Page 34 of Pucked Up

“Fuck off. If your plays were worth using, I might be more interested. But I suppose that’s what we get from some jackass who’s never even sat inside a sled.”

I never did tell him how I was connected to the league. I assumed he had researched me, but it was clear he hadn’t. He had no idea how many games I served as pusher. How many pucks I took to my face and my body. How much muscle I’d built making sure Reid never had to leave the ice.

And how fucking much I missed it some days. Losing Reid meant losing the league in a way, and neither of those things was easy to mourn.

Swallowing thickly, I turned away.

“Figured you couldn’t take it. Pathetic, sorry ass?—”

“My office,” I told him. “After practice. Don’t bother taking a shower because when I’m done with you, you’ll need two.”

All the guys laughed, and Boden slammed into two of them as I headed back for the bench. Ford waswaiting for me there. He was nursing a shoulder injury, so he was off the ice for a few games, and he looked a little unsure.

“You’re not taking the C, right?” he asked as I sat.

I sighed. “Not for that.”

“He’s…getting better?”

I raised a brow at him.

“I mean, at least he didn’t throw his bucket at you, right?” He grinned, toothy and wide.

He really was a very pretty man, and if that had been my type, he would have been trouble too. But he wasn’t. Still, I did like him. “If Boden ever does leave, I hope you’re prepared for the responsibility.”

“If I can handle Carol-Ann and her slutty ways, I can handle these guys,” he said, stroking the side of his prosthetic.

“About her name?—”

“Poltergeist,” he said.

“Right,” I reminded him. “You said that before.”

“So you get it.”

I was starting to think he was fucking with everyone who asked.

“Promise me you won’t spank him too hard tonight. He has to go grocery shopping, and I’m not in the mood to listen to him whine.”

I choked on my tongue. “I…it’s…we haven’t?—”

Ford stared at me with wide eyes. “I didn’t mean that literally, oh myGod. Bruh, do youlikehim?”

I stared back, forcing my mouth into a straight line.

“Yeah, okay. That’s fair. The spanking wasmetaphorical, but the question was literal. The more you yell at him, the worse mood he’s going to be in. Think of us little guys.” He pressed prayer hands under his chin and blinked doe eyes at me.

“Put the puppy look away. Boden will get what he deserves. Nothing more.” And certainly nothing less. Glancing across the ice, I could see his head still wasn’t in the game. I would take care of that later, but I wanted to make my phone call first. “I’m putting you in charge.” Taking my whistle off, I draped it over Ford’s head. It caught on his bun and smacked him in the face. “You know what to do, right?”

“Can I make them skate suicides until they barf?” he asked with eyes alight.

“No.”

“Can I make them clean the ice with their tongues?”

I sighed. “No.”

“How about sharpening skates with other skates, and the first one who gets the biggest spark wins?”