Chapter 15 Parker
“Well, that was a disaster,” Seth said as we headed back to the locker room. “I wonder,” he continued. “Could it have had anything to do with the fact some of our players were distracted trying to protect our new goalie?”
I wasn’t in the mood to take shit from him right now. I was already well aware I’d made a bad call telling him and Marc to shadow Mackenzie during the third period, but there hadn’t been any other choice.
“She needed us,” I grunted.
“Did she?”
“Yes.” I didn’t explain to Seth how Mackenzie had confided in me that she was scared before the game.
I didn’t bring up the fear I’d seen in her eyes when that Sharks player had come flying toward her.
Between Mackenzie’s apprehension, her exhaustion, and the fact our opponents were having a field day taunting her, I’d thought a little extra support from our defensemen would help her regain her confidence, especially as she constantly refused my other offers to lend a hand. Unfortunately, it had backfired.
“She was pretty pissed.”
“Yeah, I noticed.”
A smile slowly crept onto Seth’s lips as he watched me. “Are you sure you’re not into her?”
I gave him my most disapproving look.
“Don’t look at me like I’ve grown a second head,” he said. “You pretty much threw the game for this girl, and you wouldn’t throw a game for your own mother.”
“I didn’t throw the game. Whatever I did, I did it for the team.”
“Uh-huh.”
I quickened my pace to get away from him and pushed through the locker room door.
Seth was being ridiculous, but for some reason his words left me questioning myself.
Had my actions really been for the good of the team?
I wanted to believe I’d done it to give Mackenzie the support she needed to get through the game.
That I was just doing my part to ensure she didn’t quit the team and we got stuck with Anderson and Elliot for the rest of the season.
But the truth was, my chest tightened whenever I pictured the look on her face when that Sharks forward had rushed her.
My thoughts were interrupted as Coach Foster entered the locker room. He’d already spoken briefly to the team, but now his attention was zeroed in on me. “Parker, a word, now.”
I couldn’t work out whether the fact he was using my name instead of my number was bad news, or really bad news. I drew in a breath, and Seth patted me on the shoulder. “It was nice knowing you.”
It did feel a little like a death march, following Foster out into the corridor. I already knew what I was going to get slammed for, and I braced myself for a verbal bashing. I hadn’t been thinking straight, but I could hardly tell him why.
“Care to explain your actions today?”
“Actions, coach?” I did my best to play dumb.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“The goal I scored?”
“No, the fact that you convinced our defensemen to crowd our goaltender. It cost us three goals.”
It was hopeless trying to deny it. This guy saw everything that happened out on the ice. And lying to him was only going to bury his opinion of me under a few more tons of dirt.
“Yeah, okay, maybe. I just thought she needed a little extra support.”
“That’s not your call to make. We were only two goals down. Had you focused more on your job instead of hers, we might have achieved a better result.”
For once my mouth did exactly what my brain told it, instead of digging me into an even deeper hole.
“You’re right,” I agreed. “It won’t happen again.”
He nodded. “Make sure it doesn’t. Clearly your teammates listen to you, for better or worse. But if you want to be a real leader, then you need to put the team first. Not any one individual.”
“Understood.”
I thought we were done, but Foster stepped a little closer and seemed to stand even taller. “And Twelve,” he said. “I don’t know what you’re playing at with Mackenzie, but I’ve told you twice now to stay away from my daughter. Do not make me say it again.”
He emphasized his threat by pointing two fingers toward his dark eyes and then turning them to face me. I swallowed. Didn’t people only do shit like that in the movies? If it was anyone else, I might have laughed. But in real life, coming from Coach Foster, it was intimidating as hell.
I gave him a brief nod, but as he marched back into the locker room, I felt my frustration grow.
Mackenzie wouldn’t have needed help today if Coach Foster hadn’t left her completely high and dry at practice this week and during today’s game.
He’d given her zero encouragement or support, and she’d been completely unprepared.
Whatever I thought about Mackenzie, I couldn’t deny she was a good player.
Didn’t Foster realize that, given the right guidance, she could be a great player?
But his warnings were clear. I couldn’t afford to help her anymore. Not unless I wanted to screw myself out of everything I’d been working toward. There was nothing I could do. Mackenzie was on her own.
The last thing I felt like doing after such a terrible loss was going to a party at Elliot Ford’s house.
He had become a regular party host this year, because his parents were “cool parents”.
At least, that’s what they told us as Seth and I entered through the front door. I’d never cringed so hard in my life.
I’d expected the atmosphere to be mellow after our loss, but people appeared to be enjoying themselves as much as they usually did. There was music pumping, drinks being passed around, and a large group of people glued to a hockey game that was lighting up Ford’s massive TV.
The Raiders were playing, and Reed scored a goal only a few moments after I set eyes on the screen. The room erupted in cheers, and my heart clenched as Reed and Grayson gathered each other in a celebratory hug.
“The amount of ice time your brothers get is amazing considering they’re freshmen,” Seth said from beside me. “And the camera loves them.”
Seth was right; my brothers were taking the league by storm. And, while it had only been a few games, it seemed like they were the most talked-about players in college hockey right now.
I was ridiculously proud of Reed and Grayson, but it kind of sucked to see them killing it at college when nothing was going according to plan for me here.
