KAYDEN
“I’m deeply disappointed in you, Erik,” Coach Hardison said.
Music to my ears. For once Mister Goody-Two-Shoes would get the bad rap he deserved. Like, what gives with that cheap shot he gave me out on the ice? That was completely uncalled for. All I’d done was give him a wake-up call shot, and he’d gone berserk. I even wanted to add my two cents about that but knew better than to interrupt the coach when he was on a roll.
He'd sat us both down in his office after practice, which had ended the moment our teammates had pulled us apart. Another screwup for Erik, for the record.
Erik said nothing. He might as well have sat there with his head down, wallowing in shame. For him, this must’ve felt like being sent to the principal’s office for the first time. Only he wouldn’t really know that feeling because he was such a kiss-ass that it’d never happened. Some hockey player.
“I’ve always thought of you as being the picture of maturity on our team,” the coach continued. “You’re the voice of reason. You’re a freshman, I know that, but this is a young team, andother players look up to guys like you. I’ve even told them that they can learn a lot from you. Now I’m starting to feel stupid.”
I couldn’t hide my smile. This was too good.
“And when you go losing your cool like that, the others are going to think it’s okay for them to do it too. Then we’ll have chaos instead of teamwork. No one ever won a championship like that. Now, tell me, why did you do that?”
Erik muttered something I couldn’t understand. He looked so sheepish. You should’ve seen it. If I would’ve known he would look like this much of a wuss in the coach’s office, I would’ve goaded him into a fight a long time ago.
Erik still said nothing. Part of me wanted to tell the coach that he wasn’t just a troublemaker but a tease. If that wouldn’t have revealed far too much, I probably would’ve said it.
For now, I would enjoy watching Erik receive a lecture.
“I want you to be aware of your position on this team,” Hardison said “You’re in a position of responsibility.”
“Yes, sir.”
Yes, sir.Yes, sir. That sounded so perfect, like something he would’ve said on the farm when his dad took him to the woodshed. In fact, it was so perfect that I clapped my hands together in satisfaction.
And it caught Hardison’s attention.
“You’re not off the hook here, Preston,” he said.
I had opened my mouth to speak but shut up immediately.
“I saw the little shots you pulled too. I’m not stupid. I don’t like the way Erik reacted, but you’ve got to admit you provoked him enough.”
I nodded but stayed quiet. Okay, fine, the tables had turned, and I wasn’t laughing. Now I was in the hot seat, but no way in hell would I look like a wimp.
“I don’t need to remind you of how much trouble you’ve already been in this season, and we haven’t even played our first game.”
“I know.”
“You know?”
“I do, yeah.”
“Then why are you instigating fights with your own teammates?”
“I don’t know. I guess I…”
I guess I what? How did I expect to finish that sentence? Hockey’s a rough sport, and he should get used to tough play in the good old U.S. of A. That’d crash and burn too.
Or I could tell him that we’d given each other the best sex of our lives. Then I could say I was pissed because he wouldn’t give me round two when I demanded it.
Perfect, right?
Even now, I couldn’t look directly at Erik because all my hottest desires would come flooding back.
“I’m waiting,” the coach said.
