Page 19 of Save Your Breath

My eyes narrowed into slits as I glared at him. I turned back to where I was lining up my shot, pretending like I was going in for my second try, but instead, I reached out with my golf club and swiped it under his knees, making him fall backward as the rest of the guys laughed at his expense.

Stupid, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed fucker didn’t even get mad.

He sat up laughing just as hard as the rest of them.

Carter had been a pain in my ass ever since I first met him. I didn’t care that he was a nice guy. He was my particular pet peeve of a teammate — the kind who had the potential to be great, but had the backbone of a salamander.

I’d watched him kill it in practice so many times, playing like he was the center of our dreams, only to witness him throw it all away in a game because he lost his focus. His confidence had to be the equivalent of a five-year-old learning to ride a bike.

It was why he’d been sent down to the AHL time and time again.

He was back in Tampa this summer, promised a spot at camp next month, but he’d have to prove himself to stay any longer than that.

“Aw, leave Su Man alone,” Jaxson Brittain said. “Not his fault he’s an ugly sonofabitch who’s only good at one thing.”

“You mean sniping on your ass every scrimmage? Yeah, seems to be my specialty.”

Jaxson started in on his defense as the other guys laughed. I ignored them, lining up for my shot. I hit the ball this time, but it was a poor showing compared to the rest of them.

I didn’t know why I let them talk me into golfing in the first place.

I didn’t play hockey to make friends — I never had.

The only reason I entertained the idea of today was because Will Perry had been the one to invite me. He was our goalie, a beast of a man who was one of the few I’d ever played with who made me want to be better. He’d also helped me out last season when I was flying too close to the sun, as Mia’s father would say.

Coming into Tampa after being discarded from the Seattle team like a broken hockey stick, I’d felt like I needed to prove myself even more than usual. Of course, for me, that usually turned into my temper getting the best of me. In my attempt to be the best, I was quick to lash out at my teammates, alienate myself, and, more times than I liked to admit, get into fights on the ice that led to me sitting in the penalty box.

Will pissed me off at first because he was trying to tame me from the get go. He wanted me to fall in line and follow his rules.

But when I realized he actually gave a fuck about me, that he actually saw what I brought to the team… something shifted. I was used to being punished and threatened, but it was rare that I felt like anyone saw my worth.

It was rare that I felt like I trulyhadworth.

So when he pulled me aside and used his words to tell me saw my potential and believed in me, it meant something — especially because, like me, Will wasn’t one to talk about anything, least of all being impressed by another player.

It probably also helped that he was quick to remind me that the team had been doing fine before I got there, and that if I were to leave, they’d find someone else to take my place. It was the truth — no matter how bitter the pill was to swallow.

No one could give you an ego check quite like Daddy P could.

So yeah, when that man asked something of me, even if just to join some of the teammates for a golf outing, I wasn’t going to say no. Add in the fact that my face was plastered all over the Internet at the moment — andnotfrom a bar fight — I guessed I needed an escape.

That’s why I was piling into a large golf cart with Will, Carter, Jaxson, and Vince as we rode toward the middle of the fairway instead of holing up in my condo like I usually would.

Where Will struck me almost as a father figure — though I’d never tell him that — and Carter was like an annoying little brother, Jaxson and Vince were my reliable teammates. I didn’t care to join in on their constant locker room banter, and I sure as fuck didn’t need to be their friend, but I knew when we were on the ice together, I could count on them.

I was silent as we parked the golf cart and the guys took their second shots, all of them easily making it to the green. Vince nearly got his ball into the hole before it was my turn again.

Fortunately, this time, I was able to hit it on the first swing, and I made it to the edge of the green.

“So, are you going to give us details on the wedding?” Carter asked Will as we made our way toward the flag. It was one of those sweltering July days in Tampa, the kind that had sweat sliding down the back of my neck even at nine in the morning.

“Nope,” Will answered easily.

That made me smirk. This was the kind of man I liked to be around. I’d only ever seen him lose his cool one time — last season, when he was falling hard for his nanny and didn’t know how to handle it.

Fortunately, he had me to knock some sense into him.

“Come on,” Vince said. “You bastards made me tell you everything about mine.”