Page 14 of Slapshot Baby

"You're late," he says.

"Obviously," I retort.

He falls into stride beside me. "What happened? Did you finally score with someone? The interior designer from the gala. Yeah? The one who was cool about hockey."

"Shut up, Wyatt."

"That's a yes," he says in a delighted tone. "Easton, it's a yes."

Easton glides past on my other side without looking up from his stick tape.

"I know. Riley introduced them."

Wyatt processes this for several seconds.

"You set our captain up and didn't tell me.” He places his hands on his chest. “I'm deeply hurt."

"You'll recover," Easton says.

“Nothing happened,” I say.

Wyatt shakes his head. "Something happened with Ava. I called it, didn't I? I said you two…"

"If you finish that sentence, you're running double shifts."

The threat is empty and everyone knows it, but it gets Wyatt to grin and shut up anyway.

Theo appears from the defensive zone, big enough that the bench shakes a little when he leans on it, beard trimmed neat despite looking like he hasn't slept in a week. His blue eyes cut to me with the faintest trace of amusement.

"You good, Cap?"

"I'm fine."

"Sure." He skates off without pushing it.

Jordan skates past and taps his stick against mine, that permanent asshole smirk already firmly in place.

“Looking almost human again, Captain.”

“Fuck off.”

He laughs and keeps skating, entirely too pleased with himself.

Brennan catches my eye from across the rink before he raises the whistle, voice carrying flat across the ice.

"Kai, whatever's got you late better not be on the ice with you tonight."

"It won't be."

"Make sure of it."

He blows the whistle. The conversation dies.

Good. I don't need to be talking about Ava Hartley on the ice. I need to practice hard while thinking about the game tonight. About Raleigh's forecheck and their left winger who's been running hot for three weeks.

I think about Ava for the first forty minutes anyway.

Sometime after practice, I catch myself working out logistics instead of watching the replay on the board.