46. Hayden

The text comesin around three the next afternoon. I"m on the stationary bike in my home gym, trying to warm up and burn off all my nervous energy when my phone vibrates in my pocket. I shoved it in there so I wasn"t checking it every two seconds, especially after the third time my asshole brother texted me because he knows I"m on edge and he loves to fuck with me. But when it buzzes again, I can"t stop myself from pulling it out and unlocking it.

War: We"re out

Hayden: And?

War: Coach is pissed but he"s gonna reinstate you

Mattson: Not like we gave him a choice

King: More than half the team walked

Saint: It was fucking awesome

Hayden: Holy shit

Hayden: Thank you so fucking much

War: Don"t mention it

Mattson: You"re one of us

King: And Morozov"s done as captain

Saint: He doesn"t know it yet, thought you"d want to see the fireworks

Hayden: Damn

Hayden: You guys are crazy as hell

Hayden: And he"s going to lose his shit, should be a fun show

War: That"s what we thought too lol

I shake my head as I stare down at the texts, still in awe that they did this for me. I never would"ve expected it from my teammates, and it means more than I can say.

I finish up on the bike and then head upstairs to shower and get ready for tonight"s game against the Orcas. It"s going to be a bloodbath and I"m not going to hold back. Not with Morozov out of the way as captain and me back on the ice. Now"s the time to show my team that they stepped up for me for a reason, and I intend to bring home the cup this year.

Now that things are falling back into place with the team, it"s time I shift my focus to Cassidy and the baby.

If she doesn"t like what I did, I don"t give a fuck. She"s mine and I"m keeping her.

My breath puffs out in front of me as I do a lap. Coach pulled me aside before I took the ice and threatened that if I so much as breathe wrong the rest of the season, I"m off the team. I don"t blame him. He had to deal with a mutiny today and it"s all because of me.

I wave to some kids who are watching from the glass as I skate past them, but my mind is anywhere but here. It"s on Cassidy and how she"s going to react when I tell her everything. And then there"s Morozov, who"s been glaring at me from the other end of the ice since he got here. The team"s about to rip that C off his chest, and I smirk at him knowing what"s coming.

He deserves it for fucking everything he's done.

When we"re leaving the ice after warm-ups and get inside the locker room, that"s when shit starts to go down. Kingston takes the lead, walking over to Morozov with War, Mattson, Saint, Cruz, Gabe, and even Akseli, our goalie, behind him. I sit in front of my locker with my forearms on my thighs, bent forward, watching.

Morozov looks up at them with a sneer on his face. "What?"

Saint steps up and grabs the C from his jersey before ripping it off and throwing it to the floor at Morozov"s feet. "You"re not our captain anymore. You"re done."

"What the fuck?" he yells as he looks around at the rest of us, who are nodding in agreement. "It"s not up to you." He looks around for Coach Morin, who, for once, is nowhere to be found. Smart man.

"We can"t trust you as a teammate, let alone to lead us," Mattson says. "You made Vaughn"s personal shit public. You"ve been trying to bully the rest of us into making sure you get every pass, every shot opportunity out there so you get all the stats while the team loses because you"re not good enough to make them count. You"re out."

I fight back my grin. I think that"s the most I"ve ever heard Torin say at once. Kingston nods as Warren picks up the C and hands it to me. I take it and look down at it in my hands, knowing this isn"t over yet. The team still has to vote for a new captain, but this is symbolic and I'm not about to disappoint them.

Morozov looks around at the rest of the guys, who are nodding in agreement with Mattson and Saint, before his gaze lands on me. "You fucking bastard," he says, pointing at me as he storms toward me. "This is your fault."

I stand up and meet him halfway, shoving him with both hands so he stumbles back a few steps. "No, asshole. It"s your fault for being a piece of shit who can"t handle losing."

He shakes his head as he glares at me. "You"re going to regret this." He turns and stalks out of the locker room, slamming the door behind him as he goes.

"I don"t know where he"s going. We have to be on the ice in ten minutes," War says, shaking his head, but he"s got a wide grin on his face like he enjoyed putting Morozov in his place as much as I enjoyed watching it go down.

"Probably to bitch to management and see if they"ll intervene for him like some kindergarten tattle tale," Gabe says with a roll of his eyes.

"Fuck that," Kingston says, looking around the locker room at all of us. "We"re not going to let him get away with this shit anymore. We"re done letting him run us into the ground. It"s time we fight back."

War nods and claps me on the shoulder as he looks up at me. "And Vaughn"s gonna lead us to a cup win."

