Page 133 of Gloves Off

I look to my closet, starting to smile. I know just the heels for tonight.

CHAPTER 61

ALEXEI

We hitthe ice for the last warm-up before the game, and when I skate behind the net, my eyes meet Georgia’s.

She’s wearing the jersey I got her, and fucking hell, she looks good in it. I nod at her and while Darcy talks to her, she gives me a little nod back, eyes dragging over me in my Storm uniform.

Is she checking me out? Pride beats through me.

My gaze lifts to the owner’s box reserved for friends and family, where our parents are watching the game and hanging out. It’s still strange, seeing our parents get along after the image I had in my head. Strange, but not unpleasant.

At the bench after the anthem, I take a seat beside the rookie.

“Today—” I start, but he’s already nodding.

“I know. Be more physical. Get them up against the boards. Disrupt the play.”

“No.”

The rookie pauses.

“Let’s try something different.”

All night, I thought about what Georgia did at soccer practice, tailoring the training to the player’s personality. She found what motivated Teddy and used it to help her.

“I reviewed your old game tape with Darcy this afternoon,” I tell him.

“From my college games? Why?”

“Darcy saw something in those tapes that made her recommend you to Ward, and Ward saw something that led him to signing you.” It’s so obvious when I lay it out like that. “I was encouraging you to play like me, because that’s all I know. But now you’re going to play like you.”

You steamroll everyone,Georgia had said when I screwed up and got rid of her car.You always think you know best.

I don’t want to be that guy. Not anymore.

On the game tape, Darcy pointed out his sharp, shifty turns and the ease at which he moved the puck around the ice. Forget getting physical, he barely touched other players, because they couldn’t catch him. He doesn’t have the hardest shot in the league but as soon as he has time and space, he’s deadly. He picks corners of the net with proficiency I’ve only seen in the most highly skilled forwards. He’d give Miller a run for his money.

And most importantly, Walker could read what was happening on the ice before it took place. Before the other team had even passed the puck, he was intervening, and he’s so fast and nimble, the other team doesn’t have time to respond.

We watched this happen again and again and again. He was like nothing I’ve ever seen in defense—and I’ve been so hardheaded that I almost missed it.

I think about the rookie’s playful, competitive spirit. All the kid wants is to have fun.

“Don’t let them touch you and don’t let them get the puck.”

A light sparks in his eyes.

He could be great, with the right mentoring. He could be great, if I let him. This whole time, I’ve been in the way.

“I’ve been pushing you to play in a physical style that doesn’t work for you.” I swallow, guilt writhing inside me. “The fewer injuries you sustain, the better. You’ll have a longer career.”

The way I was forcing the kid to play, he’d be out of the league by his early thirties, battered and beat up, and it would be my fault for pushing him to be like me.

I clear my throat and look away, embarrassment tightening in my gut. “I’m sorry.”

“Wow.” Walker doubles over. “I need a moment.”

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