I should be creating my own legacy this season, becoming the Devils’ shining star.
But it felt more like I was falling fast, destined to crash down to earth with a bang.
We needed to start winning or I was never going to make captain or repeat last season’s championship.
And then it would always feel like I couldn’t succeed without my brothers.
But all I said to Seth was, “Yeah, well, it will be my ugly freshman mug taking up your screen this time next year.”
“Not if you keep sacrificing our games for cute goalies.”
My eyes narrowed. “I don’t know any cute goalies.”
Seth laughed. “Okay, maybe you’re right. She’s a little more than cute.” He nodded across the room.
I turned to see Owen and Jaz walking through the front door, Mackenzie trailing behind them. I felt a flash of heat in my chest. She looked different tonight with her hair tumbled down her back in soft curls and dark eye shadow making her green eyes shine.
Jaz and Mackenzie were laughing about something and judging by the way they kept glancing back to the front door, I had to assume they’d also met Elliot’s “cool” parents.
Her laugh fascinated me. I didn’t think I’d really heard it before.
At least, not like this. It was easy, and unrestrained, making her eyes crinkle at the corners.
And I stood there, staring like an idiot.
As if she’d felt my stare, she glanced across the room and caught my eye.
I couldn’t look away. Couldn’t even raise a knowing smile.
She held my gaze just a heartbeat too long before her jaw tightened with irritation and she hurried further into the house.
It was only once she was gone I could think clearly again.
“I’m going to get some fresh air,” I murmured to Seth. But I didn’t get very far. As I entered the kitchen, a hand reached out to grab me.
“Where have you been?” Vanessa tutted.
I let out a sigh and turned to face her.
Vanessa was hot, and we both knew it. We’d made out a few times at parties over the summer, but I’d stopped paying her any attention when I saw her laughing at something Paige was wearing.
Insulting my brother’s girlfriend was as bad as insulting me.
Plus, I happened to like the multi-colored, hand-knitted scarf Paige always wore.
“Hey, Vanessa.”
She pouted up at me. “You look sad. I’m sorry you guys lost. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”
Her voice was thick with suggestion, and she trailed a finger across my chest.
“I think I’m good.”
“Really? Because Elliot has a jacuzzi outside…”
“Huh.” There was an expectant look on her face, so I quickly added, “I didn’t bring a swimsuit.”
“Neither did I.” She leaned in close. “Then again, I wasn’t planning on wearing one…”
I swallowed and tried to convince myself I was a good guy.
That somewhere deep inside I was more than the infamous playboy the rumors made me out to be.
But the longer Vanessa smiled up at me, the more I seemed to forget.
The more I wondered whether jumping in the hot tub with her would really be such a bad idea.
Perhaps Vanessa deserved a second chance.
Why couldn’t I let one of the hottest girls in school help me take my mind off a disappointing game?
“That sounds…” I didn’t finish the thought, as someone moved past the kitchen door and caught my attention.
Mackenzie. She looked between Vanessa and me, rolled her eyes, and walked on.
The sight of her disdain was a splash of cold water, and suddenly the jacuzzi with Vanessa didn’t seem so appealing.
Was there something wrong with me, or was that just the Mackenzie Foster effect? Wasn’t she already causing me enough problems?
“That sounds…” Vanessa prompted me hopefully.
“Like a bad idea,” I said. “It’s freezing out. I wouldn’t want you to catch a cold.”
She laughed lightly. “I won’t if you’re there keeping me warm.”
Nope, I still wasn’t feeling it. Damn Mackenzie and her judgmental eyes.
“No thanks.”
“But Parker—”
“Maybe ask someone else.” I glanced up and noticed Owen innocently peering into the kitchen from the other side of the room. When he saw me, he waved cheerfully.
“Like Cleaver,” I continued. “He loves a good hot tub. And I hear he also gives great massages.”
“Owen?” Vanessa turned her attention to my friend. “Really?”
“Yep,” I said, wiggling my eyebrows when she glanced back at me. “People say he has magic fingers.”
“Interesting…” Vanessa only considered the idea for a moment, before fixing her hair, adjusting her top and ditching me to slink across the kitchen floor toward Owen.
I gave him a subtle thumbs up, but his expression morphed from confusion to horror when he realized Vanessa was making a beeline for him. A second later she was hanging off his shoulder and whispering something in his ear. His eyes only grew wider.
Poor kid. I’d really thrown him to the wolves. He clearly thought the same, because when Vanessa was done with her whispering, Owen stammered something in reply and then practically sprinted away.
It wasn’t a bad strategy. I followed suit by making an equally quick exit from the kitchen and heading outside.
It was much calmer out here. There were a few people hanging out on the back porch, but my eyes were drawn beyond them, down to the garden, where a blonde girl was standing alone, staring up at the maple tree.
Of course Mackenzie was out here. I couldn’t escape her. The girl who was to blame for my coach hating me, who stole my clothes and gave me a black eye. The girl I’d been specifically ordered to stay away from yet still seemed to cause me trouble at every turn.
But as I looked at her, I was struck by the sorrow in her eyes. It hit me even harder than the look of fear I’d seen on her face before the game today, because, this time, I knew I was to blame.
My feet were moving before I could stop them. I guess I had always liked a little trouble.