Breaking The Ice

CHAPTER 6

Jaxon POV

By Wednesday morning, the novelty had officially worn off. At least for everyone except Gray. "The captain smiled yesterday.” He informed me without me asking. I didn't even look up from taping my stick. "I did not.” I said coolly. "You twitched.” Gray said smirking. "I breathed.” I said dismissively but Gary didn’t get the hint or didn’t want to. "It was suspicious breathing.” He said and Connor sighed from the locker beside me, joining the conversation.

"I've known the two of you for four years.” Conner said looking at Gray. ”My condolences," Gray replied. "And somehow you still surprise me.” Conner added. "I'm a gift.” Gray said smiling. "You're a headache.” Conner retorted. The locker room laughed. Coach Reynolds walked in before Gray could continue.

"Morning, ladies.” A chorus of groans answered him. "Save your energy," Coach said. "You'll need it.” That was never a good sign apparently as I found out just that later on.

Fifteen minutes later we were on the ice. Coach gathered us at center. "We're working transitions today.” He informed us and immediately, everyone groaned again. Transition drills were brutal. Fast. Technical and demanding. Exactly the kind of practice that exposed weaknesses.

Coach pointed his whistle toward Riley. “Bennett." He called and she skated over. "You'll be rotating with Hayes.” He informed. She blinked while I frowned. Gray actually laughed out loud. "Oh, this is going to be fun.” Gray said unhelpful. Coach pointed at him, shutting him up quickly. “Walker." Gray straightened immediately. "Yes, Coach.” Gray answered. ”Run another lap.”

“What?" Gray asked stunned. "You sounded excited.” Coached informed him and the there was no trace of his smirk from before. The team burst into laughter. Gray pushed off dramatically. "I suffer because I'm funny.” Gray grumbled as he skated by. "You suffer because you talk.” Connor called after him. "Both are true.” He said over his shoulder as he started his extra lap.

Coach explained the drill. Five-man breakout. Defense retrieves the puck. Quick transition. Tape-to-tape passing. Everyone moving together. Suppose to be simple… Unless one person missed their timing. Then the whole play fell apart.

Coach blew the whistle. The first group went. Then ours. I skated backward toward the defensive zone while Riley retrieved the puck behind the net. She looked up. Scanning. Exactly what she should be doing. I accelerated toward the boards. Connor cut through center as Tyler curled wide. Everything was developing perfectly.

Then Riley passed. The puck hit my stick cleanly. But she'd hesitated half a second too long as the lane had already started closing. The forechecker intercepted Connor and the breakout died.

Coach's whistle shrieked. “Again." Nobody complained. We reset. Same drill. Same result. Riley hesitated. Again. What the hell? I thought as I stared at her for a moment but I noticed Coach stayed silent. Interesting. Normally he'd already be yelling. Instead, he watched, not just anyone… he was watching me.

The realization annoyed me. He wanted me to fix it. Absolutely not. Coach blew the whistle again. “Reset." Riley pushed a loose strand of hair back beneath her helmet. Her jaw was tight. She knew something was wrong. She just didn't know what. I sighed. Against my better judgment… I skated over.

She looked at me cautiously. “What?" She asked carefully. I folded my arms. "You're waiting too long.” I told her. She frowned. "I'm making sure the lane's open.” She said with a frown between her eyes. "That's the problem.” I said. Confusion crossed her face. I pointed toward center ice. "In your old system…" I started to say and she looked surprised. "...you waited for the forward to create space.” I continued and she nodded slowly. “Here..." I tapped my stick against the ice. "...we create the space by moving earlier.” Realization flickered in her eyes. "So you're already expecting the pass.” She said with surprise and I nodded. ”Exactly.” She looked toward the drill. Thinking. Processing what I had just said. "You trust your forwards to get there.” She said but it was more of a statement than a question.

I shrugged. "We've been playing together for years.” I informed her and she nodded once. “Okay." That was it. No argument. No sarcastic comeback. Just… Okay. Somehow, that caught me off guard.

Coach blew the whistle. “Again." We reset. Riley collected the puck. This time… She didn't hesitate. The pass came immediately. Tape to tape. Perfect. Connor caught it in stride. Tyler accelerated and I joined the rush. Goal. Coach smiled.

"There it is.” He declared. The rest of the team noticed too. Gray skated past us. "Look at that.” Nobody acknowledged him. He continued anyway. "They're communicating.” Connor rolled his eyes. "They exchanged one sentence.” Gray gasped dramatically. "That's practically friendship.” He insisted and Riley laughed. A real laugh. Without thinking...

I smiled. Only for a second. Then I caught myself. Riley noticed. Our eyes met. The smile disappeared. Immediately. Gray looked between us. “Oh..." Connor groaned. “No." Gray's grin spread wider. "Oh, this season is going to feed me.”

Practice ended an hour later. Players drifted toward the locker room in exhausted groups. I stayed behind to collect a pile of stray pucks. Mostly because I needed a minute. Coach skated over. He didn't say anything at first. He simply helped me gather pucks. Finally… "You figured it out.” He informed while picking up another puck. "I corrected a breakout.” Coach smiled. "You coached.” I frowned. "I did not.” "You saw a teammate struggling.” He said. "I saw a defenseman using the wrong timing.” I answered. Coach nodded. "And what did you do?” He asked as I tossed another puck into the bucket. "...I fixed it."

Coach rested both hands on his stick. "That's what captains do.” I looked across the emptying rink. Riley was laughing with Tyler near the bench. Completely unaware we were talking about her. Coach followed my gaze. "You've stopped seeing her as a distraction.” He said as he picked up the last puck. I didn't answer. Because, for the first time… I wasn't sure he was wrong.