Page 60 of Back in the Game (Pride in the Game #1)

He preferred the ones with their media team because he’d gotten to know them and could relax and be himself. He’d sat down with SportsNet or Sports Illustrated several times, and it always made him feel dumb. It was like they never got the answers they wanted from him.

But did he want to hold puppies and answer trivia questions? Yes, he did. Media team for the win.

This media crew didn’t have puppies because they were about to start their pre-game warmup against the Barbarians, but they weren’t awful . Mariah and her crew followed him to the arena to take more footage, still asking him questions over the music and cheering fans.

He was happy to say his goodbyes, dodging more questions about Harrison and their plans, and chased after Bracken.

The New York crowd gathered their seats, their collective voices a low rumble along with the music pumping through the speakers. Jett stopped next to Bracken and Wolf to work on his stretches while a group of girls smacked on the glass and called out to them to get their attention.

Wolf kept making eye contact with them, grinning when he looked away, like he was being coy. His antics only served to rile the girls up even more, and they kept smacking the glass until Bracken was torn from his pregame focus to look at them.

“They’re a little young for you, don’t you think, Wolfy?” Ryan asked him, scowling.

“And too blond,” said Wolf, chuckling. “I prefer brunettes.”

It was always like this in New York. The Barbarians had loyal fans, and after the one season Wolf had played for their team, they had become obsessed with him. It was like they were trying to show Wolf how much he would be valued as a player if he returned.

The fact that Wolf had no power over trade negotiations was lost on them. Again, they were a strange bunch.

“No effort needed tonight,” said Wolf, ignoring the collective gasps from Jett and Bracken. “We can relax tonight and have fun, ja?”

“Not after you said that!” Bracken hissed, launching to his feet and sprinting across the ice to pick up a puck.

Wolf clicked his tongue and turned his eyes on Jett. “Am I fucking wrong?”

Jett looked away from him and kept his gaze glued to the ice. Sure, the Barbarians didn’t have anyone like Jin or Bash on their team, but it didn’t mean they were a bunch of pushovers either.

“Jetty! Red line!”

Jett looked up, grinning the second his eyes landed on Leland Sandford, a buddy of his from juniors. He did a few push-ups to show off before heading for the redline, laughing when Leland rolled his eyes at the display.

“Really, dude?” Leland held his glove up, smiling when Jett bumped their fists together .

“I’m just trying to keep my record of pissing your girlfriend off nice and strong,” said Jett. “Unless she finally got over herself and realized you’re not attracted to men?”

Leland was the first-line left winger of the New York Barbarians, and someone Jett had enjoyed playing alongside immensely. He was a bit of a hopeless romantic with women, but his love life was always a great source of entertainment to the team.

“Nope.” Leland leaned against his stick, his dark-brown hair flopping into his eye messily.

“I dumped her after the last time we played. She started getting pissy at me for talking to one of the bisexual guys on the Saviors team last week, and I decided I was over her homophobic bullshit. No one is worth that, no matter how hot they are.”

“Agreed.” Jett punched his arm, slightly pushing them away from each other. “Even more so since you’re…I don’t know…straight?”

“I know!” Leland tapped his stick against the ice angrily. “I don’t get it. Sometimes I think it would be easier to like dick, but alas.”

“I wouldn’t shout that at your next girl,” said Jett. “I don’t think it would help you win your case.”

Leland shrugged.

“Speaking of dick—”

Jett had only two seconds to brace himself before Derek Greene, another guy he knew from juniors, jumped the red line to throw an arm roughly across Jett’s shoulders. The jarring movement nearly sent them both to the ice, but Jett kept them up while supporting the weight of a 6’5 idiot.

“I saw that kiss, dude.” Derek shot a look at Wolf and Bracken to make sure they weren’t about to come over and kick his ass for crossing onto the wrong side. “Hell, it got me hot and bothered, and I was juggling a pair of tits in my hands while I was watching it.”

“Because that’s a flattering image,” Jett drawled.

Derek shrugged. “Bro, passion is passion. The girl I was with liked it too. I was lucky enough to escape the night without chaffing, but I was definitely limping the next day.”

Leland made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat, and Jett agreed. It didn’t matter how much he expected Derek to come up with something filthy to say, his words still took him by surprise at times .

“Now that I’m nauseous,” Leland had to lean up to smack Derek on the back of his curly-haired head, “tell us what it’s like.”

“What is what like?”

