Excerpt from Broken As Puck
MATT
I’d never crossed my fingers as hard as I did while listening to Coach Dunn’s welcome spiel and praying to every deity I could think of that I’d either misheard or misunderstood the team manager’s announcement at the end of last season.
So far, Coach Dunn hadn’t mentioned the team’s previously bad reputation or the new owner’s campaign to change it.
Perhaps, during the off-season, they’d decided they didn’t need to take such drastic measures after all.
Not that it was necessarily drastic to hire a dedicated team publicist, but it certainly felt that way when the publicist in question was my ex-girlfriend.
AKA my college sweetheart.
AKA the love of my life.
AKA the blonde bombshell who’d made her opinion of me more than clear when she’d told me to kiss her ass, then marched out of my life before I’d had the chance to throw myself at her feet and beg her to reconsider.
I shifted my position on the sofa, ignoring the scowl Drew McKinley sent me when he had to readjust himself too. Drew didn’t know how to smile, so a scowl was basically his default setting. There was no point taking issue with it.
At the head of the team’s meeting room, nearest the door, Coach Dunn had steepled his hands and was outlining how preliminary decisions about line-ups would be made following training camp.
Most of us—excluding the rookies—knew this.
Changes might be made throughout the season, though, so it wasn’t as if we were locked in.
Coach Dunn exchanged a glance with Stephen Robertson, the team manager, who was leaning against a wall near the snack table. Robertson straightened and smoothed down his designer suit. I assumed that meant Coach was about to wrap up, and all without mentioning a publicist.
Perhaps I’d get away without having to confront my past after all.
I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed about that. The lightness in my chest said relieved, but the heaviness in the bottom of my gut begged to differ.
The truth was, I dreaded facing another rejection from Chelsey, but more than anything, I wanted to see her. I missed her. My chest had ached with her loss every day, from the moment when she’d first walked out until now, and although the ache had dulled over time, it had never gone away.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure it ever would.
“Training camp begins tomorrow,” Coach Dunn said, rubbing his stubbled jaw. “I expect to see you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Understood?”
There was a chorus of yeses from around the room.
No one wanted to sabotage their position by getting off on the wrong foot.
Hell, I’d played in the NHL for close to ten years, and I still got nervous at the beginning of every season.
After all, a younger, better defenseman could come along at any time.
“Mr. Robertson has something to say, and I need you all to listen carefully. This is important. The team’s future depends on you paying attention, okay?”
I straightened. Holy shit. What was this about?
Coach Dunn stepped aside, and Robertson sauntered over and took his spot. While Robertson barely topped five and a half feet, there was something about him that commanded attention. Perhaps it was the shrewdness of his dark eyes or the confidence that rolled off him in waves.
“Welcome,” Robertson said, his back straight and his Gucci sunglasses propped atop his head. “To those of you who are returning, I hope you enjoyed your time away from the ice. To those of you who are new, I hope you’ll find the Chaos to be a welcoming environment.”
Just a year ago, such a comment would have been laughable.
Now? I wasn’t so sure. “This may come as a shock to many of you because we’ve managed to keep it out of the press, but the commissioner has issued a formal probationary order.
As if the debacle at the end of last season wasn’t enough, there was that fistfight between the former captain and a member of our defensive lineup during the offseason, which went viral on social media. ”
I tried very hard not to look at Drew, the instigator of the fight. In my opinion, our asshole ex-captain deserved everything he’d gotten, but this probationary thing sounded bad. Like the kind of thing that might wipe a team off the map.
“What the probationary order means, essentially, is that we’re being watched very closely.
As part of our rehabilitation, we’re required to allow a documentary crew to interview you and capture footage during training and games in an effort to provide transparency.
At the end of last season, the team’s owner, Joseph Trent, hired a publicist to work directly with the team.
In light of the probation, she’ll be focusing on ensuring that we comply with the commissioner’s positive publicity requirements. ”
My breath caught and I temporarily forgot how to exhale—not because of the documentary, although that could be difficult to navigate, but because I was about to find out one way or another whether it was my Chelsey who’d been hired—or if I’d spent months stressing out over nothing.
