Page 11 of Brace and Chase

And maybe he does have a point about me not driving today.

“Please take me to the practice rink, sir,” I say mockingly as I fasten my seatbelt. Bear grunts and starts the car.

See? I’m in a great mood, talking shit to my friend like I always do and ready to play some hockey.

Nothing and no one is going to ruin the excitement of the start of a new season, I decide.

Especiallynot Charlie Heart. I won’t let him.

A hush fallsover the locker room as I’m pulling up my compression shorts and I know exactly why that is.He’shere, and I bet everyone is staring at him. I hope he feels very fucking uncomfortable.

I go about my businessvery deliberately, and just keep suiting up. After the pause, small murmurs fill the room again, and I bet Jules is shaking Heart’s hand and welcoming him to the team.

I wouldn’t be mad about it. I’mnotmad about it. It’s his job and duty as our captain, our leader, and our best player.

I’d even bet Mater is right next to Picard and will be discussing a game from the past or something or other with Heart. He’ll probably show him to Fire’s cubby—which I discovered yesterday he was fine with giving up for the season.

Problem is, that cubby is right next to mine.

Alphabetical order, they said, but they didn’t count the ‘Von’ in Von Bruun for whatever reason and so...

Shit.

I don’t know how but I feel it when he stops right behind me. I look up and see Bear looking at me from the other side of the room. I don’t know what Bear expects meto do right now. I don’t know what he wants from me, but I don’t particularly care.

I’m going to do what’s good for me.

So when I turn to look at my cubby again, I don’t steal a glance to my right, and I don’t say a fucking word even though normally I’d be bullshitting someone right about now. I just grab my tape and my sweater then sit my ass down and get to work on my stick and my skates.

“Hey,” I hear him tell me and I have to grind my teeth.

Hey?He’s going to greet me like that? So fucking casual like he hasn’t been a smug fucking bastard to me since we were drafted fifteen fucking seasons ago?

The fucking audacity . . .

I forget every promise I made to myself about ignoring him and staying true to myself in front of my teammates, and I turn my headvery slowlyand look up at him, dead in the eyes and say nothing.

“How you doing?” he asks with a wide fucking smile. I stare at him for a longer moment, and once more there’s a long beat of silence in the room. I focus all my hate for him into my eyes, and I hope he can read my expression clearly.

I hear someone stand, and by the sound of the steps, I know it’s Bear, probably coming over to try and drag me away from Heart if I throw the first punch. He shouldn’t bother, I sure as hell won’t.

I see the second it dawns on Heart that I’m just not going to answer him. His face falls, his almost black eyesdim, and his smile disappears. Good, he should never smile in this building.

Without a word I turn my head back to my skates and get to work. Hopefully he got the fucking message that he should stay away from me and not try to make any type of conversation.

If he doesn’t, well,that’swhen Bear is going to have to worry.

“Line up,”Laney, our head coach, shouts at us once everybody’s on the ice. He’s looking down at his clipboard. “Heart, you’re with Mater on defense in line one. Everybody else stays the same. Ten-minute scrimmage line one and two. Bear and Baby Bear on the net. One goal and then lines three and four get a go.”

I’ve had almost a week to assimilate the fact that Heart was more than likely going to be on the first line, but my hands still react to hearing Laney say it. My grip on my stick hardens until I have to make myself let go.

More than half the team follows behind him. Bear isn’t in my team because he always plays with the first line—it’s the way it is, nothing personal—so I clap Baby Bear on the shoulder and give him a nod. I don’t care if it’s childish. I don’t care about anything other than beating the first line to that goal.

I look at Milkman, Twocox, and Spiderman, the babyforwards for my line, and give them the look they know all too well.

Bates nods at me too, so I know everybody got the assignment.

It always surprises opposing teams when we open with this particular play, and the guys on the first line sure have seen us do it a bunch of times, but I know damn well they’re not expecting it today because weneverpractice this play with them.

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