Page 65 of Breaking the Ice
“Fine, I’ll try it,” Gavin said grumpily.
“Good. Let’s set up another appointment, and we’ll discuss how it went.”
Gavin flushed again. “Do we have to?”
“You think you can manage single words?”
“Yeah. Yes. I can do that.”
“Alright.” On the screen, Jon pulled out his tablet, where he kept his calendar, and Gavin pulled out his phone, doing the same.
After they made the appointment for a week from now, Gavin hung up and grabbed his keys, heading towards the rink for practice.
Okay, in the next week, he was going to have to make time to get himself off. And he was going to have to do it without putting any restrictions on himself.
No big deal.
But it seemed like the moment he’d given himself permission, that wasallhe could think about.
How soon after practice could he get home and get naked and get his hands on himself and finally,finallylet all those mental restrictions go?
“You look distracted, Coach,” Ramsey said as they leaned against the boards, watching as the team and Finn took penalty shot practice.
“I’m fine,” Gavin said.
“Yeah? So it’s just me, then?” Ramsey asked, a knowing glint in his eyes.
Ramsey was a great captain. Sharp and observant, never letting things go, but also never harping on them when the players weren’t ready to deal with whatever the issue was yet.
Across the ice, Mal yelled at Elliott, and Elliott snarked right back, the heat between them at its usual low-level simmer.
“Just you,” Gavin said steadily. “So Morgan didn’t tell Finn he was going to be at the game?”
“I believe he thought he was being low-key,” Ramsey said. He made a face, which told Gavin they both agreed on how stupid that was.
He wasMorgan Reynolds.
“I’ll talk to him,” Gavin said. “And I appreciate you taking point with Finn when he shows up.”
“He’s a good kid. A great goalie. I don’t mind, really. He’s becoming a friend,” Ramsey said.
Gavin cut him a look.
“Just a friend, I swear,” Ramsey said, laughing. “I’m not the one you should be worrying about.”
“Oh, who should I be worrying about?” Gavin asked, hoping he wasn’t going to hate the answer.
Gavin followed Ramsey’s gaze to where Brody was laughing with Ivan.
“Ivan? Really?” Ivan was the steadiest player Gavin had ever coached. He did everything he needed to anchor that first line, barely letting Mal and Elliott’s shenanigans faze him.
“Nope. Brody.”
Just this morning, Zach had expressed concern over Brody. He’d said he’d talk to Ramsey, but here Ramsey was, before he could have.
“Did you talk to Zach?”
“No. But I’m not surprised he noticed too.”
