You Had Me at Hockey (Bears Hockey #2) - Kelly Jamieson Page 0,31
then takes one at the far end of the table.
My gut heats. Whatever. Fine with me.
It’s not his job to make me feel welcome, I guess. The other guys are good. I just feel weird that we’re both trying to avoid each other without being obvious about it.
Flying to Winnipeg is fun. I get to see my family and they’re all there to watch the game, so I want to play well. And I think I do, but we still lose. Our power play sucks. Coach Meknikov isn’t happy about it, but we’re lucky he’s not throwing skates at our heads, as their old coach apparently used to do. Holy shit.
Then Coach Shipton joins us on the road. It’s not the best timing for meeting the new coach. We have a short flight from Winnipeg to Minneapolis on Thursday, and we have a team meeting that afternoon in the hotel.
“Obviously I’m not going to take this team to a whole new level right away,” he tells us. “I’m not going to start making a lot of changes. I have things to learn about this team and about you guys, and that’s what my first priority is right now.”
We’re thrown right into it that night, with him managing the bench, and it’s different, but somehow we pull out a win. Maybe we’re all motivated to try a little harder to impress the new coach. We won battles in the corners, played solidly in our own end, and gave Gunner some badly needed support in net.
We lost in Columbus, but we played well. Their goalie was insane.
Now we’re back in town, it’s Saturday morning, and we’re having another team meeting.
And I’m being put on the number one power play team.
That’ll be me along with forwards Bergie, JBo, and Easton. Millsy, everyone else calls him. Great.
So much for not making any changes. And no pressure on me at all. Obviously our new coach thinks we need to change things up. As he talks about it in the meeting, Millsy sits there with his arms crossed, his face grim. I guess I know how he feels about this move. JBo and Bergie are more open, nodding.
“We have to have a threat on the blue line,” Coach says. “Josh’s shot is like a howitzer. Plus he has a right-handed shot that should work well with Bergie being the hub.”
He goes over some plays on the whiteboard and I focus on that rather than Millsy’s sour expression. If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do my best. I mean, I always do my best, but sometimes you need to really prove yourself. I’m new here and I want these guys to know I can do this. I especially want Millsy to know I can do this.
I’m a warrior.
After the meeting, I work out, finishing with a massage from Jack, our massage therapist. I’m kind of banged up after the last few games and those shots I blocked, so it feels great to have him dig his strong hands into my tight muscles.
Then I head to the hotel to get ready for my date.
I’m sick of this hotel already. It’s really nice, but it’s not home.
I’ve made the dinner reservation for five. Fire Tastes and Taps is a more casual place but apparently has great food. I’m wearing jeans this time, with a button-down shirt left untucked and a casual sport jacket over it.
This time I pay the taxi driver since we can walk to the restaurant from Sara’s. It’s not even that cold today. The doorman sends me up to Sara’s apartment and she opens her door to let me in.
Christ, she’s pretty.
As usual, her hair is down, long, wild, and wavy. She too is wearing jeans, dark skinny ones that hug her long legs, rolled to just above her flat ankle boots, and topped with a long-sleeved, silky, leopard-print blouse. The V opening dips daringly low between her breasts but shows nothing but smooth skin.
“Hey,” she says in her smoky voice. “How are you?”
“Good. Great. Especially now.” My gaze moves over her. “You look amazing.”
“Thank you! You too. Let me grab my purse and my coat.”
I wander farther into the living room while she disappears into her bedroom, returning with a small bag. She pulls her beige faux-fur coat out of the closet and I move behind her to help her into it.
“You’re such a gentleman,” she says, flipping her hair out from under the coat. “Thank you.”