Page 35 of Pucking My Grumpy Accidental Husband
"How old were you both?"
"I was sixteen, she was thirteen. Dad had been... distant for a while. Mom was working two jobs to keep us afloat, and Emma was acting out at school, getting into fights, her grades tanking."
"What did you do?"
"At first, nothing. I figured Mom would handle it, or it would pass. But one night I found Emma crying in her room because some kids at school were making fun of her clothes—secondhand stuff, you know? And I realized she wasn't just being a bratty teenager. She was embarrassed, angry, scared that we were falling apart."
Tessa nods, making another note. "So what changed?"
"I started paying attention. Really paying attention. I learned her schedule, figured out what subjects she was struggling with, started helping with homework. I took her shopping for newclothes with money from my part-time job. But more than that, I started talking to her. Not lecturing—talking. Asking what she needed, what would help."
"And?"
"It worked. Slowly. Her grades came back up, she stopped getting in trouble. But the real breakthrough was when she told me she was scared Mom would leave too, because Mom was always so stressed. So I started taking on more at home—cooking dinner, helping with bills, being there when Mom had to work late."
"That's leadership, Dax."
"That's family."
"What's the difference?" She leans forward slightly. "You saw someone struggling, you assessed what they needed, you adapted your approach based on their personality and situation, and you supported them consistently over time. That's exactly what good team leadership looks like."
I take a sip of wine, considering this. "But Emma's my sister. I love her unconditionally. The team... that's different."
"Is it? You've been here five years. These guys aren't just your teammates anymore, are they?"
She's right, and we both know it. Torres isn't just my roommate—he's the brother I get to choose. The rookies I mentor aren't just kids trying to make it in the league—they're young men trying to find their place in the world, not unlike Emma was.
"You mentored Torres through his confidence crisis last season," Tessa continues. "What was your approach there?"
"I just... listened, I guess. He was overthinking everything, second-guessing his instincts. So I started watching game film with him, breaking down his successful plays to show him what he was doing right. And when he'd start spiraling, I'd remind him of those moments."
"Positive reinforcement combined with concrete evidence. Classic psychological technique."
"I didn't know it was a technique. I just knew he needed to remember who he was as a player."
She's quiet for a long moment, twirling her wine glass between her hands. "In Seattle, before... before everything went wrong, I was team lead on a research project. This big study on performance anxiety in elite athletes. I had a team of graduate students, two post-docs, and a budget that would fund my career for the next five years."
"That sounds amazing."
"It was. Until one of my graduate students, Sarah, started struggling. Her data collection was sloppy, she missed meetings, her analysis was full of errors. The easy thing would have been to reassign her work to someone else."
"But you didn't."
"No. I sat down with her, tried to figure out what was going on. Turned out she was dealing with her father's cancer diagnosis and couldn't focus. So I adjusted her workload, got her connected with counseling services, helped her develop better time management strategies."
"That sounds like good leadership to me."
Before I can say something more, she pulls out her phone and scrolls through her notes.
"Your first week, Zane—the rookie defenseman—was struggling with his positioning. You spent twenty minutes after practice walking him through proper angles, even though you were exhausted. He told Torres you were the only veteran who bothered to actually teach instead of just criticizing."
"That's just?—"
"Kevin asked Martinez if he could room with you on road trips because, quote, 'Kingston makes me feel like I belong here.' Torres defers to your judgment on line combinations. Even Chen comes to you when he's trying to understand team dynamics."
I stare at her. "How do you know all this?"
"Because I've been watching. It's my job to understand team psychology, and what I see is a group of men who already look to you for guidance, support, and direction. The captaincy would just make it official."
