bit wrong before. I’d chalked it up to my rustiness, but it’s gone now, so maybe she was right.”
Jon’s eyebrows shot up. “Seriously? Just like that?”
“Well, we’ll see if it continues tomorrow, but yeah. Today was good.” Brendan went to the locker room and Jon faced Sarah.
“I still don’t like you fiddling with stuff on the bench and distracting the guys, but if this adjustment really did make Brendan more comfortable, maybe you’re onto something.”
Sebastian’s eyebrows shot up. That was high praise from Jon.
Sarah smiled. “Thanks.”
Jon skated away and Doug let out a low whistle. “Nice going, Sherlock.”
Sarah laughed. “Yeah, now I just need about a million other things to work and they won’t all think I’m a waste of oxygen.”
Oh, ma belle , you’re so much more than a waste of oxygen. I want to show you everything you are.
Doug grabbed her hand as she reached for her stuff. “I work with you day in and day out, and I don’t think you’re a waste. I’m excited.”
Sebastian’s eyes were glued to the joining of their hands. Was something going on between the two of them? That would pretty much shoot to shit her assertion she couldn’t date someone who worked for the team, and Doug was married.
“Thanks. That really means a lot.” Sarah glanced in Sebastian’s direction and he debated for about two seconds if he should let her see his jealousy.
In the end, his possessive nature won out. He glared at Doug, and Sarah raised an eyebrow. Sebastian pivoted and then skated off the ice. He’d shown her his hand again, but couldn’t find it within himself to regret it. His heart was simply not listening.
****
One day, Sarah arrived at the rink to find a large, clumsily wrapped box covering the entire surface of her desk. The attached card read “To Sarah, from the guys.” Her guard immediately rose. She gingerly picked up the package, half expecting it to be a goat or something equally awful as evidence of a bizarre hockey hazing ritual.
Hockey players were known pranksters, but so far she’d escaped unscathed. Strangely, if they were playing a prank on her, it would make her feel more like a part of the team. Why would they bother if they didn’t like her? At this point, several of the players were seeking her out to ask questions, but there were still some holdouts who sneered every time she tried to explain something.
There was no way she was opening this thing in her office though. Keeping it at arm’s length as best she could—the box probably measured three feet by five feet—she carried it into the video room, where the morning meeting was set to begin in a few moments. The package is so large but yet so light. A few of the men smirked as she walked in and her hackles rose.
When Rick, the team’s enforcer and one of the biggest pranksters, spotted her, he shouted, “Hey, guys! She’s opening it in the video room!”
The rest of the team swarmed in from the locker and training rooms. It was strange to have the team all gathered and waiting for her to open this mysterious gift. Even more so, it was hard not be suspicious with all those impish faces grinning at her.
Sarah fixed the guys with a stern look, making eye contact with each one, though she skittered right over Sebastian. She definitely didn’t need that distraction with the entire team watching her. “All right, I want you all to promise this isn’t a live animal. I mean, you didn’t even poke holes in the box.”
They molded their faces into innocent expressions, mostly without success. She inspected the sides for clues, but it appeared to have regular sides and a top.
Ben, the captain and de-facto leader of the motley crew of players, said, “It’s not alive, we promise.”
“Good. I was afraid this was some kind of sick hazing ritual with a live goat or something,” she said. But if it wasn’t holding something alive, what the heck was it?
Rumblings of “should’ve done
Jon’s eyebrows shot up. “Seriously? Just like that?”
“Well, we’ll see if it continues tomorrow, but yeah. Today was good.” Brendan went to the locker room and Jon faced Sarah.
“I still don’t like you fiddling with stuff on the bench and distracting the guys, but if this adjustment really did make Brendan more comfortable, maybe you’re onto something.”
Sebastian’s eyebrows shot up. That was high praise from Jon.
Sarah smiled. “Thanks.”
Jon skated away and Doug let out a low whistle. “Nice going, Sherlock.”
Sarah laughed. “Yeah, now I just need about a million other things to work and they won’t all think I’m a waste of oxygen.”
Oh, ma belle , you’re so much more than a waste of oxygen. I want to show you everything you are.
Doug grabbed her hand as she reached for her stuff. “I work with you day in and day out, and I don’t think you’re a waste. I’m excited.”
Sebastian’s eyes were glued to the joining of their hands. Was something going on between the two of them? That would pretty much shoot to shit her assertion she couldn’t date someone who worked for the team, and Doug was married.
“Thanks. That really means a lot.” Sarah glanced in Sebastian’s direction and he debated for about two seconds if he should let her see his jealousy.
In the end, his possessive nature won out. He glared at Doug, and Sarah raised an eyebrow. Sebastian pivoted and then skated off the ice. He’d shown her his hand again, but couldn’t find it within himself to regret it. His heart was simply not listening.
****
One day, Sarah arrived at the rink to find a large, clumsily wrapped box covering the entire surface of her desk. The attached card read “To Sarah, from the guys.” Her guard immediately rose. She gingerly picked up the package, half expecting it to be a goat or something equally awful as evidence of a bizarre hockey hazing ritual.
Hockey players were known pranksters, but so far she’d escaped unscathed. Strangely, if they were playing a prank on her, it would make her feel more like a part of the team. Why would they bother if they didn’t like her? At this point, several of the players were seeking her out to ask questions, but there were still some holdouts who sneered every time she tried to explain something.
There was no way she was opening this thing in her office though. Keeping it at arm’s length as best she could—the box probably measured three feet by five feet—she carried it into the video room, where the morning meeting was set to begin in a few moments. The package is so large but yet so light. A few of the men smirked as she walked in and her hackles rose.
When Rick, the team’s enforcer and one of the biggest pranksters, spotted her, he shouted, “Hey, guys! She’s opening it in the video room!”
The rest of the team swarmed in from the locker and training rooms. It was strange to have the team all gathered and waiting for her to open this mysterious gift. Even more so, it was hard not be suspicious with all those impish faces grinning at her.
Sarah fixed the guys with a stern look, making eye contact with each one, though she skittered right over Sebastian. She definitely didn’t need that distraction with the entire team watching her. “All right, I want you all to promise this isn’t a live animal. I mean, you didn’t even poke holes in the box.”
They molded their faces into innocent expressions, mostly without success. She inspected the sides for clues, but it appeared to have regular sides and a top.
Ben, the captain and de-facto leader of the motley crew of players, said, “It’s not alive, we promise.”
“Good. I was afraid this was some kind of sick hazing ritual with a live goat or something,” she said. But if it wasn’t holding something alive, what the heck was it?
Rumblings of “should’ve done
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