Page 74 of Fear of Falling

“It was a great suggestion though. I’d never thought to do that.” He looked lost in thought for a moment as we skated back across the ice. “Any other hockey wisdom you wanna share?”

“You’ll have to put me on the payroll,” I teased, making Wyatt laugh.

“Where the hell have you been all these years?” He pulled us to a stop, staring down at me with a soft smile.

“Living below you, I guess.”

“Well, I for one am glad we got stuck in that elevator together.” He cradled my face with his hands. Gazing up at him, I felt my heart race.

“I am too.”

26

WYATT

“Coach caught you guys?”

“At least you didn’t have your pants around your ankles,” Trevor said, Bryton and I stared at him. “What? That would’ve been really awkward.”

“Wasn’t like we were fucking against the boards,” I grumbled. That would’ve been a hundred times more embarrassing.

“Coach sure would be a mood killer,” Bryton said.

I shook my head. “I won’t lie. When I heard Coach’s voice my balls almost shriveled up.”

“Small miracles. There are cameras everywhere in the arena,” Trevor said.

“Do we want to know how you know that?” Bryton asked. Trevor only smirked. “Anyways,” Bryton changed the subject. “Think Coach is going to ride your ass today?”

I extended my left leg out, bending at the waist as I stretched. It crossed my mind after Coach caught Josie and I on the weekend. It was hard to tell if he was mad at us being on the ice or not.

“It’s Coach, you never know.” I switched legs, pleasantly surprised that it only slightly ached. After sliding on the ice tocatch Josie, I knew my knee would hurt. Then, when I dropped Josie back at her apartment, she surprised me with a jar of pepper paste—the same pepper paste she swore helped her own knee injury.

Admittedly, I didn’t expect much when I applied it. All it did was make my skin tingle and then I washed it off. Yet, this morning I woke up feeling pretty good, devoid of the usual stiffness I had in my knee first thing.

Maybe Josie’s onto something.

“Guess we’re about to find out,” Trevor said, pulling me from my thoughts as he nodded towards the other side of the ice. I lifted my head to see Coach approaching, arms crossed, his expression as intimidating as always. He didn’t need to say a word—his presence alone was enough to ensure he had everyone's attention. Instantly, the team lined up before him.

“We played well Friday. Finally looking like a real team out there.” Coach’s eyes looked down the line at everyone. “Smart plays.” This time he looked directly at me, and I straightened under his gaze.

“We still have a long way to go in this season. Yes, we have a few losses under our belt, but we’re not out. If we continue to play like we did Friday, we have a shot at the title again.”

There were a few grunts of agreement.

“We’re switching up practice today,” Coach instructed, as he again looked at me, before his gaze moved to one of my teammates. “Crosby, you are switching to right defenseman.”

“Oh, shit.” I muttered to myself as the team exchanged confused glances.

“But Coach, I’ve always played left.” Crosby looked at Coach like he had snakes coming out of his ears.

“You push off your right foot more than your left. So, for practice today you’ll be in right. We’ll see how it goes. Boone, Hall, Young, Crosby and Perkins, you’re up first with drills.”Coach walked over to the side of the boards, severing any further protests from Crosby.

“Where the hell did that come from,” Trevor spoke under his breath as the rest of the team moved off the ice.

“Josie,” I said, fighting back the urge to smile.

Coach actually listened to her. Wait until she hears about this.

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