Page 4 of Slap Shot (Charm City Chill #3)

O liver

Oliver stepped onto the ice for training camp, and immediately knew he was fucked. His usual pre-practice ritual had been completely derailed by thoughts of green eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses and the way she'd admitted he made it hard for her to focus.

The practice facility hummed with familiar energy.

Skates carving ice, pucks smacking against boards, the sharp whistle blasts from Coach Vicky as she directed drills.

This was his sanctuary, the place where everything made sense.

Except today, he kept glancing toward the observation windows, wondering if Heather was watching from her office upstairs.

"Yo, Chenny," Dmitri Volkov slammed into him with a playful check that sent Oliver sliding toward the boards. "You are skating like my babushka today. What is problem?"

"There's no problem," Oliver muttered, pushing off toward center ice where Coach Vicky was setting up the morning drill.

"Bullshit." Kane executed a hockey stop that sprayed ice chips in Oliver's direction. "You've missed three tape-to-tape passes. That's not like you."

"Maybe he's distracted," Mateo chimed in, waggling his eyebrows. "I saw him coming out of a meeting yesterday looking all secretive."

"Ooh, secretive," Ethan added. "Was it contract negotiations? Are you getting traded?"

"Nobody's getting traded, kid," Jax said, gliding past. "But something's definitely got our boy rattled."

Oliver shot them all a look that usually shut down locker room interrogations, but Kane just grinned, which meant he was about to become insufferable.

"I bet it's a woman," Kane announced to the group. "Chenny's got that 'I just got my world rocked' look."

"It's not a woman," Oliver said through gritted teeth.

"Definitely a woman," Dmitri agreed, nodding sagely. "Is like when I first meet Oksana Could not skate straight for week."

"Who's Oksana?" Ethan asked.

"My cousin's neighbor's daughter. Very pretty, very mean. She tells me my English is terrible."

"Your English is terrible," Liam pointed out from the goal crease.

"You’re mean too."

"Gentlemen," Coach Vicky's voice cut across their conversation like a blade. "If you're done analyzing Chenofski's love life, we have work to do. Two-on-one drill, starting with our distracted winger here."

The team erupted in wolf whistles and chirps as Oliver grabbed a puck and headed for the corner, his face burning. This was exactly what he didn't need, his teammates' attention focused on his nonexistent personal life right when he actually had something worth hiding.

He broke toward the net with Dmitri flanking him, Noah backing up as the lone defender. Oliver held the puck until the last possible second, then tried to slide a pass across to Dmitri. The puck hit Noah's stick instead, and the veteran defenseman cleared it easily.

"Chenny." Coach Vicky's whistle cut through the air. "Get over here." Oliver skated to the boards where she stood, arms crossed, with the kind of expression that meant she was about to make his life difficult.

"Just need to warm up more, Coach."

"Uh-huh." She studied him with sharp hazel eyes that missed nothing. "Or maybe you need to get whatever's bothering you sorted out before you step on my ice. This team doesn't have time for players who are somewhere else mentally."

The rebuke stung because it was fair. Oliver nodded, jaw tight. "Won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't. Now run it again, and this time pretend you actually want to be here."

The next drill went better. Oliver forced his mind to focus on the familiar rhythm of hockey—read the defense, find the open man, execute. By the time they moved to power play practice, he was back in sync with his linemates, threading passes through traffic and finding soft spots in coverage.

"There's our boy," Jax said, bumping fists with him after a particularly smooth sequence that ended with Mateo scoring from the slot. "Whatever got you back on track, keep it up."

Oliver was about to respond when movement in the observation deck caught his eye. Heather stood at the railing, arms crossed, watching the practice. She wore dark jeans and a team pullover that made her look both professional and casual.

Their eyes met and she smiled. Not her polite smile, but something warmer, more personal. Like she was enjoying watching him work.

His next pass sailed three feet over Dmitri's stick.

"Mother of God," Dmitri groaned, chasing down the errant puck. "Is getting worse."

"Chenny's got it bad," Kane laughed, following Oliver's gaze to the observation deck. "Oh shit, is that the new IT lady?"

"Her name's Heather," Oliver said quickly. Too quickly.

The entire power play unit stopped skating.

"Don’t you mean, Dr. Quincy?" Mateo repeated, a grin spreading across his face. "Or are you on a first-name basis with the new IT security chick?"

"It's a professional relationship," Oliver said, which was technically true and completely misleading.

