Page 34 of Brace and Chase

“Do not hurt yourself, child,” Nikolay says with mock wisdom.

I shake my head and look away. No need to ruin this good mood he’s in.Maybe he got laid or something.

I have to force myself to keep undressing as if the thought didn’t make my chest tighten.

I know nothing about his personal life, though I’mpretty sure he isn’t married or in a serious relationship. I think I’d know if that were the case... wouldn’t I?

Nikolay’sgood mood carries the team over the next two weeks. Out of the seven games we play we win the first four, and then we seem to run out of steam and definitely hit a streak of bad luck.

Bear got hit during the last period of the fifth game, and got a nasty concussion when his head hit the ice so hard I heard the thump from the bench.

Nikolay went insane.

And he wasn’t the only one. Even skinny Spiderman went after the left wing of the Phoenix Hawks who had crashed into Bear.

There were . . . a lot of penalties.

And even though our other goalie—cleverly nicknamed Baby Bear by, you guessed it, Nikolay—is damn good, we couldn’t recover with the time we had left, since Phoenix took advantage of the power play and scored on ustwice.

The mood was somber after that, though it didn’t go back to the way it was before New Year’s thankfully. There was still some chatting, and even though Nikolay was fuming, guys still came up to him sitting next to me and patted him on the shoulder and back.

We were told Bear would be out for the next five games and so... here we are, about to start practice in preparationfor tomorrow night’s game against the New York Demons who are coming into town.

After tomorrow’s game we’ll be going on an eleven-day roadie, and I fear that if we don’t get a W against the Demons we’ll be in for a miserable week and a half on the road.

Gab’s favor is a constant in the back of my mind, and I can’t figure out any way at all that I can get to Nikolay without it being aggressive.

It all boils over when the first two lines go head to head.

Another backup goalie was brought up from our farm team—the Hunter, I think his nickname is—and he’s my target at the moment.

Jules passes me the puck after playing keep away from Bates, and Nikolay comes right for me like he always does. And he hits me harder than what’s called for,like fucking always.

Finally, it’s too much for me. My frayed nerves, my fear of never making my dreams come true and of failing the one person who still believes in me on this team, it all comes crashing down, and I snap when Nikolay mutters, “Weak little boy,” in his stupid as fuck accent.

I’m done.

“You’ve lived here for a decade and a half Nikolay. You should drop the fucking accent so we can understand you.”

The whole rink goes silent at my words andI. Don’t. Care.

I know everyone’s watching as Nikolay stops skating, as he turns and closes the distance between us slowly.

“You can shut the fuck up or you can stick your opinion up your ass, Heart. No one cares what you think.”

“You clearly do,” I taunt him. “If you want me to shut up so much, why don’t you come here and make—” My question gets cut off when he barrels toward me with a battle cry.

I’m waiting for the punch, ready for it in fact. I’ve taken more than my share and I’m not scared of the big badSanta. But it never comes.

I see Baby Bear pulling a snarling Nikolay away from me, and then I feel someone—Mater?—tugging me back as well. I didn’t even realize I was moving in too.

“Hey,” comes the scream from Laney as he steps onto the ice and looks at us with a hard stare. “You two fucking brainless idiots, off the ice.Now,” he yells, so loud I wince.

I look back at Mater and nod at him, then skate out, following Laney without looking at anyone. I know that deliberately starting a fight was wrong, but what else am I supposed to do when Nikolay refuses to have a normal conversation with me?

I know... I know deep in my gut that we’re the problem with this team, and if we could just move past whatever it is I did or didn’t do to make him hate me, I know we could be great. We could win.

“Conference room,” Laney barks as soon as my skates are on the mats. I nod wordlessly and go directly to theroom where the press conferences take place, not bothering to go to the locker room to change out of my skates.

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