Chapter 5 #3
“In Mississippi we watched game tape on the most ancient monitor,” Enzo said, laughing. “You know the old tube style TVs on a cart? Like the ones teachers used to roll in to watch movies at school? I swear to God, we didn’t even have a flatscreen.”
“This is much nicer than what we had in New York,” I assured him. Every other team I’d been on had watched game tape in a basic conference room. Andrew Knight’s insistence on showing off struck again.
“Okay boys, I hope you like what you saw in here,” Duke Olsen said, stepping to the front of the room. “The owner is running a little bit late, so I’m going to introduce you to your coach, Wayne Dillion.”
A surly looking man with a shiny bald head and a barrel chest joined him.
“A few of you worked with me in Atlanta and you know my style,” he said in a raspy voice that hinted at a two-pack-a-day habit.
“For the rest of you, you’ll figure it out pretty quick.
I want hard work and I don’t like a lot of back talk.
” He looked around the room at us, his scowl growing.
Then he sighed. “We’ve got our work cut out for us. ”
“Wow,” Jay muttered. “Pearls of inspiration from our fearless leader.”
I turned my head to agree with him and the words died in my throat. Andrew Knight was standing in the doorway to the film room. And next to him stood Grace.
“Well, she looks familiar,” Jay said, amusement in his voice, but I barely registered it.
I was too busy staring at Gracie. If she was feeling the effects of her drinking the night before, you’d never be able to guess.
She was looking bright- eyed and rested, her curly hair pulled up in a messy bun on top of her head.
Her denim skirt was tight on her curvy little frame, the flowy sleeveless top she wore showing off gold-tinged skin that I immediately wanted to touch.
My dick twitched at the mere sight of her.
God, how did she still affect me so strongly, after all these years?
“Who the fuck is that?” the guy next to Ryan Cane asked quietly, and I had to fight back the growl that rose in my chest at his clearly interested tone.
For once in my life, I was relieved to hear Andrew Knight’s voice, because it meant I wouldn’t have to listen to whatever response Cane gave his friend.
I didn’t think I could handle hearing the two of them talk about Gracie the way they had been talking about Skylar throughout the tour.
I’d been tempted to call them out, but I didn’t want to embarrass her any further.
I was going to have to have words with them in private, though—it was abundantly clear after twenty minutes in their company that the two assholes had not progressed to behavior beyond that of a middle schooler.
“Good morning,” Knight was saying at the front of the room, and I tried to tear my gaze from Grace to look at him. She hadn’t seemed to notice me yet, or maybe she was purposefully avoiding me, but either way, my eyes wanted to get their fill while I had the chance.
“I hope you’ve all found the facilities adequate,” he continued, and I saw more than a few incredulous looks in the room. Adequate is not the word I would use to describe this place.
“I want you all to know that it’s my intention to make this team as successful as it can possibly be.
” There was some grumbling at that, probably from the bitter guys who’d stuck around since Atlanta, but Andy ignored it.
“I know it won’t be easy. We have some challenges right off the bat.
Several of you have been through the ringer with everything that happened with the team’s previous situation.
But I know we can work together to have a fresh start here in Austin. ”
“Fat fucking chance,” Ryan Cane muttered.
Knight must have heard it, because he fixed Cane with a flinty glare that was so familiar to me, I almost laughed. Andy had glared at me over a face-off circle more times than I could count.
He continued on, his voice a little harder now, eyes still set on Cane.
“You all should know that I don’t make these kinds of investments lightly.
” He let his gaze drift across the rest of us.
“You’ll find me to be a hands-on owner. I’ve been working closely with our management team since day one and I’ll continue to do so.
I plan to do everything within my power to make this team successful. ”
He glanced over to the interim GM. “Duke is going to tell you about some staffing decisions we’ve made and go over the schedule for the next few days.
After that we’ve catered lunch for you in the lounge.
I hope you take the chance to socialize with your new teammates and get to know each other a little bit before camp.
Management and myself will be around if you have any questions or issues to address. ”
My eyes shot back to Grace. Was she going to be joining us for lunch as well?
But Andrew’s next words distracted me from that train of thought.
“One last thing. Duke, Wayne and I have been discussing team leadership, and we wanted to let you know that we’ve chosen a captain and two alternates.
These positions are particularly important on this team this year.
Most of you are experiencing a pretty big transition.
We have a lot of young guys on the roster.
Your captains are all veteran players with years of experience between them.
Rely on these guys. Ask questions. If you’re having any issues, talk to them first.”
His eyes scanned the room. “Your alternate captains are going to be Gabriel Dalton and Jason Briggs.” I felt Jay go absolutely still beside me.
Before I could process how shocking that announcement was, Andrew’s eyes landed directly on me.
“Your captain is going to be Liam O’Conner. I have every faith he’ll lead you well.”
As I stood there gaping at him, the side of Andrew’s mouth drew up just a fraction, as if he was holding back a smirk.
How many times had I seen him smirk at me, exactly like that?
And now he was wearing that old cocky expression that always made me want to punch him right in the face while standing in front of the team he owned, telling me that I was going to be captain.
Before I could even wrap my mind around how crazy that was, Andy turned and left the room, Grace following right behind him. But just before she was out of sight, I saw her glance back at me over her shoulder, her wide green eyes looking just as surprised by her brother’s decision as I was.