Today was the start of the rest of my life. And I was determined for it to get off on the right foot.
Chapter 6
Bristol
I was alive withnervous energy. I still couldn’t believe I’d snagged this job and would spend the next seven to eight months traveling around North America with the Indy Speed hockey team. Yes, they were the Comets’ biggest rivals—and I’d grown to hate them as a Hartford girl, born and raised—but journalistic integrity demanded I leave my personal feelings at the door when I stepped across the threshold of Speed Arena for media day.
Media.Iwas the media.
It still didn’t feel real.
I flashed my press badge at the security officer manning the entrance and followed the directions to where my colleagues would be set up for the day’s events. The players would be filming promotional clips and having their annual headshots taken before addressing the press. The first portion of the day would be our chance to speak with the front office personnel and the Speed’s new head coach, Maddox Sterling.
As a former player, Maddox had no coaching experience. It would be sink or swim, and the vultures were circling. Coaching at the professionallevel was a high-pressure job, and only time would tell if he was up to the task.
Entering the press room, I noticed groups of journalists gathered around the space, but what caught my eye was the breakfast spread set up in the back. Sending up a silent prayer of thanks, I made a beeline for the table, not having had time to eat anything after spending too long getting ready for my first day. And it sure didn’t help that I was living out of boxes and needed to find an outfit that would cover up the giant hickey on my neck.
It hadn’t exactly been the zen morning I was hoping for.
Grabbing a plate, I filled it with fruit and a frosted Danish when someone stepped up beside me. I peeked over to find a professionally dressed blonde in her late twenties, possibly early thirties.
She gave me a bright smile. “First year with the Speed?”
I blushed, dropping my gaze to my plate. “Is it that obvious?”
“Well, I, for one, take notice when awomanwalks into this room. And I’m sure the players will too. Bunch of flirts, that lot.” She laughed after pointing out what I already knew—that far too few women were involved in sports media. It was, hands-down, a male-dominated field, but I hoped my reporting would go a long way toward clearing the path for young girls who loved any and all sports, like I had growing up. I firmly believed that if you could see her, you could be her.
“I’m Bristol Cooper. Just started with the Indy Sports Review.” I extended my free hand to the blonde.
“Nice to meet you, Bristol. I’m Alyssa Simon. I’ve been with the Indianapolis Tribune for six years, but this will be my third covering the Speed.”
“So, you were there for the championship run?” The Speed had made it to the Finals a year ago but fell just short, losing the series in six games. Since then, they’d struggled. The count was still out whether it was due to losingtheir captain—none other than Maddox Sterling, their new coach—or poor coaching.
“Yeah,” Alyssa nodded. “Such a shame what happened to Maddox in the Conference Finals. I’ve never seen a man look more broken after that.”
I grimaced. “It was that bad?”
“He lost everything he’d ever worked for in an instant, and it hit the team hard.” She laughed lightly under her breath. “Though, it will take some getting used to addressing him as Coach Sterling instead of Maddox.”
I’d done my research on the new coach of the Indy Speed. A Seattle kid, he’d come up through the prestigious National Junior Team in Detroit before being drafted by the Speed in the second round of his draft year. Not ready for the pros at eighteen, he’d elected to play college hockey at Colorado State College in Denver.
If memory served, that was the same place where Cal Berg, former defenseman and current on-air commentator for the Comets, had played. Considering the men were only two years apart in age, I wondered if they’d played on the team at the same time. Thinking back to the Comets’ championship run and the second-round series with the Speed, there had been some cocky back and forth between the two men.
Maddox Sterling spent two years playing in Denver before the Speed had called him up to play at only twenty. By the time his entry-level contract expired three years later, he’d been named their captain. He played for them for fourteen years before a career-ending injury took him out of the game.
That injury had occurred a little over a year ago, and over the summer, he was named Speed’s newest head coach, the youngest and least experienced in the entire league. The shakeup behind the bench had the potential for an exciting first few months of reporting on this team.
“I’m still getting used to him not being the enemy,” I joked with Alyssa before I took a bite of my Danish.
Her blue eyes widened. “Oh boy. Let me guess. Comets fan?” She winced, naming the Speed’s biggest divisional rival.
“Drove in from Hartford yesterday,” I admitted.
“Yikes.” She gave me a playful wink. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they sent a spy.”
A snort sounded, and I slapped a hand over my mouth and nose. Several of the men in the room turned to stare, and my cheeks heated. Alyssa smirked, and I knew instantly she would be my partner in crime once we hit the road. Dakota would have Braxton keeping an eye out for me, but I was a big girl, and having a protective older brother type who doubled as my best friend’s almost fiancé wasn’t what I needed to shake the shadows of the past and become an independent woman.
Placing a hand on my elbow, Alyssa guided us to seats in the middle of the room, assuring me that that was the best location. The front-row occupants often were overeager, which annoyed whoever happened to be speaking, and they gravitated to those behind them—which, now, would be us.
