Page 84 of Scoring Position

VANCOUVER WASwet.

That was Nico’s first impression when one of his new teammates, a defenseman named Jordan, picked him up from the airport. It was raining when he landed, and it was raining when he got into the car, and now they were in the car and it was still raining.

It had been raining in the audiobook he downloaded on the way to the airport too.

Appropriate. It just needed a little more Sturm und Drang to really hammer things home.

“So anyway,” Jordan said as he signaled for a lane change—he’d been talking the whole time, undeterred by Nico’s one-word responses—“they put you up in the team hotel, which is decent, but I’ve got a spare bedroom if you’re not into hotel living.”

Nico almost managed a smile at the way things came full circle. A few months ago, he was the one offering the new guy his extra bedroom.

At least he had good karma.

The ironic thing was, if it hadn’t been for Ryan’s intervention, Nico never would have been able to take a near stranger up on that offer. But now—well, Vancouver was going to be home. The Orcas were going to be his team. And the sooner he started feeling like one of them, the better he’d play.

The first step to building that relationship was accepting it when they offered him a kindness.

“That would be great,” he said. “Thank you.”

Jordan’s place wasn’t much like Nico’s. He lived in a sleek modern apartment with a killer view. Nico would’ve lamented the lack of outdoor space, except Jordan had a wide balcony crowded with a rainforest of hardy potted plants that surrounded a grill and eating area and provided a handy screen for a small hot tub.

“Nice place,” he commented.

Jordan laughed. “It better be, for what they charge in rent. When the Orcas offer you an extension, make sure you negotiate to factor in the cost of real estate.”

Right. Because there was no way he was going to be signing with any other team now. Not with what Vancouver gave up to get him. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You do that.” He smiled. “I’ve got to make a couple calls. I’ll let you settle in.”

He left Nico in his guest bedroom with his bags. Nico had managed to pack two suitcases in his rush, not including his gear bag, so hopefully he had enough to get him to the end of the year. He tried not to think of the long to-do list that awaited him this summer—selling his house, packing up or getting rid of his stuff, shipping everything to Vancouver. Should he ship the car too? Or maybe he’d take a road trip.

He poked around the room and then opened his first suitcase. He’d just gotten his suits in the closet and his underwear in the dresser when his phone rang.

When he saw the name, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. No sense in delaying the inevitable.

“Hello, Papa.”

“Nico, did you make it to Vancouver all right?”

He took a deep breath, resolved to focus on his new situation and nothing else. “Yes. Jordan Legace picked me up and offered me a place to stay until the end of the season.”

“Hm.” His father hummed softly, perhaps calling up what he knew about Legace. “Solid defenseman. Good. He’ll be a much better influence on you than Wright.”

So much for that resolution.Nico clenched his teeth and his fist.Don’t snap.He and Ella had talked through everything, and they had agreed that whatever else happened with his dad, he needed to keep his cool. It was the only way to salvage their relationship. “Ryan was a good influence.”

Until he broke Nico’s heart.

His dad scoffed. “He was barely in the league, and he was pulling you down. All that attention on your personal life… it’s not good for your image. You need to focus on hockey right now—”

“Stop!”

Heavy silence filled the line. Nico took a deep breath and began to pace. He couldn’t stand still for this.

“I don’t understand why you hate Ryan so much.” Nico couldn’t even hate him, not really, even though he desperately wanted to. “But you know what? I don’t care. We’re on different teams now, so we never have to talk about him again. Problem solved.”

Silence again. This one wasn’t any more comfortable, but it wasdifferent. “Nico,” his father said eventually. “If something happened…. This is why I told you—”

Ohfuckno. He didn’t get to pretend he’d had Nico’s best interests at heart. “Shut up. You never cared until the rumors about us dating started. All you care about is what it looks like, what people will say.”

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