Chapter 15
Steven
I’d never felt so damn handled in my entire life.
Stand here.
Pose this way.
Smile.
Don’t smile.
Look angry.
Look happy to be here.
Turn.
Spin.
Let’s see you take a shot.
“Come on,” David, the Hammer, James yelled from across the ice. “Can we get this shit on the road? I have plans tonight and don’t need our resident prima donna interfering.”
“Yeah, I’m with the Hammer,” Kane, the Buzzkill, Canyon said as he shifted back and forth on his skates while remaining in front of the goal.
I took a deep breath, furious that Ansley had put me in this position. I’d gotten an icy reception when I’d walked into the arena for practice. Maybe because there’d been a couple of reporters outside and they’d wanted nothing to do with the rest of the team.
It seemed it was huge news that a big, bad shifter had finally made it into town.
No other sports team here had yet to secure one.
Not football. Not baseball. Definitely not basketball.
Some of our pack elders warned us against playing certain sports.
We wouldn’t be able to hold back the level of adrenaline.
When it mixed with our natural bloodline, often it was a toxic combination where our abilities couldn’t be masked.
At least with hockey the aggression played well with our natural tendencies.
“Alright. That’s enough,” Coach Wagner yelled across the ice. “Let’s see what you’ve got, Beast. Show us why we hired you. And the rest of you. We do it like we practiced before only this time, do it right.”
As we moved into position I could feel several of the teammates tossing me shade. I reminded myself I wasn’t here to make friends. I was the quarterback of the field at the moment and needed to set the tone.
I glanced over my shoulder, reading the play as I anticipated where my teammates were going.
By the time the practice started, I was already in motion. Gliding down the ice, the rush of adrenaline was as raw as it was exciting. I was alive and on fire, blocking out everything else but the moment.
Acting as a pivot in a three-man weave, I dished a crisp pass to the wing before cutting up the middle. This being a five on five scrimmage, I couldn’t stay in one place. I owned the ice, constantly scanning the area to keep up with the puck and the activities of everyone else.
While moving into the dirty areas of the ice, I battled with the defenders in calling for the puck.
I was the one to set the pace, urging the others to be faster. Cleaner.
To press harder.
The sound as the puck slapped against the stick was sweet music. With every move, I felt as one with the ice and the puck. I was fluent, more so than I had been, easily finding a shot seconds later.
The Buzzkill was one of the best goalies in the NHL, at least in my opinion, but he was no match for me today.
I was more energized than I could remember being in a long time. When I stole the puck from Nick, I didn’t need to see his expression of fury. I could feel it whipping through his tense body.
He chased me down the ice, trying to return the favor, but I was too quick. Maybe the truth was that I’d allowed just enough of my wolf to surface to outpace him by twice what I should.
When I scored the second goal without breaking a sweat and threw up my arms in a grandstanding moment, Coach Wagner finally blew the whistle.
“What the fuck was that?” Nick was on me in a flash, offering a hard shove that almost tumbled me to the ice.
I reacted on instinct, throwing myself at him, only the force I used pitched him back by several feet, the man coming down on his ass with a brutal thud. He skidded several feet before coming to a stop.
While jarred enough to shake his head, he was on his feet in a flash, running on his skates toward me.
“Hey!” Coach Wagner yelled as he got in the middle of the two of us. “Enough. Christ. What am I running, a daycare?”
With a smile on my face, I flipped Nick off and he was about to jump over the coach, cheered on by a couple of the guys.
“I said fucking enough!” The coach’s voice bellowed across the ice. “Whatever the hell is wrong with the two of you, suck it up. You’ve just earned yourself forty-five minutes of drills. Get to it.”
I heard a collective groan from a couple of the guys as I leaned over, placing a hand on my knee while cooling down. You bet I’d been on fire and in truth, I had to give credit where it was due.
“Move!” the coach yelled again.
When I stood, I was body checked by three of the team, their shoulders hitting me hard. I could tell the coach was fit to be tied.
I moved away from the others, trying to cool my ass down. A couple of images floated in front of my eyes, which helped.
The woman from the night before. She’d been the catalyst to let go of some anger, using all that testosterone for a much better use.
If only I could secure the opportunity to thank her.
Then again, I’d thought about what Ansley had mentioned.
Was it possible the girl had been using me for some nefarious purpose?
Oh, hell, no. I’d feel her deception in my bones, which I didn’t.
