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“Do you hear yourself?” I laughed and stood up. “I respect Reiner, so I agreed to mentor you and be named captain.”
Quentin paled at that. Good. He didn’t know that news. I liked surprising him.
“But you need to pull your head out of your ass. You’re entitled, and I don’t understand why. You’re not the fastest or the biggest or the toughest on this team. If you think you are, you’ll never play anywhere but this rink again. You have all the right skills, but you’re not mature enough to grow.”
“Who the fuck do you think you are saying that to me when you took me out for a season? Do you know how hard I worked to get here? How much I needed this place to escape the hell at home?”
“We all have our own versions of hell, Quentin, and the day you realize it’s not a competition of who had it tougher will be the day you make real friends.” I shook my head. “I know you think you’re gonna get revenge on me somehow, but injuring me won’t help you in the slightest. You should be focusing on improving your game and grades. Do you have a backup plan if hockey doesn’t pan out?”
“I don’t need a backup plan.”
“There’s another error on your part. Injuries happen all the time in this sport. I could be taken out game one, and I still have a life waiting for me.”
“Yeah, being a nurse is a real life.” He rolled his eyes, like the jab was meant for me.
“Speak like that again about your fucking sister, and I’ll break your other ankle.” My voice came out quiet, somehow the threat more than a yell. Quentin paled and held up his hands.
“This has nothing to do with Audrey! I’d never?—”
“You made fun of nurses, who are the backbone of our health care system. Your sister is the best in the cohort, so when you talk shit about them, you talk shit about her.”
He blinked, his dumb mouth parting as his brows furrowed, but I kept going. “I’d think with what happened to your dad, you’d have more respect for nurses. Unless your insult was just about a male being a nurse because if so, we’re done. And you might imagine the team will have your back, but my stats speak for themselves. I’m a good teammate, and after one game with me, they’ll all turn on you. Now, if Reiner asks, our first mentoring session is over.”
Ooo boy.
My hands shook from adrenaline, and I needed to go for a jog to get rid of the weirdness from that chat. Fuck. That was not how I envisioned being a mentor to a punk ass kid, but he was so ungrateful and full of himself. How was Audrey so kind and selfless and Quentin the opposite? I rubbed my temples, regret clogging my throat as I thought about the fallout. Reiner would be pissed. Audrey would be upset. Even though I was looking forward to seeing her tomorrow, I’d just have to prepare myself for Audrey to be cold to me again. After seeing her smiles and jokes, I really didn’t want to go back to indifference.
Audrey stood outside the hospital holding two cups of coffee. Her hair was pulled back, out of her face, and her light blue scrubs were tucked in. She looked like a real nurse, and she seemed happy. Her version of happy though. Her eyes were wide, and her gaze kept darting as workers walked in. Fifteen minutes before seven meant a lot of shift changes.
“Theo, hi,” she said, her lips curving up on the sides. “I brought you coffee. Uh, I didn’t know what type.”
Shit. Was she blushing? She clearly had no idea what happened with her brother, but I really liked how she stared at me. “Coffee for me? Auds. Get outta here. You must’ve poisoned it.”
“What? No.” She blinked.
“I’m teasing.” I winked, and our fingers slid together as she handed me the to-go cup. “Figured you were so jealous of how I looked in scrubs, you wanted to take out the competition.”
She scoffed, but her gaze softened. “I wouldn’t be that obvious, Sanders.”
A warm, pleasant sensation formed in my belly when she looked at me like that and had that snarky tone. Audrey had snark to her, and I appreciated it. We walked toward the door when it hit me. “You were waiting for me?”
She stared at the floor and shrugged one shoulder. “Yeah. Figured if we’re partners it would be nice to walk in together.”
“So sweet.” I nudged my hip against hers. “Never let anyone tell you that you’re not the sweetest, kindest?—”
“Enough.” She snorted. “I already regret it.”
A bubble of anticipation flowed through me as we neared the head nursing station to check in. I wished I could text my mom for encouragement or hear her joke around about all the shit I’d see. Literally. Despite having my whole hockey career set out for me, the thought of making a difference like this mattered so much to me.
“We got this, Sanders.” Her tone turned serious.
“Yeah, we do.” I sipped the coffee as our eyes met, and her nerves were clearer now. Was I nervous? Hell yeah. But I had pre-game jitters for a decade and knew to embrace the chaos, welcome the flutters. Audrey might not have that to fall back on, and I set the cup down with the intent to grab her hand but stopped myself. She might hate that even though I wanted to feel her skin.
“Use the nerves to your advantage. Those flutters in your gut? That means your body is paying attention. Your senses are heightened. You see things differently. It means we’re alive.”
She sucked in a breath, her eyes widening as she stared at me, and I said to hell with it. I squeezed her hand, her soft skin like a flicker of flames. “You’re the best in our class and ask all the right questions. Do that here.”
She blinked. “Thank you, Theo. I-I needed that.”
