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He walked away, and my grin increased. I’d heard about Cal Holt the last few years. Who hadn’t? He’d been aggressive and a total headcase when he started out. He’d turned it around, recently got married, and made life in the NHL seem possible. It wasn’t some far-out, unknown future. He played hard, had a life.
Maybe I did have some questions. Like, how often did he go home? Was he able to afford supporting someone else? What was different from college hockey to the NHL? What was harder?
Damn. Reiner was right.
I knocked on his door, a small blip of nerves overtaking me as I walked in. He stared at a whiteboard with a play scribbled on it, and the second I neared him, he pointed his pen at me.
“What do you think our biggest weakness is?”
The answer came to me immediately. “Power plays and defensive zone coverage.”
“Why?”
“Are these trick questions? Do you want me to answer honestly?”
“Yes.”
“To which one, sir?”
His lips twitched. “Smart-ass. What’s your take? You’ve only scrimmaged with us and seen tapes.”
“Correct—I’ve also played against you.” I went to the board and pointed at one of the symbols. “The team has no chemistry or coordination together. If they played as a team and not as individuals, it’d be different.”
Jonah Daniels stood at the doorway, one eyebrow lifted. “Do you not know how to do your job anymore? You had two beers last night. That’s it.”
“If you took your job as team unity better, I wouldn’t have to ask Theo here.”
“Lies.” JD snorted. “That’s not my role, and you know it. What everyone needs is to get lost in the woods and bond and shit.”
“We’re gonna scrimmage, and every single person is gonna play a different position. Losing team cleans the other teams’ lockers.” Reiner pinched his nose. “You make any progress with Hawthorne yet?”
My face heated. “No, sir.”
“Why not? I asked you to, didn’t I?”
“You did, Coach, but?—”
“I don’t care.” Reiner’s eyes narrowed. “You’re the missing piece this year. We all know it. I need you to get him on board. It’s either that, or his future in hockey might end sooner than he thinks.”
The small, ever-present knot in my stomach doubled. I really didn’t like Quentin, but if he got kicked off the hockey team, that would devastate Audrey. She said his scholarship was key for them, and she carried the financial burden, so if he lost that… it’d fall on her. I shook my head, a new motivation hooking itself in me. I couldn’t do that to her. I refused. “Okay, Coach.”
“What position would you put everyone into switch it up, shake things around?”
We spent the next hour going over possibilities, and two of the other guys on the team joined us. Liam was the goalie, and Hannigan was the junior forward who was faster than me. They were chill as fuck, and when they asked me to head to the party that night, I couldn’t say no. Not after Reiner wanted me to focus on the team.
I just had to call my dad.
“What do you mean you won’t be home?” he asked, an hour later. “I wanted to run into town?—”
“Dad. I have team stuff. I can’t get out of it.” My patience zapped immediately. “I’m home every night.”
“As you should be. Your family needs you, and now I’ll have to rearrange my entire schedule for this.” He sighed, and I gritted my teeth together. “You need to be better at communicating this stuff with me.”
“You realize I can’t do this when the season starts? Or when I move to Minnesota next year? Who will help you then?”
“I know you think the NHL is the path for you, but I’m not sure anymore. You’ll be far away from us. Plus, being in healthcare is more respectable and would let you be near us more.” His voice grew hard. “Your mother wanted you to do this. She wants you close. You can’t do this to her.”
My throat clogged as I fought with myself. There were a million things I wanted to say, all pointing out he was fucking wrong and selfish. My mom always told me to fly, to be myself, to get the hell out of this town. She’d be cheering me on the loudest. My dad was using her to keep me here to help him.