“Chelsey Fields comes to us from a baseball team in LA.” He raised his voice and turned toward the door. “Would you come in, please, Chelsey?”
I stared at the doorway, unable to take my eyes off it as a woman stepped into the space and smiled.
It was her.
Oh fuck, it was her.
My head spun and spots danced in front of my eyes. I hauled in a ragged breath, finally remembering to goddamn breathe as I greedily drank up every aspect of her appearance.
She was just as beautiful as I remembered, if not more so.
Her golden-blonde hair glowed over her shoulders and down her front in beachy waves.
She wore a long-sleeved, black, button-up V-neck shirt that showed a hint of her deep cleavage and made her fair skin look like porcelain.
Her delicate features contrasted with plush pink lips, and a camera hung around her neck, just as it always had.
Her sky-blue eyes scanned my teammates, one by one. They flickered briefly when they landed on me, but then she carried on, as if she hadn’t noticed my existence. I supposed I deserved that.
I studied her more closely, wondering what changes time had wrought.
Her upright posture gave her a sense of confidence she didn’t previously have, but other than that, she was unchanged, although her smile wasn’t real.
It didn’t reach her eyes. My Chelsey had always smiled with her whole face.
I hated to think that I might be part of the reason for her disconnected smile now.
“Hi,” Chelsey spoke in her familiar low, melodious voice.
“As Mr. Robertson said, I’m Chelsey. I moved here recently from Los Angeles.
I’m a massive sports fan who grew up watching hockey with my family and friends.
I played at one point, but let’s just say I’m better in the stands than on the ice. ”
I hid a smile. That was one way to put it. I’d played socially with Chelsey back in college and while she was passionate about pretty much every sport, she wasn’t the most coordinated. She looked like she ought to be graceful. She just…wasn’t.
“I’m looking forward to getting to know you all better,” she continued, not fidgeting despite the many large men focused on her. I had no right to feel proud of her, but I did, nonetheless.
I glanced at Coach Dunn and then at Robertson, both of whom were watching us—presumably to determine whether we intended to give them any trouble over this.
Neither of them was looking at me, and I couldn’t help but wonder whether Chelsey had disclosed our former relationship to them when she’d taken the job.
If she had, they weren’t making it obvious.
Chelsey’s gaze swept over us again, and I willed her to meet my eyes. When she didn’t, I cracked my knuckles, dread curling in the pit of my gut.
“We’ll have several projects on the go this season.
To begin with, I’d like to get profiles of each of you up on the website and on major social media platforms. We’ll be arranging to take photos, and I’ll need you each to fill out a short questionnaire, so we can give them a more personal touch.
I think that will go a long way toward capturing the interest of your fans. ”
Beside me, Drew’s scowl deepened. The moody defenseman really hated people prying into his business.
I bumped him with my knee and shot him a look.
I didn’t blame him, but I wouldn’t sit back and let him be rude to Chelsey either.
In fact, if anyone treated her with less than one hundred percent respect, we were going to have a problem.
“We’ll also be arranging some charity fundraisers,” she continued, shifting her weight from one foot to the other and popping her curvy hip out to the side as she warmed up to the topic.
“The probationary order said we have to do at least one significant event this season, but if we do more, it will look even better for the team. I haven’t confirmed what those will be yet, so if there are any particular charities you’d like to support, let me know and we can consider them as options. ”
Jesse Young, the best center on the team—and a total playboy—raised his hand.
“Later, Young,” Coach Dunn said.
Jesse pouted and lowered his hand. I narrowed my eyes at him.
He’d better not be planning to make a move on my girl.
Okay, so she wasn’t my girl. About as far from that as possible.
But Jesse didn’t get to flash his big blue eyes at her and make her fall under his spell.
I’d like to think he wasn’t stupid enough to go after someone affiliated with the team, but given enough tequila, there wasn’t much Jesse wouldn’t do.
Chelsey smiled at him, and this time, it reached her eyes. I fought the urge to follow Drew’s lead and scowl.