29. Colton
COLTON
There was nothing, nothing at all, like the sounds of blades on the ice first thing in the morning.
I blew into my whistle and shouted over the boys’ heads. “Again!”
I watched them sprint in their blades down the ice, wrapping back around at the drop of a hat.
It didn’t shock me one bit when Jett whooped everyone’s asses by pulling out ahead and staying ahead.
Good. We needed our sniper to be quick on his feet.
Moose? Our goalie? Hell of a marksman. If I could train up one of these guys to be a backup goalie, he’d make a fucking phenomenal defense for his own goal.
I jotted down notes as I blew into my whistle. “Again!”
Groans were heard from some of the boys, and I lifted my eyes from my clipboard. “Do I hear bellyaching!?”
“No, Coach!” the boys huffed as they jumped into yet another sprint.
I stared them down and blew into my whistle. “Again!”
Skates sheered across the ice, kicking up shavings. The wind of their bodies fluttered my windbreaker jacket as they moved with speed. Not all of them were graceful, but that was something we could work on. What we needed for our opening game was speed.
After all, the Minnesota Daredevils were a bunch of big boy weight pumpers.
If we could outskate them, we’d win just fine.
I pulsed my whistle three times, signaling our cooldown time. The guys skated over, heaving for air. I watched Rhett move to place his hands on his knees before I walked over to him in my rubber-soled boots, shoving my hand against his chest, and forced him upright.
“No collapsing the chests! You pass out, you don’t play!” I barked.
“Yes, Coach!” the guys exclaimed.
Breathlessly, but they gave it their all, nonetheless.
“All riiiiight!” I barked as I moved away and clapped my hands above my head. “All right, all right! Now this is what a winning team looks like! Now get off the ice and into the locker room. It’s time for stretches and announcements.”
The guys beamed with pride, and not a single one of them collapsed into themselves with a need for air by the time I spat the words out.
We all shuffled off the ice, and I kept my eyes on my clipboard, finalizing everyone’s starting positions for tomorrow night’s big game.
The entire city talked about it. The Hideout ran drink specials all fucking week because of it.
The casino hotels on the Strip had Vipers promos running on their marquees.
You couldn’t walk a block without seeing someone in a jersey.
Vegas had decided to show up for this one, and that meant I couldn’t let anyone down.
We couldn’t afford it.
We had to win this game.
We had to kick off the season right.
I clapped my hands as I followed up the boys into the locker room. “All right, everyone! Out of those skates, off with those jerseys and practice pads, and I want your feet shoulder-width apart.”
Jett grinned. “Think we don’t know how to stretch, Coach?”
I quipped back as I looked down at my clipboard. “If your lack of hamstring flexibility is any indication, yes.”
Jett barked with laughter as the locker room fell apart in a cacophony of sounds that forced my whistle back into my mouth. I pulsed it three times, allowing the ear-screeching sound to bounce off the very acoustic walls of the locker room.
“Feet! Shoulder-width apart!” I barked.
All of them moved in tandem, fixing their feet with their hands clasped behind their back in a formal team stance I’d drilled into them this week. Just because we were fighting for respect in this league didn’t mean we held ourselves to anything less than a championship standard.
I drew in a deep breath as I stood in the middle of the ring they’d made around me. “Hands! Toes! Now!”
I walked them through fifteen minutes of cool-down stretching.
The last thing we needed was one of these fuckers pulling something at the last minute.
I wasn’t an idiot. I knew that some would stick around for the weight room.
Others would probably get back out on the ice.
So, instead of trying to dampen their hardworking spirits, I simply made sure they’d be safe.
Well, as safe as I could keep them.
“Hands! Air! Now!
“Knees! Out! Bend over!
“Lean forward! Don’t lock those knees! I know you can stretch further than that, Jett! Let’s stop disappointing those girls!”
The locker room fell apart in laughter, and I couldn’t help the grin that tugged its way across my face. Jett’s laughter bellowed over everyone’s heads, and I pulsed my whistle three times as they all covered their ears.
“All right,” I said as I leveled out my voice.
The boys slowly slipped their hands down off their ears before they gathered themselves back onto their feet.
I drew in a deep breath. “Tomorrow’s the big day.
The day where everyone expects us to take the ice and lose with grace so that the The Hideout can run drink specials everyone can drown themselves in.
” I stared into each and every one of the pairs of eyes staring back at me.
And that’s when my voice mounted as I clapped my hand against my clipboard.
“So, get some rest for tomorrow before we show them why they’re running full prices on those fucking drinks tomorrow! ”
“Yeeeeeeeeah!” the team cheered.
Lockers slammed and helmets crashed against the benches as the guys whooped and hollered and cheered.
