Page 10 of Finding the Forward: Part One
“I’m fine. Everything’s a little spinny.” I should eat something and drink water.
“Spence, something’s wrong.” Her voice got tight, and her peach scent took on notes of anxiousness.
“I’m fine,” I brushed it off, not wanting her to worry about me. Pain bloomed in my head, and everything went red.
Chapter Three
Dean
Four Months Later
“That last game was fantastic. I’m so excited about the home opener tomorrow,” the barista at the coffee cart told me as she handed me my usual.
“Me, too. Thanks.” It was October, and the hockey season had already started, but we’d been on the road to start. I took a sip of my drink. While the team had food and drinks for us, the matcha lattes here wereamazing.
A whiff of something ensnared my attention. Looking around, I didn’t see anyone else in the airy lobby.
I’d caught it several times since returning to the New York Ice Center for the start of hockey season. Like always, I couldn’tquite determine what it was–or even if it was pleasant or unpleasant. Simply that it grabbed me.
Showing my credentials, I took the front elevator up into the locked area that was for my team. Where were my pack-mates? Well, soon-to-be packmates. Now that we were all together in the same city, we’d begun the paperwork and were waiting out the local residency requirement.
They were probably in the weight room. I’d been in the small conference room reviewing videos with the other goalies and our coach, then ducked downstairs for my matcha latte fix.
Voices drifted down the hall.
“...what do you think?” Steve Atkins, head coach of the New York Knights, said.
“Grif Graf’s as solid as a steel wall. Dependable, great work ethic, quick to help. He’s really getting into a rhythm with Carlos and the Wonder Rookie. You’re not going to regret that line. He also fits in with the rest of the team,” Elias Royce, our team captain, replied.
While calling someone by their last name was common in hockey, Griffin McGraff had beenGrif Grafsince we were children.
My belly tightened as I slowed my pace. Grif hadjustgotten to us. Something we’d been trying to do ever since we’d graduated from BosTec and joined the PHL.
Grif told me weeks ago that the Knights wanted more than he was giving. Which made him train harder. I’d brushed it off as new-team jitters since he’d been playing great. After all, he was on thesecond line.
Still, I indulged my husband as he adjusted his pre-game routine. Him sitting with an empty seat next to him on the plane instead of with me. Watching some dumb-ass rom-com in-flight. Giving me a hand job under an ugly blanket.
He was more solid than ever. Why were they even questioning him? He’dwonthe Hurricanes the championship. Grif was one of the highest scorers in the PHL. My husband was anassetto the Knights.
How dare they?
“I know they like him. I like him, too. He works hard. The fans love him. Still...” Coach Atkins’ voice grew pinched. “There are some concerns. Enforcer’s not really a beta position.”
Oh. That was it. Someone had their panties in a twist because they’d traded in a beta for a traditionally alpha position.
Ha. If only they knew.
The enforcer was a player who took care of business on the ice–as in he responded to the other team’s shit through violence. Which was why it was traditionally an alpha player who held the job. Though there were plenty of beta forwards.
“True. But it’s not like he hasn’t been doing it for his entire career. Give him some time to settle in. We’ve been on the road. For what it’s worth, I think he’s doing fine.” Elias was a grizzled veteran defender in the Professional Hockey League, and an alpha. He only had a year or two left. His packmate was co-captain.
Huh.
The words weighed heavily on my soul. I’d just gotten Grif back, and I couldn’t lose him. Long distance during the long hockey seasons had beenbrutal.Being with him during the off-season was never enough.
Elias was right, Grif was still adjusting to being a Knight. New ice, new team, new coach, new city. We’d train a little harder and get his routine sorted.
Naively, I figured he’d be fine now that he was with us, even if they wouldn’t give him a no-trade clause. While we might not be an official pack until the paperwork went through, who in theirright mind would trade the spouse of an omega? Especially when said omega was thegoalie?
