Page 33 of Playing to Win

He shifted in his chair. “Yeah, I loved it. But goalie gear was expensive, so I only played when I could use his stuff.”

Cooper leaned forward. “This sounds like a soap opera. Or is it a fairy tale? When did Cinderella get his chance to be a goalie?”

Braydon shifted again, obviously not comfortable with where the questions were leading now. “In high school. The hockey team there was made up of kids from a bunch of places, so we all got to try out and I made it as goalie. I got a job helping a neighbor to pay for some secondhand gear. And my parents worked extra too.”

“What happened to the mayor’s kid?” Ducky was invested.

“He went to a private school. He played for a Gold team for a while.” Braydon’s brow furrowed. “I’m not sure what happened to him. He didn’t get drafted, because we’d have heard about that back home.”

Like my hometown. Anyone getting drafted to the NHL was big news.

“After high school?” Bongo took some more sashimi. Royster tried to steal it from him.

“I got on the hockey team at a small, private religious school in North Dakota. It was ACHA, not NCAA,”

That was a whole level down from the NCAA school I and most of the people at this table had played at. Cooper looked at his phone and stood up, waving at us to keep going.

“What does that mean?” Ducky asked.

Braydon shrugged his shoulder. “I’m only the second guy from the ACHA to get to the NHL, for at least one game.”

Obviously, players in the ACHA didn’t expect a pro career. Braydon’s story did have some fairy-tale elements.

“So how did that happen? You weren’t drafted?” Barnes leaned over the table, either to hear better or to crowd Royster away from the sushi.

Braydon shook his head. “No. Freshman year I played backup till I broke my leg and was out the rest of the season. I got to start junior year. We almost made it to the championship senior year. But even though we missed it, a guy from the Blaze saw me and gave me a chance to try out with the Inferno.”

“You had a shitload of bad habits, but raw talent as well.” Taranis Jones spoke as he came around the corner with Cooper. “Sorry I’m late. Baby was colicky, and I sent Penny to sleep once Aria finally settled.”

Braydon stood up to greet his coach—former coach.

“Whoa.” Ducky leaned over to me. “I didn’t know he’d had it so tough coming up.”

Neither did I, but I didn’t share that. This was information a girlfriend would have known. “He’s worked hard.”

Braydon returned to sit beside me, and Taranis found a seat between me and Crash. There wasn’t a lot of food left, but everyone passed what there was toward the latecomer.

“So, do I still have a shitload of bad habits?” Braydon leaned across me to ask.

“You still go down too early on a rush.”

I pushed my chair back. I loved to talk hockey, but Braydon leaning across me was distracting, and I wasn’t quite sure how I was supposed to behave as his girlfriend. Wrap an arm around him? Push him back out of my lap?

I picked up my empty plate and Braydon’s and took them to the kitchen. I could handle short distances without my cane now. Seb was doing the same on his end of the table while Faith and Cooper were discussing something—probably Cooper’s goddaughter Hailey, based on my experience.

I stacked the plates on the island of the monstrous kitchen and went back to grab more. When I returned, Seb was sliding plates into the dishwasher. He and Cooper were still tight, and he knew his way around the condo. I passed the newest dirty dishes to him.

“I’m still pissed at your boyfriend, but I can see where he might resent Faith. Not like it’s easy for anyone to get to this level, but he had a tough path. And then, when you chose being with us to celebrate Faith’s start.” He shrugged and resumed filling the dishwasher.

That was generous of Hunter, but he was a nice guy. Still, if he was thinking kindlier of Braydon, then this crazy plan must be working.

I chose my words carefully. “If that video was your first introduction to Braydon, then you’d think he was a whiny misogynist.” Exactly what I’d thought.

Hunter nodded. “Like I told Faith, if you were dating him, then he couldn’t be. There had to be more to it.”

Faith entered the kitchen then, smiling at her husband who passed her on his way back to the table. She leaned against the counter, arms crossed. “We haven’t seen you for a couple of days. Anna thought you were avoiding us—is he the reason why?”

Anna was the captain of the Bonfire. And Braydon wasn’t the only reason I hadn’t been with my teammates. Workhadbeen taking up a lot of my time. But as much as I loved the Bonfire, being around them while I was still dependent on the cane for walking more than a few feet wasn’t easy. I didn’t feel like part of the team, not in the same way, when I wasn’t on the ice with them. Fortunately, the me who was supposed to be dating Braydon would have a different answer, so I just shrugged. A shrug wasn’t technically a lie, was it?

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