and prepared to spend the evening with the whole bunch of them.
“I’ll just take my bag to the car,” I tell them as we head out. A few of them decide to do the same, while the rest decide to come back for their stuff once we’re done partying.
I listen in to all the side conversations going on around me, but I don’t try to participate. One in particular catches my attention, making me laugh.
“Dude, did you see the new nutritionist they hired?” One of my teammates asks. “She is smoking hot. I might need some pointers for my diet, if you know what I mean.”
“You better be careful with that,” another one warns him. “They don’t like the players to mess around with the office folk.”
“The fuck does that even mean?” the first one chuckles. “We don’t have anything in our contracts for that.”
“True, but I think they do,” someone else chimes in. “She could lose her job if you went after her.”
“Bullshit,” the first person huffs. “That never gets enforced. No one cares about shit like that.”
I roll my eyes at that and decide to insert myself into the conversation.
“I can assure you that it does get enforced, and I am proof that it can happen.”
The words bring everyone’s attention to me, and I almost regret saying anything. This is not how I wanted to strike up a conversation.
“That’s just stupid,” one of them comments, while all the others agree.
They continue asking me questions about it until we get to our cars. I throw my large bag with all the gear inside the trunk before turning to walk with them toward the pub.
“I’m still going to request to meet with the new nutritionist,” someone mumbles quietly, and I bust out laughing.
While a strange way to break the ice with them, it does help. There is easy banter between us as we make our way toward the front door to the building.
“Place is packed,” I call out to Sebastian when I notice him waiting for us.
His eyes widen in excitement. “Literally everyone is here,” he tells me. “And I think some other people were invited, too.”
“You mean people not associated with the Aces?” I clarify.
“Yup,” he confirms. “I really hope to meet someone here before my Aunt Kathy comes to Austin to visit me.”
My eyebrows go up at hearing that. “What does your aunt have anything to do with you dating?”
“Dude,” he shakes his head at me. “She’s been trying to set me up for a couple of years now.”
“I take it that her attempts have been unsuccessful,” I chuckle.
Sebastian opens the door to the pub, holding it open for a few of us to walk in before following as well. He is back by my side in no time, and he starts looking around for a table with available seats.
“She tried to hook me up with this chick,” he continues our previous conversation like we’d only had it on pause for a bit. “She was Aunt Kathy’s boss,” he explains. “Hot but crazy.”
“Who?” I ask. “The chick or your aunt working for her?”
He eyes me with disbelief. “The chick. She was hot but on the crazy side. And her boyfriend was in the way quite a bit.”
“She had a boyfriend and still went out with you?”