The Captain Is My Call Boy

The ring

KADE POV

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"

Coach's voice bounced off every wall in the locker room. He stood in the middle with his hands on his hips, face red, veins popping out of his neck.

"I have seen middle schoolers skate better than you animals. I have watched my grandmother walk faster than you back-checked today. And my grandmother has been dead for twelve years."

Ryder, one of our defensemen raised his hand. "Coach, is that the same grandmother who—"

"SIT DOWN, RYDER."

"I am sitting, Coach."

"THEN SIT QUIETER."

Cole, our goalie snorted from the other side of the room. Someone else laughed.

Coach spun around like a shark smelling blood.

"YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY, COLE? YOU THINK LOSING TO EASTON IS FUNNY? BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT SATURDAY IF YOU PLAY LIKE YOU DID TODAY."

Cole wiped the smile off his face. "No, Coach."

"I DIDN'T THINK SO." Coach walked past me, then stopped. He backed up. Turned to look at me like I'd personally insulted his entire bloodline.

"And you." He pointed a finger at my chest. "Captain. Leader. The guy everyone looks up to. I have never seen you play so shitty in all my life. You missed passes a toddler could catch. You let their left wing skate past you like you were standing still. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

I didn't answer. What was I supposed to say?

Sorry, Coach, I can't stop thinking about a married woman who let me f**k her against a bathroom wall?

No.

Hockey was supposed to be my escape. My future. I'd been skating since I was four years old. My dad put me on the ice before I could even read. By sixteen, scouts were already watching. By eighteen, I had offers from every university in the country. I chose Northgate because they had the best shot at developing me for the NHL. The Frozen Four was the first step. Win that, and the pros start paying attention. Lose, and everything I'd worked for since I was a kid slips away.

And here I was, throwing it all away because of a woman whose name I didn't even know.

Did I just say throw it all away? Not happening, and definitely not for a married woman.

"I'll fix it," I said.

"YOU BETTER." He glared at me for another three seconds, then turned to the rest of the team. "Easton is Saturday. You win, we're one step closer to the Frozen Four. You lose, we're done. Season over. Go home. Cry into your pillows. I don't care. JUST DON'T LOSE."

He stormed out, still muttering.

The door slammed behind him.

Silence.

Then Ryder let out a long breath. "Dude is gonna give himself a heart attack one day."

Cole grinned. "Imagine dying because of hockey. That's crazy."

"Imagine dying because of us," someone said from the back. "Coach would come back from the grave just to yell at us."

The room laughed. Guys started moving again – pulling off gear, unwrapping tape, grabbing towels. The tension broke.

I ripped the tape off my wrists and tossed it in the trash.

Ryder leaned over. "For real though, Cap. What was that out there? You looked like you hadn't slept in a week."

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine. You missed passes. You never miss passes."

I didn't answer. I pulled my phone out of my jacket pocket and tossed it on the bench. The ring came with it. Clattered against the wood and rolled to a stop against Ryder's thigh.

He picked it up. Held it between his fingers. "The hell is this?"

"Ring."

"No s**t it's a ring. Whose is it?"

I grabbed it back and spun it once before shoving it in my bag. "Remember Euphoria last week after our game?"

Cole's head popped up from the next stall. "Euphoria? Hell yeah. The place was packed. We tore that place up."

"I f****d a married woman there," I said it like it was nothing, because it was nothing. "She forgot her ring. I think she might be my best fuck." I shrugged.

Ryder snorted. "Your best f**k? That's a bold claim, Cap. What about the girl from Delta house last month?"

"Not even close."

"The one with the red hair?"

"Mid."

Cole laughed. "Dang. He said mid."

Ryder shrugged and went back to unwrapping his knees. "Fair enough. But a married woman, Kade? You trying to get killed?"

"She didn't seem married until the ring fell off." I stood up and grabbed my towel. "Not my problem."

Ryder stared at me for a second, then laughed. "You're insane. You know that, right?"

"Probably."

Cole leaned against the lockers. "A married woman though. You don't think that's gonna come back to bite you?"

"It was one night. We're good."

"Women who cheat on their husbands, that's not a woman you want to be involved with," Cole said. "Just saying. Don't let her get in your head. Not with Easton coming up."

"Who said she's in my head?"

"You're carrying her ring around in your pocket," Ryder said. "That's not normal, Kade. Even for you."

"I said she's my best f**k. The ring is just something to remember her by."

They were right. It wasn't normal. I'd never kept anything from any girl I'd been with. Clothes, numbers, faces – they all blurred together after a while.

But her? I could still feel her nails in my back. Still hear the way she moaned my name at the end. Still see those hazel eyes looking at me like I was the only thing keeping her alive.

I didn't say any of that.

Across the room, someone slammed a locker shut.

I looked up. It was Hayes. He was our right wing, a good player, quiet. Never really fit in with the rest of us but sometimes, my mind told me he was pretending. He'd been sitting in the corner the whole time, not saying a word, not laughing at Coach's jokes, not looking at anyone.

He grabbed his bag and walked out without saying anything.

The door closed behind him.

"What's his problem?" Cole asked.

Ryder shrugged. "Same thing as always. He thinks he should be captain."

I watched the door for a second, then looked away. Hayes could think whatever he wanted. I didn't care.

I grabbed my towel and stood up.

"Saturday. Easton. Frozen Four. I got it."

Ryder nodded. "Good. Because we can't do this without you and throw away that ring for f**k sake."

I headed for the showers.

The boys were still laughing. Someone made a joke about rich housewives and another guy said something about older women knowing what they want. I didn't pay attention. It was just talk. We talked about f***s the way we talked about practice – casual, constant, no big deal.

The water was cold when I stepped in. I leaned my forehead against the tile and let it run down my back.

Saturday was Easton. The same team that knocked us out two years ago. Their captain called us chokers,I haven't forgotten. I had waited my whole life for this Saturday.

I needed my head in the game.

But her face kept popping up anyway.

Blonde hair. Hazelnut eyes. Her perfect body. She's the kind of woman men would go to war for.

A gold ring on her finger meant nothing the second she spread her legs for a stranger in a club bathroom.

She's married.

What type of woman cheats on her husband?

The type who isn't happy in her marriage.

My subconscious offered.

I could make her happy. But I don't even know her name or where she lives.

I turned the water on and let it run over my head.

Saturday first. Then maybe I'd go looking.

My phone was buzzing on the bench.

Sarah calling...

My girlfriend.