That said I hang up and stand, placing my phone in my locker harder than necessary.
“You know she’ll be pissed you hung up on her without her wishing you luck again,” Ezra mumbles as we walk over to thehuddle, and I snort, replying, “Maybe she needs to stop trying to set me up with Kaylah’s nurse then.”
He hums but doesn’t say anything back, knowing now isn’t the time as we huddle up for Coach’s speech which is full of encouragement that I completely ignore because I’m too fucking busy trying to get my mind into the fucking moment. Trying to forget about the one who got away even as I squeeze her bracelet tied underneath my glove on my left hand, something I wear during every game and practice session fucking hoping and praying I’ll look into the crowd and suddenly see her.
Dammit.
“Evans,” Coach says, getting my attention. I look up, finding everyone staring at me. Ezra looks at me with concern, but I ignore him and look at all the boys, ready to hear from their captain.
Time to get fucking into it.
“Some of us, we’ve been here before, more than once,” I state, “some of us know the pressure of the game we’re about to play; some of us know how much it hurts to lose that cup, and some of us know exactly how it feels to hold that fucking cup after sixty minutes with the home crowd screaming in the background, confetti covering you,” the boys all nod in agreement, grinning.
I look around the room again, making eye contact with each player, and say, “The adrenaline that you feel right now, don’t let it consume you, instead, let it guide you on the ice. Use it and not by getting yourself in the sin bin,” I eye Ezra, who smirks. I continue, “Use it to drive you on the ice, to keep hold of that fucking puck, to win the game,” the men all nod, looking serious, “For the men who have never held that cup, who never got the chance, to the rookies, trust your team, trust the men skating beside you,” I look around the men and say, “Let’s make our coaches, our family, our friends, our fucking fans proud and bring that cup back where it belongs.”
They all bang their sticks on the floor, and I roar like a lion, energizing the team and causing them to follow suit before we all barge out of the locker room, ready to defeat the Seals.
“To the Red Lions,” Ezra shouts from on top of the bar holding the Stanley Cup up high, everyone around me cheers, deafening me, and yet I can’t help but fucking grin.
We won, we fucking won!
Ezra throws the cup my way, and I catch it before handing it off to our goalie, Liam, his mop of curly ginger hair bouncing as he jumps up and down with it, taking it through the cheering crowd. I chuckle, take a sip of my beer as I make my way to exit, wanting to call my dad to see if he’s had any leeway with finding Pen when a hand grabs my arm and squeezes tight, nails digging into the skin. I look sharply, ready to tell whoever it is to let the fuck go, but her voice rings out, blocking my words.
“Hey Taylor, it’s been a while, baby,” the busty blonde says, and I recognize her instantly, knowing I’ve fucked her before, but her name escapes me.
“Hi, uh…” I raise a brow, and she sighs while smiling and reminds me, “It’s Sonia.”
I nod, “Right, Sonia. What can I do for you?”
She smirks and steps forward, her tight red dress barely holding her fake tits inside, she grips my shirt and moans,yesfuckingmoansas she says, “Maybe you can take me to the back and do that thing with your fingers again?”
She pushes her tits against my chest, anger hits not only because my cock doesn’t even twitch but this woman who knows I don’t do seconds is fucking marking me with her nails.
Fuck’s sake, I really need to find Penelope. I can’t go the rest of my fucking life without sex. I need it, it helps calm me after a rough fucking game or a win.
“Yo Cap, tap that,” I hear someone shout, the crowd cheers, but as I go to take a step back, Sonia pushes on her tiptoesand presses her lips against mine, shocking the shit outta me as flashes go off.
“What the fuck?!” I demand as I push her away, shock still running through me.
She smirks, “Come on, Taylor, you didn’t complain last year.”
I grit my teeth as Ezra comes to my side, knowing I’m about to create a scene. He grips my arm in warning, knowing we can’t have bad press straight after winning the Stanley Cup, not after last year.
“Are you kidding me, Taylor?” I hear snapped from the other side of me and I turn to see a pissed off Elena, her bleach blonde hair straight down covering her bare back, her light green eyes blazing with anger.
“Fuck me,” I mumble, and Ezra squeezes my arm again, also seeing the raging jealousy surrounding the bitch.
“Last year the team went under a fuck load of bad press, you know this. Shane and Andy were both put on probation after videos and photos were leaked of them having a threesome with some guy!” she growls, and Ezra mutters, “Videos she fucking released because Shane wouldn’t fuck her a second time,” then takes a sip of his beer and I smirk.
“Now, you and blondie here will have to date for a while. We don’t need a front-page title stating, ‘Captain the whore’!” That said, she turns on her heels and storms away, fury fills me.
“She’s done that because she’s fucking jealous. It was just a kiss, a fucking kiss most people saw caught you off fucking guard,” Ezra growls, and I nod.
I confirm, “She’s hoping it will mean my no-sex streak will fucking continue, not realizing I have a girl I want.”
“Pretty much,” he states, “and as soon as she realizes you want Pen, she’s going to flip.”
I shake my head, “How in the fuck has she not lost her job yet with how much drama she causes with the team?”