Chapter 30
thirty
. . .
Aidan
I’m in the middle of my day-off workout when Coach appears in the threshold of the weight room. There are only a few guys in here, but when his eyes linger on me, I know this isn’t good.
“I need to talk to you,” he says.
“Yes, Coach.” I rerack the bar I’m deadlifting. “Now?”
He grunts, turning on his heel and striding from the room.
Okay, so I guess we’re meeting now.
Wiping the sweat off my brow, I follow him to his office. And when he closes the door behind me, my heart falls to the pit of my stomach.
I sink into the chair opposite his desk, and Coach folds his hands and stares at me, lips pursed.
He found out about the shower incident. I’m going to be benched. Or worse, he’s stripping the captaincy from me. I haven’t been producing on the ice, and I’ve been a terrible role model, and—
“Are you okay?” he finally says.
That’s when I realize I’m shaking.
“Just tell me.”
“I wanted to check in,” he says. “I heard there was an altercation in the locker room the other day.”
I gulp. He knows.
“I’m sorry about that. We set a bad example.”
“Cecilia Ramos is a board member.”
I can’t read his tone, though it’s clear he’s not happy. His forehead is creased, his expression inscrutable.
“I know.”
Fuck. I’m so screwed.
Coach frowns. “Everything is… okay?”
“Is that a question?”
“She followed you into a players-only area.”
“It won’t happen again.”
He sighs. “MacGregor. Did she coerce you? Force herself on you?”
I freeze. “What?”
“We can remove her from the board and the helmet project. You deserve to feel safe at work. Safe, period.”
“Ceci and I are dating,” I squeak out.
“That doesn’t mean—”
I shake my head, cutting him off. “She followed me because I was upset.” I don’t mention she was inadvertently the cause of my distress. “I’m very happy with her. She’s not sexually harassing me, for fuck’s sake.”
When he frowns again, I gulp.
“Sir.”
“You can understand my concern,” Coach says gruffly.
“I do. Absolutely, I do. And I appreciate your checking. We get fetishized enough by the media and our fans. But Ceci and I are together. Everything is consensual and above board. I… I really like her.”
His eyes soften. “Good. You could use a woman like her in your life.”
I choke on a sputter. Coach is known for being a hard-ass with everyone—except his daughter.
He didn’t react well when Audrey first started dating our goalie, taking it out on Henry.
Over the last few years, as they’ve married and had their daughter, he’s mellowed toward his son-in-law.
Still holds him to a high standard. Treats him like any other player.
“I’m really lucky to have her,” I finally manage.
He sits back in his chair. “This does complicate things, though.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “Oh?”
“She’s on the board. There are fraternization policies in force.”
“There has to be some declaration we can sign.” I know Hailey and Ryan had to disclose their relationship due to her board involvement. “Maybe we should have been up front about it, but we’re still new. Very, very new.”
Coach waves it away. “I’ll reach out to HR and get the paperwork ready for you. She isn’t the first board member to be involved with a player. Or staff member.”
Right. Larsson is married to Vanessa. McKittrick and Amelia are together. Mitchell is engaged to Dr. Whitney. Hell, my sister is engaged to Ryan, and she’s on the board too.
No, we’re certainly not the first, and I’m sure we won’t be the last.
“Thanks, Coach.”
He clears his throat. “There’s something else I need to talk to you about.”
My stomach sinks. This is it. He’s going to strip the captaincy. We weren’t honest about what we’re doing, and now he can’t trust me.
“Sinclair,” he says.
Oh.
Whew.
Not about me.
Way to be self-centered, asshole.
Instead of chastising myself, I focus on the situation at hand and not the made-up problems in my head.
“I think he’s doing better,” I manage.
“He still hasn’t told you what’s going on?”
I shake my head. “Only that he started working with the therapist Dr. Liz found him.”
The defenseman dodges every question I ask. I don’t want to pry, but I also want to make sure he’s okay. And if he’s not, that he’s working on fixing that. Whether it’s talk therapy or medication or both, he deserves a bit of stability.
“He’s concerned about his spot on the roster,” I add.
“That’s not a concern for us,” Coach replies. “If he needs time away, we’ll handle that as needed. But you can assure him he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”
“The trade deadline is coming up.” Only six more weeks away. It’s been on my mind more than ever. That they’ll be so fed up with my lack of leadership, they’ll ship me out for someone younger, faster, stronger.
He shakes his head. “I can’t speak for the GM, but frankly, Sinclair has another year on his contract after this. If anything were to happen, it would be in the offseason or next year. With his stats, he’s too valuable to trade right now.”
I purse my lips. “And… the rest of the squad?”
“You can see we’re in a bit of a rebuild,” Coach says.
“Unless we have a massive slew of injuries”—he knocks on his wooden desk—“I don’t foresee any massive changes to the team composition.
The GM wants to shore up our prospect squad first. I can’t say it will be like this forever.
Eventually, we need to make changes. But I don’t see that happening anytime soon. ”
“I don’t want to leave,” I whisper, my throat tight. “I know my stats are in the toilet, but—”
“MacGregor,” he barks, and I flinch. With a sigh, he continues, “You’re so fucking hard on yourself. Relax. Breathe for a minute. I just said we’re not making large-scale changes.”
“But—”
That doesn’t mean they can’t demote me. I’m not pulling my weight. I know it. And once they recognize that…
Coach frowns. “You’re part of our plans for the future.”
I blink. Then I blink again.
“What?”
“You’re not going anywhere. Not if I have my say,” he states. “Management likes what they see from you. Yeah, there might be some things we can do differently. But you’re a central part of this team. That isn’t going to change.”
A warm burst of contentment lodges itself deep in my chest.
“You mean that?”
Coach nods. “Yeah, MacGregor. You’re our future.”