What I did feel was chemistry. Way too much chemistry.
In fact, my hunger was more intense than before, my wolf needing to see her again.
But how in the hell could I see her again without risking blowing my cover? God. I couldn’t believe I’d been so stupid as to lie to her.
“Nice job, Beast. Very nice indeed,” Coach Wagner called. “Now, let’s see if you can keep the momentum going into Saturday. Time for some drills, ladies. You obviously need the repetition.”
Another collective groan could be heard from every player. As with everything else since I’d arrived, it would seem they were eager to lay the blame on me for some extra work.
Hell, I didn’t mind. As the coach said, I needed to keep the momentum going.
We covered the ice, working the drills for a solid forty-five minutes until we were drenched in sweat.
The whistle was blown again and I noticed the photographer had continued taking pictures. Ansley had made good on her promise, sending me a long email of dos and don’ts. Whatever. I was here to play hockey, not turn into the cover story.
So as not to hear their bullshit, I headed to the showers as soon as we were dismissed. At least the practice had gone off without a hitch.
I pushed through the others, heading into the locker room.
“Hey, how was your date?” Danny was going in the opposite direction, his grin a mile wide.
“It was nice.”
“Nice, huh? Did you tell her the truth?”
“I couldn’t do it.”
He whistled and turned around to face me as he passed. “That’s risky, man. I’m going to be at the game on Saturday. Looking forward to watching you crush the competition.”
“Thanks, man.” No pressure. No pressure whatsoever.
With thoughts of the lovely woman, I stripped off my clothes in record time.
I walked into the showers, eager to wash off the sweat.
As I turned on the water, I was struck by the fact I could still gather a whiff of Christine’s perfume.
How was that even possible? I’d had fleeting thoughts of her all day, wondering why I’d been such an oaf and hadn’t gotten her phone number.
Because that would mean confessing my true identity. I could only imagine what she’d say and how she’d react. Nah. It was better this way. She didn’t need to get tangled up with some hockey player.
The other players started filing in, half giving me dirty looks.
Finally, Tony moved to the shower beside me. Until I’d arrived, he’d had his share of notoriety both on and off the ice. Considered a ladies’ man, he enjoyed the limelight more than most.
“You didn’t do too badly today, buddy,” he finally said a few seconds later.
“I guess I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Yeah, well, you should. I don’t mind telling you that when we heard you’d been sent up from the Philly, we were none too happy.”
“So I gathered. I’m just here to do my job. Nothing else.”
“Well, you’ll get one shot. If I were you, I’d make the best of it. We need a win Saturday if we have any hopes of making it to the playoffs.”
“He can’t do it. Not unless he lets his wolf run free.”
“Why don’t you show us, Wolfie. Come on. Let’s see what you’ve got?”
Hearing the jabs from the others, I was about at the point of losing my cool. That’s exactly what they wanted so I’d be tossed off the team.
With my patience waning, I turned off the water.
The six men just standing in the showers were ready to goad me further.
“Hey, Masters. The Zamboni guy is waiting outside to see you. He says it’s urgent.”
I glanced at the Hammer, finally nodding. What in the hell could be so urgent? Grabbing a towel, I quickly dried off before wrapping it around my waist. As soon as I headed into the corridor, Danny was all over me.
“You have a visitor,” Danny said, keeping his voice down.
“Who?”
“Someone who thinks you’re me.”
“Ah, fuck.” I leaned against the wall. “What did you say to her?”
“That I didn’t know if you were here. What do you want me to say to her? She seemed insistent she talk with you.”
Wouldn’t you know that at least two of the guys were paying close attention to what I was doing. “Where is she?”
“She’s waiting near the mechanical room. I don’t know, man. I think you’re going to need to tell her the truth.”
“Alright. Tell her you found me. I’ll be right there.”
“What if she comes looking for you?”
“Stall. Do whatever it takes.” Fuck. What in the hell had I managed to get myself in the middle of? I had to tell her the truth before things got further out of hand. Besides, if there was a wayward reporter hanging around, I’d be approached in a heartbeat.
“What’s up?” Nick, the Dreamboat, asked. He was the nosiest of the group of men, sniffing around as if eager to learn all my darkest secrets.
“A friend stopped by. That’s it.”
“Ah. Well, at least you have friends. I heard you were as good as your brother. I guess people were wrong.” He laughed and so did a couple of the others.