Page 20 of Finding the Forward: Part One
“Good hustle,” Winston told me as we went into the locker room after we finished on the ice.
Dean bounced over to me. “Comeon.I need my fix.”
My overzealous husband dragged me to the lobby. Dean insisted that the matcha lattes from the cart were the best. Personally, I thought they tasted like hot grass. But he was an omega goalie–so he got pretty much whatever he wanted.
“There it is again. I smelled it this morning, too.” Dean’s freckled nose scrunched as he got his latte. His strawberry blond hair hung in his green eyes.
“Oh, right. The smell? Well, maybe it’s one of the early morning figure skaters? What does it mean?” I smelled nothing. It made me curious, though.
“I don’t know. It just stands out somehow.” He took a sip and shrugged.
Huh.
Returning upstairs, we went to the small weight room that was primarily for Dean’s comfort. Even though I’d spent years developing a tolerance to sweaty alpha, I found it more relaxing to work out here.
He paused in the doorway, nose twitching. “Some alpha was in here. Again.”
My spine prickled. “Is it good or bad? I smell nothing.”
“Don’t know.” He frowned a little and shook his head. “While they’re courteous and wipe everything down, they shouldn’t be in here–and it keeps happening. Come on, we need to talk to the Maimers, anyway.”
“You think it’s one of them?” I asked as he dragged me down the hall. He didn’t seem mad, only annoyed.
“It could be a staff member that doesn’t know better, but it’s probably them hazing their rookies,” he replied with an eye roll.
We found the Maimers in their dining room, which was a lot like ours, only it had skate smash stuff and was in their colors of red and black. Several of them were eating from the buffet. A TV played in the background. Two very young women played table tennis.
“Attention, Maimers,” Dean said loudly as we entered through the open door. “This is a public service announcement. Contrary to whatever your teammates told you, the small weight room is not the rookie weight room. It’s the alpha-free weight room. Please pass it on to anyone who’s not here. You can now resume your activities. Thank you for your cooperation.”
“Sorry about that,” Rusty apologized, hustling over to us. “Someone else told us it was okay. We’ll let her know, it won’t happen again.”
“It’s fine. I’m not mad. Besides, we need a favor.” Dean turned on the charm.
“No, you can’t have a thong.” She shook her head, hand on her hip.
“Grif, show her the picture,” Dean told me.
I took out my phone and pulled it up. “I was hoping one of your teammates recently graduated from Briar University? Or came from the Raiders? I’m trying to find someone.”
Rusty looked at the picture and gave me a soul-withering glare. “Why are you looking for her? How do you know her?”
I ran a hand through my hair, a little embarrassed. “Um, I sat next to her on an airplane. I… I wanted to find her.”
“She has my sweatshirt,” Dean added, putting an arm around me.
“Not a good enough reason.Whydo you want to find her?” she demanded, posture becoming defensive. A young brunette with two braids crept closer to us.
“Tell us where to find her. Please?” I pleaded. Personally, I was glad someone felt protective of Verity.
“Do you know these people? They’re asking about Team Mom.” Rusty still looked unamused as she motioned for that young brunette woman to join her.
Team Mom?
“Um, that’s Dean Donovan, starting goalie for the Knights, and Griffin McGraff, forward for the Knights, and formerly of the... formerly of the Hurricanes.” The muscular girl definitely looked like she should still be at university, if that.
“Wow, you actually memorized the hockey roster. But do you know them personally, Mercy?” Rusty prodded, giving me another wary look.
Mercy turned to me and sucked in a sharp breath. “Griffin. Grif. Shit, I told her you weren’t a fútboler. She looked for you. But things got... hectic, and we didn’t have the time or energy to search further.”
