I had half a second to enjoy the save before Grant approached and shot directly at me. I got my glove up just in time.
“Are you aiming for my face?” I growled and watched him as he skated past me. He shrugged, not bothering to reply.
I pushed it out of my mind and focused on Colin. He shot from the blue line, taking me by surprise but I raised my shoulder, blocking the puck from passing.
Hartman was next, taking his time as he approached me, searching for a weakness. He was the hardest to predict. The way his mind worked was a complete mystery. He saw angles no one else did. It was amazing to watch, but I hated being on the receiving end of it. He cut to the left, almost passing me completely. I was confused until he shot at the last possible second. The puck glided across my shoulders, behind my helmet, and into the back of the net.
I froze, looking at where he stopped with a cocky smirk. “That was amazing.”
“I’ve been working on it with Olli.”
I nodded in appreciation. “There’s not a chance I could have stopped it.”
He grinned. “Good.”
Coach Romney blew his whistle, ending the drill. The guys stepped off the ice to get a drink while I turned and grabbed my bottle from the back of the net. The extra pucks were cleared off the ice, and soon the first and second lines were facing off at center ice.
I stretched my neck and took my stance as Reese took possession and sent the puck in my direction. Nikolay was the first to reach it, turning and heading to the opposite side of the ice while passing to Grant.
The guys went back and forth for two minutes before Hartman broke free and shot at me. I blocked it, and they switched out lines.
Porter Vaugh skated past me sending the puck to Isaiah Meyer. They headed toward Olli, but Elliot Grey stole it and broke through the defensemen. I held out my glove, ready for him to shoot, but he didn’t. He was coming straight at me with determination in his eyes. I tried to move out of his path, but he turned to the side and slammed his body into mine.
I fell back on the ice, gasping to fill the air he just knocked out of me. I sat up and glared. “What was that?”
He was already standing over me. “What? It was a mistake. Can’t handle a little action, Kid?”
I growled and reached for his left leg, pulling until he fell on his back. I shifted to my knees while pulling off my gloves. I punched his chin. His cheek. I was rearing back for another one when he pushed me away. I moved to go after him but my arms were pulled back. I looked around to see Reese and Erik on either side of me, restraining me.
“Did you see what he did? That was intentional.” I tugged away from them.
They pulled me to my feet and dragged me away from Elliot. Hartman moved past the crowd to get in my face. “What is your problem, Aston?”
“He hit me on purpose! He didn’t even pretend to take a shot. Ask him what his problem is!” The anger I forced down every single day was boiling, barely contained.
“I’ll deal with him later. Right now, I want to know why you felt the need to beat the crap out of him. You’ve taken harder hits.”
“It’s practice. He’s on my team!” Why was I the one in trouble?
“Aston! Get over here,” Coach Romney called out with a calm voice. It was unnerving. I expected him to yell or curse at me. Hartman shoved me in the direction of the bench, and I skated over without looking back to see how Elliot was.
“What was that?” Coach asked with fire in his eyes.
I shrugged. “He took me out. He knew exactly what he was doing.”
He shook his head. “Go talk to Coach Abrams.”
I stepped off the ice, throwing my helmet on the bench as I walked into the tunnel. Abrams was the new goaltending coach. So far, I hadn’t worked with him much. He sometimes ran drills with me and Olli, but he focused his attention on the starter. