Page 10

Chapter 10

It’s like Canada Lite

Braydon

Cooper disappeared around the corner when the elevator pinged, and the rest of the crowd, more familiar with the process, moved to a dining area next to the kitchen.

I whispered in Jayna’s ear. “Does Cooper know about us?”

She shrugged. “If so, they didn’t tell me.”

There was a long table, a stack of plates and chopsticks and glasses, and soon trays of sushi were spread out as well. I stood back, waiting for the others to go first. There was a pecking order on any team, and I was on the bottom.

Jayna and I sat down beside each other, and the best sushi I’d ever eaten was passed around, along with bottles of water and Japanese beer. So different than pizza and Labatt’s with the Inferno.

Conversation centered on hockey. De Vries was out, and Petrov back to start the game we were playing tomorrow. I didn’t say much. There was a lot to learn, and I was determined to pick up everything I could.

Jayna started a conversation with Crash, on her other side, and Ducky, next to me, gave me the update on my new teammates. “Petrov is a bit of a strange one. Goalie, you know…” His eyes widened. “I mean, um…”

I grinned. “It’s okay. I’m weird too. Do not interrupt my game-day routine.” Pretty sure it would be easy to get along with Ducky. He was like an overeager puppy.

He held up two fingers. “I won’t, Scout’s honor.”

I looked at his fingers. “Is that really a Scout salute?”

“I dunno. Never was one. Anyway, we all kind of think Petey is a cyborg. Not quite human. Me, I’m the dummy on the team.”

I frowned. “But you’re one of the top scorers, right?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t do that great in high school and didn’t do college.”

“College doesn’t mean you’re smart.”

He grinned at me. “I do okay on the ice, so it doesn’t bother me. You know Cooper, of course, because everyone does.”

In Toronto, yes. Actually, back in Montana I’d heard of Cooper.

“The other guys—across the table Bongo, Royster and Barnes are our shut-down line. This is their second year playing together, and they hang out off the ice too. If you play poker with them, prepare to lose. I don’t know how they do it, but one of them always wins.”

If they ever asked me, I’d remember that.

“Don’t ask Crash what it’s like to be the only POC player on the team ’cause he gets asked that all the time and he hates it.”

“I won’t.” Not hard to promise, because I’d never have thought to ask him.

“And JJ—you heard about him, right?”

I frowned. There was something…

Ducky must have understood. He lowered his voice further. “Back in New York, before he came here, his wife had an affair with a basketball player, so they split up. She’s still with that guy, but we can’t say anything too bad about her because first, JJ married her, and second, she’s got cancer. So don’t mention anything about wives or cheating or basketball to him. He gets all quiet and broody.”

I nodded, thinking JJ was already pretty quiet. I grabbed a piece of maki, and almost dropped it when I heard Cooper raise his voice.

“We need to learn more about our new guy.”

He was at the other end of the table with Faith and Hunter, which seemed like smart spacing to me. Distance between the siblings. I looked around and everyone was watching me. Jayna reached under the table and rubbed her hand on my leg. It was supposed to be comfort, maybe, or support, but my helpful brain flashed back to her pink cheeks and red scarf, and the feel of her ass under my hand when I slid it into the back pocket of her jeans.

Not a great time for my dick to get interested, but it distracted the butterflies in my stomach awakened by being the center of attention. Attention from this table of men playing hockey at a level I aspired to…and my half-sister, still watching me warily.

“Um, me?”

Cooper smirked. “You’re the rookie here.”

I looked around, as if someone with less experience than me would suddenly pop up out of nowhere. My cheeks heated. “Yeah, but I didn’t think anyone wanted to hear from me.”

Cooper leaned back. “We’re curious about what we’re getting.”

I swallowed. “I’m pretty boring. What do you want to know?”

* * *

Jayna

Braydon was obviously nervous talking about himself. Was it the Devereaux thing or something else?

“You’re from Montana, right?” Cooper led the questions.

He nodded. “Tiny town no one’s heard of. We moved there when I was about three.”

Ducky leaned forward. “How’d you get into hockey?”