“What is it like for two Draft Picks to fuck it out,” Derek finished, cutting Leland off before he could find a less crass way to say it. “We’ve been theorizing—”

“You’ve been theorizing about my sex life?”

“Irrelevant,” Leland said quickly. “Come on, what’s it like to be with a hockey superstar? I tried dating a bigshot from the PWHL, but she wouldn’t let me take control, so we weren’t compatible. What’s it like to be with someone from our world?”

“Dude,” said Derek. “You need to grow a beard or something if women are trying to bend you over. Might help with your vibe.”

Leland frowned. “What vibe?”

Jett shook his head. He didn’t know how to proceed with this conversation.

“He looks like a spanker,” Derek stated, gesturing with his chin at Harrison behind the bench. “Is he a spanker?”

Jett lifted Derek’s arm off his shoulder and drifted backward. “I’m skating away from you guys now.”

“This is a safe space!” Leland also shot a look at Wolf and Bracken before he jumped the red line. “We talk about our sex lives all the time, Jetty. We want you to feel like you can do the same.”

Jett continued to back away, tapping his stick lightly on the ice. “The sex is earth-shattering, yes he spanks, and if you two idiots really want to know what it’s like to fuck a hockey player, book a hotel room and figure it out.” He saluted them with a middle finger. “See you at the puck drop.”

“Book a room with who?!” Leland called across the ice, but Jett had already left to find a puck.

He was not taking time out of his day to deal with that. They were both as straight as a ruler and would never understand his suggestion.

Jett powered forward with his puck and shot it, scoring a top-shelf goal over Powers’s shoulder.

“Show off!” Powers called after him. “You’re only acting cool because you’re the coach’s pet! ”

Jett glanced toward their bench, where Harrison was watching them all while making notes, talking to Coach Adams.

He grinned at Jason and said, “Can you blame me?”

Powers punched his fist into his glove, blue eyes bright from laughter. “Actually, not really. I’d love to have someone to show off to.”

Jett failed to keep his eyes from finding Bracken near the red line, where he was talking to the Captain of the Barbarians.

Nope. Not doing it.

He skated a couple more laps to properly warm up before he went to the locker room.

He flopped onto the bench and pulled off his gloves to fish his phone out of his bag before Coach could catch him with it.

He had a few messages from his dad and Jin, so he sent a text to his dad before switching to the messages from Jin.

Jin: I’m watching your game. I’ll try not to jerk off whenever they show Harrison’s face at the bench.

This was said in their group chat, so Jett had to fight to keep from laughing at Arlo’s response.

Arlo: Gross. Fuck you.

Harrison: Please refrain.

And because Jett was feeling bratty, he added to the chaos.

Jett: I give you permission, Park. Carry on.

He hadn’t spoken to Arlo since everything with Mike that morning, but he knew it was coming. He was surprised that he hadn’t received a long rant about how disappointed Mini Killinger was with him for reading the filth Mike had sent.

Again, it was coming.

Jin: I’m playing against Blanchard tomorrow. I can’t wait. Nothing riles a straight man more than a twink with pink hair playing sports.

True, but Blanchard wasn’t straight. Not that Jin knew that.

When he said that in reply, Jin was very quick to text back.

Jin: No fucking way. That’s even better.

Jett didn’t know how it was better in Jin’s mind, but he was scared to ask.

Jin: I’ll add him to the chat tomorrow after I get his number.

The image of Blanchard’s stunned face as Jin aggressively attacked him for his phone number had Jett’s shoulders shaking with silent laughter .

“What is that demon child saying now?” said Harrison’s voice above him, making Jett jump.

“Don’t ask,” said Jett, looking up to see Harrison’s stern expression. “Save that tidbit of drama for the hotel room where we can laugh our asses off about it.”

Harrison crossed his arms and frowned. Jin was eventually going to succeed in giving his twenty-five-year-old boyfriend heart problems.

Coach Adams pulled Harrison away to go over last-minute strategies, and Jett took the time to hydrate and get himself in the zone. Mid-level team or not, he wanted to walk away with the win tonight.

He was so deep in thoughts about scoring winning goals and having celebratory sex in his hotel room, he didn’t realize Harrison had started speaking until he was a few sentences in.

“Having Cote on the first line has shifted something for this team, so we’re going to keep that momentum going to the end. The Barbarians have solid defence, but the guys on their first line are the only ones capable of scoring goals, and they’re no match for our second or third line.”

Oops, sorry Derek and Leland.