Page 27 of The Bro-code

“Yo, Cole.” Corey Collins offers me his fist to bump.

One by one, my teammates arrive and even though I knew no one would hold a grudge against me for missing summer training, I’m relieved that they all look genuinely happy to see me.

“Hey, Captain.”

Silence descends in the locker room when the only new face—tryouts are on Monday—on our team roster shows up.

“Ryker,” I smile, shaking his hand. “It’s good to see you. I hope you had a good trip to Star Cove.”

Amusement dances in Ryker’s eyes. “I guess you could say that.”

I have a feeling there’s a story there, but I’ll ask him later; if Ryker wanted to tell me in front of everyone, he would have.

“Guys,” I don’t need to do anything to attract my teammates’ attention, as they’re all watching my interaction with the newcomer with obvious interest. “This is our new teammate and starting center Ryker Moore.”

There’s another beat of silence. I understand why everyone is staring at Ryker the way they are. His old team played against us in last season’s Frozen Four final and even if Ryker didn’t step on the ice, the switch between adversary and teammate takes a second.

“Hey everyone,” Ryker looks around the room. “I know I’m new here and that a few months ago you guys kicked my old team’s ass in the championship final, but rest assured, I’m excited to be here. You guys were the best team and deserved the victory and I hope to help you secure another win this year. Fuck knows I lost twice in the finals and I promise you, you don’t want to experience that.”

Tucker is the first one to welcome Ryker. “We hope so, man,” he says. “We lost some of our key players to the Bridgeport Warriors and some of us have really big shoes to fill.”

Ryker nods. “Cash Hanbury is a first class goalie, but I know exactly how you feel. When I started playing with the Hemlocks, I was replacing their team captain who guided them to their last championship win. But from the tape I watched, I know for a fact that you have the talent. It’s our job as a team to help you be as great as Cash.”

That was the right thing to say, and it thaws the ice.

Everyone starts introducing themselves to Ryker and I’m sure our new teammate will feel right at home in no time.

I can’t claim that Ryker and I are best friends yet, but the interactions we had while training with the Heroes were more than positive and I’m excited to play with him this year.

Even more than that, I hope we’ll become friends since it seems that we’ll also be teammates next year if the Heroes don’t change their minds about having us for our rookie seasons.

Talking about friends, I check the time and take out my phone to text Jagger.

My best friend went out to the campus bar last night and he better get his ass in here before Coach Harrison, or there’s gonna be hell to pay.

As if summoned by my thoughts, Jagger rushes into the locker room the second I open the text app on my phone to check on his whereabouts.

To my surprise, he makes a beeline for the spot where Ryker is lacing up his skates.

“Dude,” he grins. “‘Sup?”

Ryker stands up and my two teammates hug. “Long time no see, Connelly. I’m excited to play with you again.”

Huh?

The question must be written all over my face, because Jagger explains. “Ryker and I went to the same prep school back in Connecticut. It’s nice to be teammates again.”

“You never told me you knew Ryker,” I say, surprised that Jagger never mentioned it before.

“We just played together our senior year,” he admits, clearly embarrassed. “My parents enrolled me after I had gotten expelled from the school I had been attending for most of my high school career.”

I can’t help but chuckle. “Do I even wanna know?”

“Let’s just say that the principal wasn’t too thrilled that I hooked up with his daughter.”

Typical Jagger. I have a reputation as a player on campus, but if hooking up was an Olympic sport? Jagger would have no rivals.

“Regardless,” Ryker grins. “It’s cool to see a familiar face aside from Cole. I’m looking forward to kicking ass with the Cove Knights this year.”

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