He smiled. “My mom is from Minnesota. I think any kid born there has to love hockey.”

Bongo interrupted. “It’s like Canada Lite.”

Braydon shrugged, maybe not willing to get into it with his teammates yet?

“Canada is Russia Lite. Minnesota is baby Russia.” Was Petrov defending his new backup or dissing North America? Hard to tell.

“Let him talk,” Cooper said. “I’ve heard everything about you slackers already.”

Braydon swallowed. “We didn’t have a rink in our town, so I learned to skate on the pond. I liked it so much I convinced my parents to let me play in the next town over.”

“Was a good team?” Petrov asked.

Braydon shrugged. “Not really. Not a lot of people, so not a big pool of kids to play. But it was fun, and I loved it.”

“Why’d you pick goalie?”

I couldn’t help glancing at Faith. It was kind of freaky that they both became goalies.

Braydon tapped his chopsticks on his plate. He was staring at it, like he didn’t want to look at anyone else. “I didn’t play in net at first. The mayor’s son Bryce was on the team and he wanted to be the goalie, so I played defense. Then Bryce and his family went on vacation for winter break, and I was the closest kid to his size so they gave me his pads to wear and put me in net while he was gone.”

Ducky elbowed Braydon. “And you were so good he never got to play in net again.”

Braydon looked up. “Nah. I was okay, but Bryce’s uncle was the coach, and the position was his. I was his backup, and played when he wasn’t there.”

That wasn’t how I expected the story to go. “But you liked it?”

He shifted in his chair. “Yeah, I loved it. But goalie gear was expensive, so I only played when I could use his stuff.”

Cooper leaned forward. “This sounds like a soap opera. Or is it a fairy tale? When did Cinderella get his chance to be a goalie?”

Braydon shifted again, obviously not comfortable with where the questions were leading now. “In high school. The hockey team there was made up of kids from a bunch of places, so we all got to try out and I made it as goalie. I got a job helping a neighbor to pay for some secondhand gear. And my parents worked extra too.”

“What happened to the mayor’s kid?” Ducky was invested.

“He went to a private school. He played for a Gold team for a while.” Braydon’s brow furrowed. “I’m not sure what happened to him. He didn’t get drafted, because we’d have heard about that back home.”

Like my hometown. Anyone getting drafted to the NHL was big news.

“After high school?” Bongo took some more sashimi. Royster tried to steal it from him.

“I got on the hockey team at a small, private religious school in North Dakota. It was ACHA, not NCAA,”

That was a whole level down from the NCAA school I and most of the people at this table had played at. Cooper looked at his phone and stood up, waving at us to keep going.

“What does that mean?” Ducky asked.

Braydon shrugged his shoulder. “I’m only the second guy from the ACHA to get to the NHL, for at least one game.”

Obviously, players in the ACHA didn’t expect a pro career. Braydon’s story did have some fairy-tale elements.

“So how did that happen? You weren’t drafted?” Barnes leaned over the table, either to hear better or to crowd Royster away from the sushi.

Braydon shook his head. “No. Freshman year I played backup till I broke my leg and was out the rest of the season. I got to start junior year. We almost made it to the championship senior year. But even though we missed it, a guy from the Blaze saw me and gave me a chance to try out with the Inferno.”

“You had a shitload of bad habits, but raw talent as well.” Taranis Jones spoke as he came around the corner with Cooper. “Sorry I’m late. Baby was colicky, and I sent Penny to sleep once Aria finally settled.”

Braydon stood up to greet his coach—former coach.

“Whoa.” Ducky leaned over to me. “I didn’t know he’d had it so tough coming up.”

Neither did I, but I didn’t share that. This was information a girlfriend would have known. “He’s worked hard.”

Braydon returned to sit beside me, and Taranis found a seat between me and Crash. There wasn’t a lot of food left, but everyone passed what there was toward the latecomer.

“So, do I still have a shitload of bad habits?” Braydon leaned across me to ask.

“You still go down too early on a rush.”

I pushed my chair back. I loved to talk hockey, but Braydon leaning across me was distracting, and I wasn’t quite sure how I was supposed to behave as his girlfriend. Wrap an arm around him? Push him back out of my lap?

