Page 33 of Breaking the Ice

He probably meant it too. He’d go on all those podcasts Sidney had signed him up for, and he’d do it without arguing. He’d take one for the team. ForGavin.

“He’s got real upside. I like the way he tracks the puck. But the moment the other team scores, it’s like he gets too deep in his own head.”

“Yeah,” Zach agreed. “That was my assessment too. I talked to one of the assistants over at Syracuse, where Finn was before he transferred to Portland, and if you think Morgan opening his mouth to ESPN now is bad, prepare yourself.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s going to behere.”

“No, he’s not. He’s going to push his son right out of hockey.”

“Then you’re going to have to talk to him.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Gavin complained.

“Do you know him?”

Gavin sighed. “He’s Morgan Reynolds. Of course I know him.”

“I mean, did you ever play with him?”

“I coached him once. I was an assistant during the Four Nations Tournament five years ago.” Gavin hesitated. “And before you even ask,no, he was not particularly coachable.”

Zach laughed.

“He was the captain, and—”

“Oh yeah. I remember that one now. Hayes was on that team.”

“Yes, he was. They won the whole thing, a beauty of a goal from Morgan to your friend Hayes.” Gavin pursed his lips. “I’ll reach out to him. I’m sure he’ll take my call, if only because he’s going to want to convince me to play Finn as the starter.”

“Wouldn’t you play him as the starter anyway?”

“Yeah,” Gavin said. “No question. The other kid’s too young. Too inexperienced. Finn’s our guy. But if Morgan interferes, we’re going to have issues.”

“Good luck with that.”

Gavin groaned and for a second, everything went very quiet on Zach’s end, except for his breath, a little quicker than normal.

After replaying the sound in his head again, Gavin wanted to smack himself. Why had he sounded like that? When it wasZachon the other end of the line?

He’d gotten carried away. He knew he’d gotten carried away.

It didn’t matter that they weren’t in the same room now. Because he wasthinkingabout it.

“I . . .uh . . .should go,” Gavin said, painfully aware of how awkward he sounded.

At least, positively, it would be basically impossible for Zach to findthatattractive.

“Yeah. Gonna get you back on the ice in the morning. You need your sleep.”

“I don’t have skates—”

“I’ll take care of it,” Zach said.

“Oh. Thanks.”

“I’ve got the equipment guys in my back pocket. One of them is a major Sentinels fan and Hayes sent me a signed jersey.”