Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

OLIVER

NOAH: Get it, Cyclone. LFG!

ZOE: Have a good first practice!

EDEN: Did you take a first day of school pic yet?

I rolled my eyes.

OLIVER: No, mom. I haven't. Stop embarrassing me. And thank you.

The locker room smelled better, but the nerves were worse. Empty, save for one of the equipment guys who checked with me when I arrived this morning and ran me through the routine and where my equipment would be, and what stayed here and what I should take.

Most of the team had already hit the ice, warming up for practice started in half an hour. I stayed behind, taking it all in. The floor with the team logo. My name on a plaque above my spot.

Oliver Sutton.

The wood bench even felt more…real. And like it could be taken away at any moment. The pit in my stomach dissolved as I pulled on my pants and grabbed my pads. The familiarity paved the way for the thing I loved. Playing the game. Only six months from Draft Day, and I was suiting up for practice.

Only to look up and see her. The girl from the game.

No, not a girl.

Woman. Blue.

Blue eyes, like the sky on a crisp winter's day, were all I saw when I looked at her.

And fuck. I wanted to know how to make her blue eyes light up. For only me.

From the way her breath hitched as her eyes widened, I knew she felt it, too. The spark that jumped between us. Her eyes widened as they dropped to my bare chest and back up. I smirked. "See something you like?"

She backed away, and stuttered, "Sorry, I didn't think anyone was in…most of the guys hit the ice right away, and…anyway, welcome to the Revenge."

And with that, she left.

I grinned. I found her. And now, I just had to convince her to teach me how to make her scream my name as she came over and over.

"Welcome to the team."

I stared blankly at the hand in front of me. Not sure if Kaspari Holken was welcoming me for real or I was having an out- of-body experience. Between Max Vaughn, my childhood hero, being my new coach, and the chance to play on one of the most successful lines in the league, today felt like a dream and I didn't want to wake up from it. Ever.

Especially when she walked into the locker room. Then ran away before I could get her name. Her eyes stayed with me, especially when they looked me up and down. I glanced behind him to where the coaches were standing, huddled and pointing to the ice.

Holy hell.

"Sutton?"

I blinked, because there she was. She stood at the side of the rink, talking to a few of the coaches. Her cheeks still flushed and gorgeous. Her blonde hair in a high ponytail that swished back and forth as she talked with her hands.

"Sutton?"

I jerked my head back to Holken, a bemused expression on his face. "Yeah?"

A grin spread across his face as he glanced behind him. "Crazy, right? Corey Alexander. She's one of the team scouts, and the reason you're here."

The reason I'm here? "How do you-"

"Benefit of dating Coach's little sister. Inside track." He nudged me as we hit the ice. "If you need anything, I'm on the floor above you, and you might run into Vaughn since his girl is my girl's best friend." Kas shook his head and chuckled. "Oh, what a tangled fucking web."

Corey Alexander. I don't know why I didn't realize it before. Olympic Gold Medalist, USA Hockey. Until she collided with a player from the other team during the first few minutes of the Gold Medal game and had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher with a career-ending injury.

The only thought in my head, that kept repeating on replay?

I wanted her to teach me how to please a woman. No, not just any woman. Her. Because all the years I spent focused on hockey and school meant there left little room for anything most of my teammates indulge in. I graduated early from high school and earned my degree in less than three years. Youngest player on my team, but that didn't stop the girls from noticing me. Even at the college level, there were girls who chased after hockey players.

But I kept my head down, mostly. And still had, as Mikayla affectionately teased when I told her, my ‘V Card'.

That was all about to change, and judging from the way Corey kept sneaking glances at me, she felt what I felt. And damn, I'd never wanted a girl so badly in my life.

No, I reminded myself for the second time today. A woman.

"Ready, rookie?" Kas grinned and held out his glove as Coach Vaughn blew the whistle.

"Absolutely," I said, bumping his outstretched glove with my own. Hell, yes, I was ready. For everything.

When I walked off the ice after practice two hours later, she was standing next to the boards, watching the goalies stretch. Eyes focused anywhere but on me as I passed her. Just as I thought she wouldn't notice, I felt her hand brush mine as she slipped a piece of paper in my palm. And went on as if nothing happened, and she hadn't made my entire year with that simple touch.

A grin spread across my face as I headed to the locker room. I ducked down the hallway next to the locker room and unfolded the paper.

"Try not to push off so hard when you first hit the ice. You'll expend all your energy and won't be able to sustain the pace of the game.

C"

Looks like Blue just gave me my first lesson. And fuck, I wanted even more from her.