I picked up my empty plate and Braydon’s and took them to the kitchen. I could handle short distances without my cane now. Seb was doing the same on his end of the table while Faith and Cooper were discussing something—probably Cooper’s goddaughter Hailey, based on my experience.

I stacked the plates on the island of the monstrous kitchen and went back to grab more. When I returned, Seb was sliding plates into the dishwasher. He and Cooper were still tight, and he knew his way around the condo. I passed the newest dirty dishes to him.

“I’m still pissed at your boyfriend, but I can see where he might resent Faith. Not like it’s easy for anyone to get to this level, but he had a tough path. And then, when you chose being with us to celebrate Faith’s start.” He shrugged and resumed filling the dishwasher.

That was generous of Hunter, but he was a nice guy. Still, if he was thinking kindlier of Braydon, then this crazy plan must be working.

I chose my words carefully. “If that video was your first introduction to Braydon, then you’d think he was a whiny misogynist.” Exactly what I’d thought.

Hunter nodded. “Like I told Faith, if you were dating him, then he couldn’t be. There had to be more to it.”

Faith entered the kitchen then, smiling at her husband who passed her on his way back to the table. She leaned against the counter, arms crossed. “We haven’t seen you for a couple of days. Anna thought you were avoiding us—is he the reason why?”

Anna was the captain of the Bonfire. And Braydon wasn’t the only reason I hadn’t been with my teammates. Work had been taking up a lot of my time. But as much as I loved the Bonfire, being around them while I was still dependent on the cane for walking more than a few feet wasn’t easy. I didn’t feel like part of the team, not in the same way, when I wasn’t on the ice with them. Fortunately, the me who was supposed to be dating Braydon would have a different answer, so I just shrugged. A shrug wasn’t technically a lie, was it?

“Come out with us after the next game,” Faith suggested. “And tell us about this guy. He must be something special if you’re going out with him.”

A throat clearing made us aware that we weren’t alone. Ducky had empty beer cans in his hands, with Braydon similarly laden behind him. Braydon’s cheeks were flushed as he set the cans on the counter, and I could feel mine the same.

All eyes were on us, but Braydon looked from me to the others. He raised his eyebrows as if that would tell me something, but I had no idea what. He shrugged, then crossed to me, bracketing my face with his hands, before dropping a kiss on my lips.

A quick kiss should have sold it, but Braydon didn’t take any chances. He held the kiss, stealing my breath. I pressed closer, until he broke away and pulled me into his side.

“I guess he is that special.” Amusement colored Faith’s voice. “And you have a lot of explaining to do after the next game.”

* * *

Braydon

The second practice after dinner at Cooper’s was different. My name was now on the cubby in the locker room at the practice facility. I was tempted to take a photo, but that would be too much, right? I shouldn’t act like a fanboy. But Mom and Dad would get a kick out of it.

“Mitch!”

I turned to Petrov, who’d stripped down beside me. Petey obviously had no issues with nudity. The two goalie cubbies were side by side, and a little wider than the others, since our gear was bigger. He was a couple of inches taller than me, but leaner. He’d been drafted from Russia and still spoke with a heavy accent, but I couldn’t even speak reasonable Spanish, so I was impressed by how well he communicated.

“You will be backup for the playoffs. I am playing well, but accidents happen.”

It wasn’t terrible that I had imagined having to take over during a playoff game, was it? I didn’t wish any harm on Petey.

“Next season, who knows? Now, you have work, but I will help.”

“Uh, thanks.”

“We have good coach, but you will listen to me.”

I nodded, because what else was I going to do? Big naked Russian beside me with a serious expression on his face. I’d worked with Coach Salo already and I’d been doing everything he asked. I appreciated that he didn’t try to change my style, but rather work with that style to improve my play.

I wasn’t sure Petey would be the same. He played a little different, staying in his crease more than I did. I was more aggressive, skating out to move the puck to my teammates. I could try to stay back like him, but it would be an adjustment. What if Coach Salo didn’t want that? My foot started to jiggle as I imagined that scenario—the two men arguing over how I should play. I took a long breath. Good thing this wasn’t a game because my head wasn’t focused the way it should be.