I smirk down at him as I look at my team, my brothers, and realize how lucky I am to have them in my life. They"ve got my back, and that"s something I never thought I"d say about anyone other than Sawyer. But now that Cassidy"s in my life and this team is really mine, it"s like I can finally breathe again.

"Don't jinx it," I tell them. I look down at the C in my hands and know that this is just the beginning.

It"s time to prove myself as a leader and bring this team back from the brink of ruin Morozov pushed them toward. And I"m going to enjoy every fucking second of it.

I look up to find everyone watching me, waiting for me to say something to hype them up before we take the ice—the way a captain would. "Let"s go kick some Orca ass."

The group erupts in cheers and shouts, and then we"re heading back out on the ice where Morozov"s waiting for us with his arms crossed over his chest, still wearing his C like he thinks he has any power left. He must"ve changed into a new jersey, but King rips it off him again as we pass by and hands it to me. Not one of us addresses the dickhead, no matter how much he yells or tries to get us to fall in line as we march past him through the tunnel and out onto the ice.

The crowd goes wild, more hyped than ever as we get deeper into the season and we"re on the brink of making the playoffs. After the national anthems, the puck drops and it"s game on.

I take my place in front of Akseli and focus on the game as Morozov skates around yelling shit at me, instead of focusing on his play. I ignore him, knowing he"s just trying to get under my skin. In fact, it looks like everyone"s ignoring him because he was wide open for a pass that Gabe Maddox passed to War instead, even though War was nowhere near where he should"ve been to receive it.

It"s like they"re all playing a different game than Morozov, and it"s fucking beautiful to watch them leave him out.

We scored three goals in the first period and I can already feel it in the air that this is our night. We"re going to win and we"re going to do it with basically four men on the ice every time Morozov is on shift.

By the end of the second, we"re up 4-0 and Coach has realized what"s happening, that the team"s shutting Roman out. Coach pulls him and Roman storms down the tunnel, throwing his helmet against the wall loud enough I heard it on the ice over the crowd.

I smirk as I skate around with my stick raised in the air as the fans chant my name and I feel like I"m exactly where I"m meant to be. This game, this moment, it"s all mine. And I"m not letting anyone take it away from me.

We win 5-0 and when we get back to the locker room, everyone"s celebrating like we just won a playoff game instead of a regular season one. Everyone except Roman, who storms across the room and gets in my face. "You think you"ve won? This team is nothing without me."

"I think you need to get your head out of your ass and realize how toxic you are to this team," I tell him, shoving him back again so he stumbles into the wall behind him. "You"re done here, asshole. I thought we all made it clear out there that it"s over. No one wants you on that ice with us. No one wants you as captain."

He narrows his eyes at me as he pushes off the wall and closes the space between us. "I"m not going anywhere. You can"t make me leave."

I shrug as I lean against the locker beside mine, trying to look like I don"t have a care in the world when, in reality, I"m ready to beat the shit out of him if he comes any closer. "We"ll see about that."

Kingston steps up beside me and crosses his arms over his chest as he stares Morozov down. "We voted. You"re done, Morozov."

"You can"t—" Roman starts, but Mattson cuts him off.

"We can and we did. You"re. Done." He looks around at the rest of the team, who are nodding in agreement before turning back to Roman. "And if you don"t get your ass out of here, we"ll haul your ass out the door ourselves. We"re not playing with someone we can"t trust."

Do I think management is just going to let us push him off the team? Fuck, no. But it feels good to show Morozov that he"s not as untouchable as he thought he was.

Roman looks around at all of us and then shakes his head as he backs away. "Fuck all of you. This isn"t over." He turns and slams his way out of the locker room, kicking the door behind him like he"s trying to make a statement. But I don"t give a fuck what he has to say anymore. None of us do.

I don't think I ever realized how bad things were here until this moment, the way they all so readily pushed him out. No one really talked about the shit he'd pull before I showed up, but the impression I got today was all kinds of fucked up.

The guys start celebrating again and I lean back against my locker, feeling lighter than I have in weeks. It"s like a weight"s been lifted off my shoulders now that Morozov"s out of the way. I look down at the C still in my hand and smile before turning to Kingston.

"Thanks for this," I tell him, holding it up.

"You earned it," he says with a nod before turning back to his locker and starting to strip out of his gear like everything"s normal. But nothing about this is normal. We just mutinied against our captain and it worked. And now we"re going to have to deal with the repercussions of that, but for right now, I"m sure as fuck going to enjoy the moment.

And tomorrow?

It"s time for me to lock Cassidy down so tight she won"t ever be able to leave.