Page 12 of Puck My Life

Disbanding? I sit up and forward, staring at her intently. This is my first year; if I lose this club, I might never get on the ice again. I can’t lose this. That fizzy, heavy ball gets even bigger, and my mouth goes dry, leaving my head spinning and me feeling like I might throw up.

“Breathe, Mal,” Deacon whispers in my ear. “We have this.”

Yes, we do. Breathe.

“Sit your ass down and listen,” Coach commands.

I jerk my head around and see Julius standing. The coach stares at him, and he stares right on back. The tension in the room becomes unbearable, and several other players around us shift in their seats.

He finally flops down, and I let loose the tension I’m holding.

I refocus on Marilyn. She’s tapping her fingers in the same way that Vae does just before she loses her temper completely.

“No one wants to see that happen. So, we will implement a number of PR strategies to help with this team’s optics. I will need to speak with you all individually about your role in this. However, we want to make it clear to everyone that this is not optional. All players are expected to follow directions. This means if you are asked to go on a public date, you do it. If your presence is required at a charity function, you arrive on time and dress appropriately. You will do as you’re asked without complaint.”

I hiss, but Deacon is rigid, his jaw jutted and defiance dripping out of every pore.

“I’m not going on any public fucking dates,” Julius Keene announces. Our captain is a hothead, but he’s devoted to this team.

We watch in silence as he and Marilyn lock eyes, their silent battle fought and won in seconds.

“You will do as you’re told or you will find yourself back in the minor riding the bench,” Marilyn says slowly.

Is she serious? I sit up, feeling lightheaded and dizzy. How can they allow this? How can they make us do this? Dates? I don’t want to go on dates.

“This is bullshit,” Julius mutters.

“I promise it won’t be all that bad. We need the press to report other things about this team. We need to give them something more interesting than your dismal failures to look at. Hopefully, it will buy us enough time to meet the league's requirements. You need to win or tie at least fifty percent of your remaining games…”

“They can’t do this to us,” I whisper to Deacon. “There have to be unions or rules, maybe in our contracts or-”

Deacon doesn’t respond; he doesn’t take his eyes off her. And if looks could kill, she would be a corpse.

“And how will we be winning games if you’re so busy prancing us all over town?” Julius continues the conversation, but I don’t want to hear it anymore.

Vae, and now Hockey? No, I can’t. I have to get out of here; I have to-

Deacon grips my arm, anchoring me to the chair. Our silent fight going completely unnoticed by the rest of our team.

“Are you telling me your skill level is so low that a date or charity function would impede your performance?”

I start to laugh at her ridiculous jibe. Julius could go to ten in a row and still lead us in a battle on the ice every night. It’s stupid, but Julius falls for her obvious ploy.

“My performance is just fine.”

The team laughs, but I’m not laughing. I can’t calm down. I’m still fighting Deacon, but now he’s got me almost on his lap, my arms trapped by my side. The ball in my chest feels like it’s going to crush me. I stare at the side of his face, silently pleading with him to let me go.

Our bond throbs with my distress, but he doesn’t acknowledge it at all.

Marilyn taps the microphone. I’m dimly aware of her talking again. I focus on the words.

“Now that we have that cleared up, you may go. Please reach out if you have any questions. I’ll be in touch soon with your assignments. Don’t test me. Don’t try me. You aren’t getting out of this.”

And she just swans out, leaving the team shattered.

Deacon lets me go, and I bolt out of the room, racing for the toilet, where I hurl up all the contents I had for breakfast.

I haven’t done this for a while, but it’s bringing my teen years back in a hot flash. Through the bond, I feel the musical notes of Raynor and realise that he’s felt our distress and come for us.