Page 55 of The Trophy

CHAPTER 11

HOLDING THE BAG

CASH

Ihope I can survive this shit till the draft in June.

My life has become such a dumpster fire that I feel like the proverbial Dutch boy who plugged a hole in the dam. The only difference between me and the boy from the story is that he plugged one hole, while I have to deal with a new fucking emergency every time I think I got a handle on things.

My original plan was to stay in school for another year even if I got drafted and finish my degree. With the way things have been going lately however, I might need to reconsider. I need to make an appointment with my student advisor and work out a plan to finish my degree online.

I know it isn’t going to be easy regardless if I immediately get a spot in an NHL team or get sent to a farm team to get more experience. Professional hockey means a shit ton of time on the road and training will be even more intense than it has been in college.

Of course that was before Coach Harrison. Our new coach seems a real hard ass, hellbent on making our lives harder than they already are.

I take out my phone as I park my truck right outside the arena at six fucking forty-five in the morning on a Saturday.

After plugging the latest hole in my complicated life, I should be free tonight. I hope Lakyn is too, so we can have one-on-one time.

That’s assuming that stupid dare didn’t make her run for the hills, I wouldn’t even blame her if she did. However I assume that if that was the case, Blaze or Luca would have let me know. Or would they?

I swear competing with them for the captain spot and for Lakyn’s heart is messing with me big time.

This year could determine the rest of my life and getting a girlfriend—or even worse chasing after one—was the last thing I needed. But I’ve never met anyone I liked as much as I like Lakyn and I know I’d regret it forever if I let her get away.

Except that Luca and Blaze come from money—Luca is a fucking prince for Christ sake—and I’m the one who has less to offer, especially if I don’t get drafted.

I exhale, shaking my head. Lakyn isn’t like that. She doesn’t care how many zeros are in our bank account, and that’s one of the things I immediately liked about her.

That’s why I want her to choose me, regardless of the fact that Lake’s boyfriend will also be the new Cove Kinghts team captain.

I open my messages to text her but then reconsider after seeing that it isn’t even 7 am.

A DM would probably be better.

I don’t think too much on the words and I just go for it.

Me: Hey baby, I’m so sorry I had to bail last night. I was really looking forward to seeing you. Do you think we could have dinner tonight? We can go out or order in if you prefer. That’s if you want to stay at your place. I would rather avoid the Gamma house, it’s always so crowded even on weekends. Let me know what you feel like doing, anything goes as long as we’re together.

I hit send and get out of my truck. My hope is that we can stay in and that the coast is clear at her place.

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her after our night in LA and this time I don’t want to share her time or attention.

I’m so wrapped up in my own thoughts when I enter the locker room that I barely notice that my teammates are all in sweatpants and practice jerseys but no one is wearing any paddings or shields.

Topher’s the one who points it out when he sees me getting my protective gear out of my locker. “Coach said to be on the ice by seven, no protective gear needed.”

That’s odd.

Unless Coach just wants to talk to us about something. But then why would we be on the ice rather than in the arena’s media room? That’s where we have team meetings and spend time watching game tapes. There’s only one possible answer. Coach must have some kind of drills in mind. If he was planning on a scrimmage, chances are that we would be in full gear.

People start filing out of the locker room. We might have met our new coach just a couple of months ago, but he made it more than clear that he has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to tardiness.

“Hey dude,” Blaze approaches me right by the door. “Everything ok?”

I nod. “Yeah, peachy. Just some stuff I had to deal with at home. How are things with Lake?”

Blaze looks over his shoulder, as if to make sure we don’t have too much of an audience. “Actually fine. She isn’t too mad at us.”

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