Page 5 of Tutoring Mr. Hotshot

By the time I'm on the ice, I’ve made my decision. I'm not going to date anyone, and I'm sure as hell not going to any party.

We go through drills and begin working as a team on the ice. I give it everything I've got, just like Coach said to. I can see in everyone's eyes that they're surprised by my skill level. I'm able to steal the puck and make a goal more than once.

Our goalie, Tao, is good, but he's not better than me. I get more than a few shots past him, and by the end, he's cursing my name loudly.

"Where the fuck did you come from, Rykov?" he shouts as he skates forward.

The others crowd around me, clapping my back and asking similar questions.

"Russia," I tell them seriously.

My breath is only slightly heavy from the exertion. They laugh, then Tao punches my shoulder. It's not a hard hit, though I still tense at the movement.

“We know you came from Russia. We mean, how are you this good? No one gets past me. That's why we're the best. Now we'll be even better.”

"If you were the best, why didn’t you win last year?" I ask seriously because his words are confusing. “The best are the winners. That's the way it should be, right?”

Liam steps in when the rest of the guys go quiet. His gaze takes me in from head to toe. "I can see this is going to be an issue between us. Let me help explain. We are the best; however, due to some bad calls and bad plays last year, we didn’t win the Independence Conference like we should have. But this year is our year. We've got scouts that will be coming to our games hoping to pick us up. And there's nothing that we can do better to get their attention than to play the best game possible. Who's with me?”

He throws up a fist and several more follow it. Their eyes turn to me, waiting. I repeat the motion.

“Together!” Liam's shouts.

“Together!” we all repeat.

As we skate off the ice, I hang back a bit. I watch them to see how they interact with one another. During practice, my focus was only on that puck and doing what Coach tells me. I didn’t care who was friends with who and how they wanted to spend time together.

But now I can better see the group in front of me. Liam is the captain, and his brother, the one Coach spoke about earlier, is basically his assistant, though he doesn't wear the A designating him as assistant captain. In fact, I didn't see the A on anyone, which I find odd. I don't question it, though.

Ignoring the confusing thought, I take in everyone else. The defenders and our goalie are in the mix surrounding Liam. Everyone seems to wear a smile that's not quite full.

Are these guys holding back secrets or are they just worn out from practice? Is there something I should keep an eye on or am I making it up in my head?

I'm not sure.

All I know is that whatever comes next involves a spot at the NHL for me. Then I'll have money, and I can send some back to my family so they don't have to work as hard. Maybe if I'm lucky, I can even bring my parents here and take care of them. It would be nice to see them thriving in a situation that wasn't based upon what they had to do as their only option.

We shower and change out. Then I've got my bag thrown over my shoulder and my bag full of clothes that Coach tucked away in his office on my other arm.

“Come with me, Andry. I'll show you where your new home is,” Liam tells me as we exit the building.

He throws his arm over my shoulders and talks the entire way there. All I can think as he speaks is about how I can't stand him already. It's going to be a really long year.

If I'm lucky, they'll draft me, and I can just dip out early. It's not like there's anything keeping me at the college if I get the opportunity to go after my dream sooner.

My loyalty is to myself.

CHAPTER3

Rodney

I scream in terror as a massive body falls on top of mine. The second I hear my brother’s laugh, the panic recedes, and I’m furious.

“Get off me you big buffoon!”

No matter how hard I shove him, he doesn’t move an inch. Makes sense considering his massive size. The man is probably twice my weight, most of which is muscle. Adding in our height difference only makes the fight more futile.

“You love me, nugget. And I know you’ve missed me. Don’t pretend otherwise,” Aries teases.

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