Page 1 of Netting the Goalie

One

Shane

“Son-of-a-mother-fucking bitch.”

Stalking into the empty locker room of the Reading Civic Arena, I tossed my helmet, swearing even more when it smashed into the wall.Something cracked, either the wall or my goalie helmet and I didn’t much care either way.

One more nick in the cinderblock meant shit.One more ding in my helmet… Well, my game was fucked at the moment.I probably wouldn’t need the goddamn helmet much longer anyway.

Not the way I was playing.

“Fuck.”

The rest of the team was still on the ice, though they’d be making their way back here in a few minutes.This was our last practice before our last game before the three-day Christmas holiday.

And it looked like I’d be riding the bench tonight.

Which made me feel like I was back in high school—the fat, awkward kid at the school dance, sitting alone on the bleachers while my friends danced with the hot chicks.The ones who only gave me the time of day because I had a wicked sense of humor and I’d led my high school hockey team to three straight victories.

Throwing myself onto the bench, I ripped open the laces on my skates then threw them on the ground for good measure.

Fucking hell, this sucked.

Get your damn head out of your ass.

Good advice.Wish I knew how to do it.

Frustration burning through me like lit gasoline, I started stripping off the rest of my gear, careful not to rip my practice jersey and shorts.Didn’t give a shit about the rest.I hung my pads in my locker out of habit before I grabbed a towel and stalked naked to the showers.

I stood there for at least five minutes, let the scalding hot water pour over my head and back, trying to get the frustration and the anger to roll away with it.

So far, not working.

And didn’t that just make me want to suck down a gallon of Jack Daniels?

“Shane.”

I stiffened as my teammate Cary Lenville’s voice penetrated the fog in my head.I considered ignoring him, but no one ignored Cary.

The assistant captain of the Reading Redtails Hockey Club, Cary was the glue that held the team together.At thirty-six, he was the oldest player with the most experience.And, even if he wasn’t the most skilled player, he was the one everyone went to when they had problems.Cary always had an answer, didn’t matter what the question was.And even if it wasn’t the completely right answer, it was better than anything you’d come up with on your own.

But I knew Cary couldn’t help with this problem.Not when I was pretty damn sure it was all in my messed-up head.

Shutting off the water, I grabbed my towel.“What’s up?”

I didn’t meet Cary’s gaze and I tried to keep the edge out of my tone but couldn’t manage it.Not when frustrated embarrassment threatened to choke me.

Goddammit, I was supposed to be the team’s number one goalie.They’d nicknamed me the Brick Wall, for fuck’s sake.So why the fuck wasn’t I playing like it?

The guys were depending on me to help them get to the Calder Cup championships this year.They’d been playing well enough to consider it a real possibility.But I had to pull my head out of my ass…like, now.

“Coach said you’re not going home for the break.”

Huh?

I turned to give Cary a look before heading back to my locker.Luckily, no one else was off the ice yet so I had time to pull myself together.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

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