sip of his coffee while I dug into my breakfast. “Five goals in the first two games and leading the Cougars into back-to-back victories is a great start to the season.”
“Up until the third period, I wasn’t sure we’d be able to pull off the win on Saturday,” I admitted with a shake of my head. “It felt like the net had a forcefield in front of it most of the game.”
“Their goalie had an excellent game,” he agreed. “Which makes getting the puck past him twice as much of an accomplishment.”
“Yeah, it felt damn good to score against him.” My lips kicked up in a small grin as I pointed at my half-empty plate. “But I don’t think I can take all the credit for how well I’m playing lately. Like you said, meals like this are keeping me fueled to play at a whole new level.”
“I have only given you a few tools that the rest of the boys on your team have always had.” He pointed at me with his index finger. “You’re the one who has leveraged them to their fullest extent.”
“I’d call it a fuck of a lot more than a few tools, but I won’t argue about me making the most of what you’ve provided.” A couple of players on the team who were great skaters with solid stick handling skills had pissed me off more than a few times during practices when they’d half-assed it. I didn’t get their attitudes. They were good enough to possibly play past high school, but they didn’t want to put in the work to make it happen. But I guess if someone had a trust fund to fall back on, they didn’t need to worry about making shit happen for themselves the same way I did.
“I noticed Emmeline was in the stands with her friends on Saturday.”
I grinned down at my plate, remembering my conversation with her on Friday night. “Yeah, after I explained how superstitious hockey players are, she said she’d come and be my good luck charm.”
“I suppose that I’m technically in the best position to offer you advice since I’m your foster parent, but I hadn’t really thought about how that would apply when it came to you and dating.” He leaned back in his seat and sighed. “I was too focused on making sure you had everything you needed to succeed with hockey and as a student at Black Mountain Academy. I should have realized girls would be a potential issue to tackle as well.”
There was no denying William had done a fuck of a lot for me, but no way in hell was I going to let him warn me off Emmeline if that was where this conversation was headed. My back straightened, and I set down my fork and knife. “I’m almost eighteen. It’s a little late for the birds and the bees talk.”
“What?” William shook his head, his eyes going wide. “That’s not what I meant at all, but now that you mention it—I suppose I should make sure you have condoms. The last thing you need is an accidental teenage pregnancy derailing your plans for college and professional hockey.”
“Emmeline just started talking to me this weekend after avoiding me since the first day of school,” I bit out, my jaw clenched even while my dick hardened. I didn’t appreciate him making the assumption that Emmeline was the kind of girl who would jump straight into bed with me, but my cock couldn’t help but react to the mental image of me wrapping up before sinking inside her tight heat.
“Sorry. It’s a hazard of the job that I tend to look at situations from the bigger picture in an attempt to limit surprises. I didn’t mean to make any assumptions.” He held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “What I should have said was Emmeline is a sweet girl. Smart, too. You could certainly do much worse than her if you decide to date someone while you’re at Black Mountain Academy. I just hope a new relationship won’t distract you from your goals.”
I bent forward and leaned my elbows on the table. “You know all the shit I’ve gone through since my mom died, and I never let any of that stop me. Do you really think I’m going to start now? With something that has the chance to be really good for me after all the bad?”
“I suppose not, but relationships can be tricky,” he warned.
I bit