Chapter 2
TWO
CALLUM
- Present Day -
“ N ice block, Newbie!”
Coach O’Reilly has been riding us hard all week with training camp. Can’t say I blame him. We have several new players on the team this year, and I know he wants to make sure we’re a cohesive unit before the official start of the season.
Two of the new guys are second-line and came off of free agency. They’re good, but I’m still not sure about them when it comes down to working together as a team. I guess we’ll see as the season goes on.
Newbie, though? Hell, this goalie here has been contracted out to the Sabretooths since he was drafted out of high school at eighteen, but waited until he was done with his stint at the University of Michigan before starting up with the team. And he is one hell of a tendy.
He’s got lightning-quick reflexes and has blocked everything we have thrown his way all week.
Honestly with his skills, I don’t understand why he deferred his contract until he was done with school.
And with Theo “Slick” Giovanni and his old teammate and best friend Sebastian “ Tricky” Adamare together on the ice again for the first time in years, we have a damn-near golden starting line this season.
Hell, if anyone could slip past our hotshot goalie, it would be one of those two.
But Davies hasn’t let a single biscuit slip past his wall.
I don’t want to brag or anything, but I would say we are almost a damn sure thing for the Stanley Cup at the end of this season, if our starting line has anything to say about it.
“Damn, man. That was a nice block.” Adamare comes to an abrupt stop next to me, shaved ice spraying through the air. “Good job, Newbie.”
Theo Giovanni, our team Captain, is typically more quiet than the other guys; Not one to easily give praise. But even he gives an approving nod in Newbie’s direction as he skates up next to us.
I can’t help the grin that spreads across my face as I slap Davies across the back. Coach’s whistle signals the end of practice and I jerk my chin, indicating Newbie to follow us. “With that, we are officially done with training camp. Time to celebrate. Drinks are on me tonight, boys.”
Bash and Theo grin at me. “Whaddya say, Newbie? Join us for a celebratory drink?”
Removing his mask, Jonah Davies grins back at us, but there’s hesitation in his eyes. “I would love to, you guys. . . but I don’t know. I kinda had plans for the night.”
“Aw, come on, Davies. How are we supposed to have ‘team bonding,’ if you don’t actually come out to bond with the team?
” Bash’s voice is taunting. He may be newer, having transferred only last year himself, but you wouldn’t know it with how seamlessly he’s blended in.
It probably helps that he already knew several of the members of the Sabretooths, having played against them at the college level.
“Well-” Newbie’s voice is still hesitant, and I can hear the longing in his tone.
“Come on, Newbie. What could be more important than bonding with your new besties?”
“Yeah, man. We even got the ‘all clear’ from our women earlier to have a night on the town.” Theo’s tone is lighthearted.
He is so whipped. As if he actually had to get clearance from his girlfriend, Danica.
A pro gymnast with a busy career of her own, Danni is never one to comment on Theo’s schedule, but this man would bend over backwards and lasso the moon to hand it to her if he could.
I swear, he has heart eyes every time Danni’s name is mentioned or whenever she’s in the room; practically lights up like a damn Christmas tree any time she is around.
It is nauseatingly cute.
Not that I blame him. Danica Ellis is the full package.
Gorgeous, smart and funny. A pro athlete in her own right, she completely understands the demands of our insane in-season schedule.
Hell, even I had a celebrity crush on her before I knew she and Giovanni were a thing.
Watching that girl command the crowd with her intricate floor routines, or flip around on the balance beam and uneven bars.
Shit, dude has the whole fucking package with her.
And Bash? Well, that one caught us all a bit off guard.
Adamare’s always been known throughout the league as being one of the biggest players out there (and I don’t mean on the ice), so it took everyone by surprise when he pushed for a transfer to Seattle to follow his dream girl across country lines, blindsiding us with their marriage announcement shortly thereafter.
But, once again, a nauseatingly cute couple.
And then there’s me.
Not much to say here, really. I mean, I like sex as much as the next guy, but shit. I don’t have time for that these days, to say nothing of trying to make a real relationship work with our insane schedule during the season.
And I know some of the guys on the team have no problem hooking up with the puck bunnies that flock to all of our games for an easy fix, but hell, after that last crazy fan that broke into my hotel room half naked, sobbing for me to put a baby in her I refuse to go near random hookups anymore - not with anyone .
Nope. These days, I am by far the most boring of our group, but weirdly, I’m okay with it.
Once I would have tried to find something that had the potential to turn into more by swiping right on Hookit , a popular dating app used mostly by athletes and celebrities, but now that we’re in full-swing with the season, I just don’t even have the energy to try finding something more long-term that way either.
Nah, this is better anyway. Staying single is definitely the way to go.
That being said, I’m always down for a chill night with the guys.
And who knows? With Newbie now in the group, maybe I won’t be so alone in this “single life” anymore.
While definitely a player off season, he’s been in the tabloids a time or two for his random partners that he hooks up with (especially after coming out so publicly after high school), he’s made no secret of the fact that he can be a real hardass when it comes to focusing on the game, blocking out all possible distractions during the season.
“Well. . .” Newbie’s voice breaks through my wandering thoughts. “I kinda had. . . something going on.” His voice is full of hesitation as he looks between the three of us, reiterating his earlier statement.
“Aw, come on man. What could be more important than bonding with your new teammates? Besides, what could you possibly have going on? You just moved here.” Bash taunts, waggling his eyebrows in exaggeration as he grins.
“Yeah, Newbie. We’ve gotta get to know each other better. It helps build trust, or whatever. It’s important for improving your game.” Surprisingly enough, this comes from Theo, and what’s even more surprising, is the fact that I have to agree with him on this one.
Throwing my arm over his shoulders as we skate towards the edge of the rink, I grin as he responds. “Alright. Just. . . let me make a quick call.”