"Professional my ass," Ethan said..

"Enough," Coach Vicky called sharply. "Chenofski, if you can't focus during practice, you can watch from the bench. Everyone else, back to positions."

Oliver tried to ignore the mutterings from the team, but when he glanced back at the observation deck, Heather was no longer alone. A woman in a business suit had joined her, and whatever they were discussing was making Heather's posture go rigid.

The rest of practice passed in a blur of drills and increasingly creative commentary from his teammates about his obvious distraction. By the time Coach Vicky blew the final whistle, Oliver was ready to escape to the locker room and figure out what that conversation upstairs had been about.

"Chenny," Noah called as they headed off the ice. "Word of advice from an old married guy?"

"I'm listening."

"Whatever's going on with you, just be careful. Front office relationships can get messy fast, especially if management decides they don't like it."

Oliver nodded, the warning settling uneasily in his stomach. In the locker room, the chirping continued as everyone showered and changed.

"Twenty bucks says Chenny asks her out within a week," Mateo announced, pulling on his street clothes.

"Twenty says he's already asked her out," Kane countered.

"You're both wrong," Jax said. "Twenty says she asked him out."

"Now that would be something." Dmitri laughed. "Smart woman making first move on shy hockey player."

"I'm not shy," Oliver protested.

"You are totally shy," Ethan said. "Remember when that reporter asked about your dating life last season? You turned red and ran away."

"I didn't run away. I had somewhere to be."

"The bathroom," Kane added helpfully. "For twenty minutes."

Oliver was saved from further humiliation when his phone buzzed with a text. He glanced at it, trying to keep his expression neutral despite the way his pulse kicked up seeing Heather's name.

Can we talk? I need to discuss something that came up today. - H

"Gotta go," he said, grabbing his bag.

"Hot date with Heather?" Mateo called after him.

"None of your business," Oliver shot back.

As he and Charlie made their way through the building's corridors, Oliver ignored a text from his sister Andi. They had tickets to Shubert for Stomp for tomorrow night. She was probably looking to nail down the details with him. He’d call her later.

First, he needed to find out what was going on with Heather and the woman who had pissed her off during practice.

Heather was in her office. The door was open, but her focus was entirely on her computer screen. When she looked up at his knock, the relief in her expression made his protective instincts flare.

"Close the door," she said.

Oliver did, then settled into the chair across from her desk. Charlie flopped down next to him.

"What’s going on?”

"Ivy Hodges from HR." Heather rubbed her temples. "She had some concerns about our collaboration."

"That was who you were talking with during practice.”

She nodded.

“What kind of concerns?"

"She thinks it’s a bad idea to have you distracted from the ice." Heather leaned back in her chair, studying him.

“I appreciate her concern, but I’m fine.” He tamped down on his anger that flared up.

“She said that with Marcus and Stephanie hooking up last season it seems like corporate is running a dating site if you and I go off on business meetings.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“I know, but she doesn’t want you and I to work together on this.”

“If someone is targeting me or using my code, I’m involved whether HR likes it or not.”

“I couldn’t tell her that without risking your past getting out.”

Before Oliver could respond, his phone rang. Andi's name on the screen made him frown. His sister rarely called during the day, and she had just left a text. He hoped nothing was wrong.

"Sorry, I should take this," he said, answering. "Andi?"

"Ollie, I'm so sorry." Her voice was frazzled, apologetic. "I have to bail out of Stomp tomorrow night. Tommy just tested positive for Covid."

“Shit. Is he okay?”

“Yeah, he’s up to date on his vaccinations so it’s been mild. But we’re all going to quarantine for a few days.”

“No problem. I’ll see if I can get a refund on the tickets.”

“No. Don’t. You definitely need to get out more." Andi said. "I’m sure you can ask someone at work to go with you.”

"Maybe. I'll figure something out."

"Good. I’ll call you when the coast is clear and we’re no longer contagious.”

“Tell Tommy I hope he feels better.”

“I will.”

"Everything okay?" Heather asked.

"My nephew has Covid." Oliver pocketed his phone. "We had tickets to see Stomp tomorrow.” He took a deep breath. Might as well get this over with. “Do you want to go with me instead?”

"What about HR?”

"I thought... I mean, if you wanted to grab dinner before the show, we could discuss the case away from the office..." Oliver trailed off, feeling like a teenager asking someone to prom. "Somewhere we could talk freely without worrying about who might overhear or see us together."