At practice, Coach Salo spent his time between Petrov and me and we worked hard on the areas I was weaker in. Since I wasn’t starting, he spent fifteen minutes faking shots at me in net until I stopped dropping to the ice before he actually shot the puck. I was tired by the time practice ended. I waited till Petey had left the ice to speak to Coach Salo.

“Any problems with Petey?”

I’d taken off my helmet, and my hair was matted to my head. I ran a hand through it, loosening the strands. “He, uh, offered to help, but he plays differently than I do.”

Coach’s eyes narrowed. “There’s still a lot you can learn from him.”

I nodded. “I was just afraid he might tell me something different than you.”

He frowned. “I’m the goalie coach, so you listen to him, but do what I say.”

“Yes, Coach.”

He waved me off, and I skated to the exit with no real clarification there.

* * *

After practice, Ducky and Crash invited me to sit with them at the team lunch. I didn’t talk much, but listened, even when they were just shooting the shit. Most of the team got along. They warned me that Gerber was kind of an asshole, but every team had one, right?

I did my usual game-day routine after practice and was back at the rink in time to dress and warm up. Petrov was clearly annoyed they’d made him sit out a game, and swore he’d been fit to play. He glared at poor Royster in warm-ups, and Royster kept well away from the goal. Petey started, and I watched the game with a clipboard, making notes of shots and face-offs for the coach. Pretty sure they had guys already doing those stat things up in a box somewhere and analyzing them better than I could, but it kept me focused, and gave me more information about how my teammates played.

I was pulling off my jersey, clean as when I’d put it on, when Petrov, still wearing full gear except for his helmet, spoke to me in a quiet voice. At first, I thought he was going to offer coaching advice—maybe on how to warm the bench because that’s all I’d done. But it was worse.

“My agent wishes to speak with you.”

I’d lifted a foot to unlace my skate and almost fell over in surprise. “Uh, that’s nice, but I have someone already.” I’d never had agents fighting to represent me, but I’d been approached by a woman just starting out with her own agency. Stacy and I both had odds against us, but she was doing a good job for me so far. She’d negotiated excellent terms on my Inferno/Blaze contract in case I was called up, and that was paying off now.

Petey nodded. “I know. My agent wishes to discuss something else. His daughter.”

What? Why? A sinking feeling hooked into my guts. “Frank Devereaux is your agent?”

“Yes. You complained about his daughter playing.”

Had Frank missed the whole me-and-Jayna thing? Maybe this fake dating wasn’t working, and people still thought my issue with Faith was something personal. Maybe Jayna and I would have to stop. The idea was disappointing.

“It wasn’t about her, not Faith. It was because of my girlfriend.”

“Your girlfriend?”

“Did you not hear about it? It came up in the press conference yesterday. There was a lot of publicity.”

I hadn’t imagined those reporters asking questions and Jayna answering them, had I?

“I do not read what reporters say. I listen to my coaches and my mind. No distractions.”

He didn’t seem to mind distracting me. “Okay, well, I’m dating Jayna Templin. You saw us last night.” And I ran through the story we’d made up. Again.

Petey was unlacing his skates. He straightened up and put his hands on his hips.

“Men do not complain because girlfriends cannot be with them. You have much to learn. This Jayna may not be good for you.”

I turned my back to him to pull off my pads while I chose my next words carefully. I hated being seen as a whiner over my girlfriend ditching me, but I didn’t dare tell Petey that the real problem had been because his agent was my father. And Jayna was a goddamned miracle for me, because she was helping me out. “I’ll, uh, I’ll think about it.”

“And you will meet Frank?”

Hell no. “Why don’t you explain to him that I don’t have a problem with his daughter. Just, um, he’s probably seen the press. I don’t need to bother him—it’s not going to happen again.”

“We will see.” Petey headed to the showers.

I clonked my forehead against the edge of the cubby. Of course Frank Devereaux had to represent my teammate. But there was no time to whine about this either. I had a job to keep.