I tucked my clipboard beneath my arm as I watched the team cheer their way out of the locker room.
Jett pointed at me before he left, and I just shook my head as he disappeared after tossing me one of the many cheeky winks he seemed to give everyone around him.
I’d have to keep my eye on that boy.
“I’m serious!” I barked at them as they all funneled out of the locker room. “If any of you are at a bar, or restaurant, or fucking around when you should be resting for this game tomorrow? You’ll be benched. So go home and rest up!”
“Yes, Coach!” they all bellowed down the hallway in unison.
And just as Rhett trickled out of the locker room, always the last to leave, his words caused me to whip around.
“Heeeeey, Bry,” Rhett said in that lilt of his.
“Lookin’ good, Em!” Jett chirped from somewhere down the hallway. “You should wear that dress more often!”
“Thanks, Jett!”
I ground my teeth together. “Home! Showered! Now!”
“Yes, Coach!” the team responded as they continued scattering down the hallway.
But when Brynn rounded the corner to come into the locker room, I realized Jett was right. Fucking hell, the sundress she had on clung to every single part of her that I had memorized the other night.
I licked my lips as she approached me with that earth-shattering smile on her face. “Sounds like practice went well.”
I dropped my clipboard at my feet, scooping her into my arms just so I could feel her against me.
With the team chattering up a fucking storm, the sound fading as they moved out of the stadium, I crashed my lips to hers.
Stealing her breath. Stealing her warmth.
Stealing everything about her just so I could incorporate it into me.
Her tongue laved against mine. Her hands slid up my chest, gripping my windbreaker as she tugged me closer.
I tilted my head to the side, wanting just a smidge more of her as she stood onto her tiptoes just to get closer to me.
“Couldn’t wait until tomorrow night to see me?” I asked as I broke our kiss and smirked down at her.
She swatted at my chest playfully. “Oh, now you ask questions instead of demanding answers.”
My head fell back with laughter, but the next voice I heard wasn’t Brynn.
“The team ready for tomorrow, Coach?” Victoria asked.
I had just enough time to release Brynn from my grasp before Victoria’s heels moved off the carpet of the hallway and into the tile of the locker room. Usually, I heard her coming before that. Well before that. She walked with a heavy cantor, as if she wanted the world to know she was on her way.
“More than ready,” I said with a nod of my head as I quickly snatched my clipboard up from the floor at my feet.
Victoria’s eyes followed my movement before Brynn cleared her throat. “I watched their practice.”
“You did?” I asked, snapping my attention to her.
Brynn continued looking at her mother, though. “They’re more than ready. They’re more ready than they’ve ever been, Mom.”
Her praise hit me somewhere I wasn’t expecting. Something in my chest shifted. Felt bigger. Not that I never felt that way. It’s just…
Damn it, I was so fucked in the best of ways with this woman.
“Uh huh,” Victoria said as she dragged her eyes down my body. But when she moved her attention to Brynn, she smiled softly. “Good. Glad to hear it. See you two at the game.”
Brynn took the smallest step closer to me. “See you at the game, Mom.”
With one last glance in my direction, Victoria turned on her heels and clip-clopped her way out of the locker room. And just as I heaved a heavy sigh…
“Heeeeey, Miss C,” I heard Rhett say.
“Stone!” I bellowed out his nickname. “Shut it and go home! If I see you in that weight room, you’re benched for the season!”
The stragglers from the team lost themselves in laughter as Rhett poked his head back into the locker room.
He wiggled his eyebrows, and I cocked my clipboard back like I was about to throw it at him.
Brynn grabbed my wrist just as Rhett ducked out of the locker room, cackling as he rushed down the hallway.
I just chuckled and shook my head as I let Brynn lower my wrist.
It brought my attention back to the only person I wanted to give it to. “So, you watched us practice?”
She shrugged. “Can’t a girl come visit her man at work?”
Something akin to a growl bubbled up the back of my throat and died at the roof of my mouth. I liked how that sounded. No, not like. Love.
I fucking relished how her calling me her man sounded.
I scooped her back against my chest again until she threaded her arms around my neck.
“But if you really must know, I came in this morning with Mom to help her with some paperwork and filing. We’re hiring a new maintenance man for the stadium, and she wanted me to help her go through the second round of applications now that she’d whittled them down. ”
I pressed a kiss to her forehead before tucking her beneath my arm. “Sounds like a plan.”
“What does?” she asked as she walked alongside me.
“Food.”
“Food?”
I nodded. “Yup. Sounds like we’ve both been working hard. Let’s go get some food.”
The way she tucked herself against me stuck in my chest like a brand. “How does pasta sound?”
Anything with you. “Perfect.”