“Yeah, yeah, we know.” I dropped down into my butterfly, while Keats worked on shifting from side to side in the net Stocks had set up in the corner.
“You ready, Tucks?” Stocks asked. “Traffic in front of the net makes you blind at times, and I’m going to hit the puck at your chest. Cover it and knock it away so Ivey can’t get the rebound,” Stocks said, nodding over to his assistant Greg Iverson.
“Ready?” he asked just as the first puck hit my chest. I kept my eyes closed and covered the puck. It was one of my favorite drills because there were always guys in front of me and I needed to tune out everything to stop play or keep the puck from hitting the back of my net.
We spent the rest of practice going through drill after drill. I loved every moment of it. Okay, maybe not every moment—Stocks could be brutal—but it was worth it. I was always up for anything to keep improving my game.
“Switch,” Stocks yelled, and I moved to the extra net on the side while Booksy slid in front of the main net.
When Stocks focused on Booksy, I took a moment to watch his every move. The guy was decent. He’d been backup for a few different teams over his career, including when the San Francisco Strikers had won the Cup two years ago. He was a little slow getting his blocker up to block shots, but he’d had shoulder surgery at the end of last season.
I’d spent time shifting my legs out from side to side, covering the net, visualizing stopping any pucks that attempted to slide through gaps that my body and the net made. Now I dropped fully down to the ice, stretching out my hips again. I easily did afull split, rocking my hips forward and putting my elbows on the ice, my chin on my hands.
“We boring you over there?” Stocks asked, quirking his brow.
I grinned. “Gotta be limber, Coach.”
“Get up. Ivey, fire some pucks at him or something.”
I popped up smoothly and slapped my stick against my pads. “Give it to me.”
Ivey smirked and shook his head, while Stocks went right back to working with Booksy.
An hour later, sweaty as hell, Stocks released us to shower and head out. I rinsed off and changed into workout shorts and a t-shirt. Taking out the small rubber ball I always carried in my bag, I practiced my hand-eye coordination by bouncing it rapidly against the wall.
Someone grabbed the ball mid-bounce and I spun, spotting Booksy.
I fake-scowled. “Don’t mess my flow, dude.” Booksy just grinned and tossed the ball back at me, which I easily caught.
“How’s the shoulder doing?” I asked as I went back to bouncing the ball in front of me.
“Good. Stiff. I’ll ice it and do some therapy tonight. Just glad I’ve been cleared to play, even if I’m still tighter than I want to be.”
“Think you’ll be good against Vegas in five days?” I asked. Our third preseason game was tomorrow, and was also against Vegas, but it was at home. In five days we’d be in Vegas, and I’d already been told I’d be starting in net for games three and four.
“Yup, I’ll be ready. So, same time, same place tomorrow?” We had an optional skate tomorrow morning, but Booksy was taking all the on-ice time he could get and I would never say no to skating with my goalie partner.
“I’ll be here,” I said. “Night, man.”
He saluted me and walked out, and I went back to tossing my ball against the wall.
***
“Oh look, it’s the girlfriend stealer. Tucks is tucking into some leftovers.”
I rolled my eyes. I’d been waiting for Jenzy’s bullshit and had a feeling he’d start running his mouth as soon as he hit the ice.
Jackass.
I hadn’t talked to Dani since our kiss four days ago, but I’d sure as hell thought about it more than I should’ve. Hopefully, Jenzy had left her alone, but I wasn’t going to ask.
“No stealing involved, asshole. Get the fuck over yourself, she obviously found better,” I fired back, dropping down to the ice to stretch my hips. I had a full routine to get through during warm-ups, and Jenzy’s bitching was already throwing it off.
“Better? You’re fucking delusional. I could beat your ass in a fight any day.”
I would not engage. “Sure, man, whatever you need to tell yourself. You done yet? I have a warm-up to complete so we can hand you your ass.”
I heard him drop down next to me on his side of the center ice line. Then he shoved my shoulder with his and knocked me off-balance. Catching myself before I fell over, I turned and glared at him.
