Page 45 of Scoring Chance

I held up the shirt with the Cougar logo on the chest and shoulder. Under the logo said ‘Team Trainer’ and I may have teared up. Even though this was most likely a temporary position, I couldn't help but feel like I’d hit a milestone. All the work, stress, and drama that it took to get here was paying off.

15

Derrek

She wasn’t here. I scanned the Pride’s section over and over, but I wasn’t missing her. She wasn’t here tonight. I ached for my phone. Was she okay? Had something happened?

She hadn’t missed a game yet, so where was she?

I wanted to ask the guys if they heard anything, but I doubted Coach would appreciate me distracting them with a personal question. I’d have to wait for the period to end.

Malkin’s line came toward the bench, and I reached forward, opening the door for them. I got a few smiles and nodded back. Things today were night and day from the past year. The guys joked with me, rather than making me the butt of it all. No one took a cheap shot at me or threw insults as they passed. It was what being on a team was supposed to feel like. I never would have dreamed this was what would happen when I extended the olive branch.

It was a risk inviting them over last night, but after pizza and some video games, things got easy. It was like all the guys had been waiting for me to make a move. Once they saw that I wasn’t trying to be an arrogant jerk, everyone relaxed. By the end of the night we were laughing and roasting each other while racing cartoon go-karts.

It wasn’t just me inviting them over. I changed recently. Between talking to Coach Abrams and Amelia, I realized I had to stop playing the victim and prove to the guys I wanted to be there. I had growing up I needed to do, and even though it was humbling, the results were worth it. I couldn’t wait to tell Amelia about it. Another reason why I was itching to figure out where she was.

The Tigers took possession of the puck and changed direction, breaking away and charging toward Olli. I groaned as our guys took way too long to catch up. The Tiger’s center got the puck, but his attention was focused on his teammate in the corner. He turned to the side a moment too late, barreling into Olli. They both went down in a heap as the goal post shot backward into the glass. They were a tangled mess and Erik was there in a second, trying to pull Olli up.

Time froze as I watched him struggle. Olli was shaking his head. Hartman appeared next to them, and it took both guys to get Olli back to his feet. I could tell they were carrying his weight over to us. This wasn’t good.

I opened the door and hurried out of the way so the three of them could pass and move down the tunnel. Coach Abrams followed and Romney met my gaze. He gave a single nod and I pulled my helmet on without waiting for confirmation. Olli wasn’t coming back. I was in.

The moment my skate hit the ice, my stomach sank. This wasn’t what I wanted. All the grumbling I did about sitting on the bench was for more game time, but I wanted to play because Coach believed in me and wanted me in. I didn't want the goal because Olli couldn’t. That hadn’t worked well for me last season and the last thing I wanted was to go back to how bad things had been. There wasn’t time to worry about that. As soon as I was in position, the guys faced off at the other end of the ice, and it was time to go.

We scored once during the first period and I blocked nine shots. It was a mad rush to get to the locker room the second the whistle blew. Everyone wanted to know what was going on. Was he seriously injured? Was he taken to the hospital? How long would be he out?

I sat in front of my locker and waited for Romney to make his way to the center of the room. He ignored all of us, going into his normal rant of what we needed to work on and how we couldn’t get comfortable with a one point lead.

Not a single one of us was listening. We were looking around, waiting for the trainer or Abrams to show up.

Finally, Romney fell silent as Abrams walked in. He scanned the room before his eyes fell on me. His jaw clenched once before he spoke. “Letang will be out the rest of the game. The trainer thinks it’s a dislocated shoulder.”

I cringed. That was a long recovery. I hoped that wasn’t the case. Sometimes it was hard to know what the injury was until you could get an x-ray or scan.

“We’re waiting on some results, but as of right now, Aston’s in for the rest of the night.”

The guys nodded and a few gave me some encouraging looks. I nearly froze. Last time I went in for Olli when he was injured, I thought there was going to be a riot. Now, they just seemed grateful I was there.

I’d take the change.

Romney cleared his throat. “We’re counting on Aston to step up, but that means the rest of you need to as well. Defense, you need to tighten up. I don’t want any action in our zone.”

He continued with the game plan for the next period before heading out. I turned to pick up my bag so I could get my phone, but a hand fell on my shoulder.

I lifted my head to see Hartman standing in front of me. “You got this.”

Those three words were enough to light a fire in me. I stood and nodded once before following him out to the ice.

The guys played the rest of the game like it was the finals of the playoffs. They were out for blood, and made sure to pay special attention to the guy that took out Olli. We spent extra time in power plays, but it was worth it. We won the game four to one.

Each guy patted my back after the game, and Romney nearly smiled when we got back in the locker room. “Good game, Fury. I’ll update everyone once we know what’s going on with Olli. Relax tomorrow.”

With that, he walked out and we rushed through the motions of stretching and showering. I took my phone out and smiled when I saw a text from Amelia. She saw I was playing and wished me luck.

I replied, asking her where she was, before heading to the showers. When I got back and checked, I had a missed call from her, so I grabbed my bag and waved over my shoulder to the remaining guys on my way out.

“Hey!”