Page 40 of No Rhyme or Roughing (The Golden Guardians Hockey Hearts #1)

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

RYDER

They expected me to say something. My team, the guys who looked up to me as their captain.

We’d just had our asses handed to us, and our recent home stand felt like a distant memory. The way fans had crowded into our building to watch us play… and dance.

Now, we were across the country, playing in Ohio. And losing in Ohio.

I stood in the center of the visitors’ locker room, still in my pads and sweat-soaked jersey. My team looked exhausted, beat down. I wasn’t doing any better.

“We sucked tonight,” I started.

“Splendid speech, Cap,” Julian muttered, leaning back in his stall .

I stared at him until his mouth snapped shut.

“As I was saying, tonight was bad. We were off our game, but you know what? That happens. Every team has awful games sometimes. And this is going to be a long road trip. I need you all to have short memories.”

Only a few pairs of eyes met mine as I turned in a slow circle. I sighed. There wasn’t much else to say after a night like this, so I dropped my shoulders and nodded to Griff. He stepped forward to join me in the center of the room.

“Jules and Valentine, as our lone goal scorers tonight, I need you available for the media,” Griff said.

“Media,” Jules scoffed. “Lovely”

I snapped around, closing the space between us. “The media is what keeps us here, keeps us being able to play a game for a living. You’d do well to respect the people who support us. Or else you might as well start packing your shit now for the team’s relocation.”

The room fell silent.

We all knew the truth. The dancing probably would not be enough. A few full home games didn’t magically make us a viable hockey market.

Griff put a hand on my shoulder, nodding toward my locker. I knew what he wanted, so I backed off and slumped onto the bench.

Griff rubbed the back of his neck, scanning the room. “Nothing I say will be any worse than what I’m sure you’re telling yourselves. You guys are better than tonight’s game.” He sighed. “Go shower, get back to the hotel, and get some rest.”

He caught Teddy by the back of his jersey as he made his way toward the showers. “Not you. Media, remember?”

Most of the team cleared out, heading deeper into the labyrinth of the locker room to shower or change into their suits. Some would hit the ice baths, others the massage tables.

Me, I wasn’t ready yet.

Soon, it was just me, Teddy, and Julian left in the room.

The door opened, but it wasn’t the usual blogger who entered. This time, a reporter with a badge stepped in, showing she was from the local news. More reporters followed behind her, flooding the room with cameras, recorders, and a barrage of questions.

One after the other, they fired them off.

Teddy’s wide eyes met mine briefly, but then I saw his smile—the one Sam always said was swoon-worthy. The man could turn on the charm when he wanted to.

He handled the questions with ease, answering them with a practiced air. Meanwhile, I slunk out of the room, not wanting them to notice me.

The last question I caught was about our recent dance performance, and it made me smile.

Back at the hotel, I dropped onto a bed in the room I shared with Teddy. We never stayed in the nicest places—nothing like my brief stint in the NHL—but after games, we were usually too exhausted to care.

Teddy walked in, with Rowan and Jules trailing behind him. All I wanted to do was sleep, but their voices made me sit up and glare.

“Cuddle party?” Teddy asked, grinning as he crawled onto my bed.

I shoved him away, and he laughed.

“Guys,” he said, looking around. “I think Ry hates us.”

“Right now, I do,” I muttered, hitting him with a pillow.

Rowan flopped onto the opposite bed. “I’m so tired.”

“Then, why the fuck are you in my room?” I snapped.

“Teddy made us,” Jules said with a shrug, bending over the desk to rummage through the pile of snacks Teddy always brought on road trips. He picked up a bag of jerky, but before he could open it, a pillow smacked it from his hands.

“No!” Teddy leaped from the bed and snatched the jerky. “Mine.”

I groaned. “How about you all fuck off and let me sleep? We’ve got another game tomorrow, and we really sucked tonight.”

Rowan closed his eyes. “Teddy said we’re supposed to be worried about you, so here we are.”

Teddy smacked Rowan on the side of the head. “ Supposed to be ? Have you seen how our captain’s been moping around, just going through the motions?” He turned to me. “You were as bad as anyone tonight.”

“And?” I didn’t need a reminder of how I’d failed—both as a captain and as a teammate.

“And,” Jules cut in, popping a gummy bear into his mouth, “Teddy thinks it’s because of a girl. ”

Both Teddy and Rowan went silent, which was unusual for them.

When I didn’t respond, Jules perched on the edge of Rowan’s bed. “Wait, is it? A girl? Really, bro? After Sam, we all figured you’d?—”

Rowan shoved him hard.

Jules recovered, coughing slightly. “—move on quickly and fall in love again, obviously.” He paused, narrowing his eyes. “Wait, this isn’t because Sam and Sullie are getting married in a couple weeks, is it?”

“No, it’s not that,” I said truthfully. I held no ill will toward them anymore. I’d only clung to Sam because I feared what life without her would look like. Now, I knew.

It looked like Sydney.

Laughter and risks. Friendship and fantastic sex. And I’d messed it all up by catching feelings for a woman who refused to feel any.

Teddy sat beside me, thoughtful for once. “Maybe things with Sydney will work out when we get back.”

Work out? She’d left me to a cold bed the morning after I confessed everything to her. I told her I loved her, and she couldn’t, wouldn’t, say the same.

“What the fuck?” Jules shook his head. “You and Teddy’s sister? I didn’t shoot my shot with her because I figured Teddy would kill any of us who smashed that.”

Teddy vibrated with anger beside me, but I reached Jules first, shoving him backward onto the bed and leaning over him. “First, she’s not a that. Second, I didn’t fucking smash her; I fell in love with her, you asshole.”

Silence blanketed the room. Finally, Rowan let out a loud breath. “That’s intense, man. ”

Laughter erupted behind me. I turned to find Teddy’s entire body shaking with it.

“What?” I snapped.

“Do you remember when you used to hold her as a baby?” he asked, grinning.

I tried not to. The adult Sydney I loved couldn’t be the same kid I’d known growing up. She had to be different.

“She was fussy, always crying when Mom held her,” Teddy continued. “But the second you stepped in, she’d stop. Like, even then, she knew she was safer with you than anyone else.”

His smile faded, bit by bit, until his expression turned serious—more intense than I’d ever seen. “I know I told you she was going to destroy you?—”

“You said that?” Rowan shook his head in disbelief. “Damn.”

“That’s messed up, bro,” Jules added.

Teddy ignored them. “I wasn’t lying. She did destroy you. The serious friend I had wouldn’t have danced for our fans, tried to reconcile with his brother, or taken any sort of risks. She broke you, broke through you.

“I love my sister, but she’s always been a bit… out there. Odd. Flighty?—”

“We get it,” Rowan interrupted, a hint of protectiveness in his tone.

Teddy’s smile returned. “What if you broke her too? And now, she just needs to realize she’s still safe with you?”

What if.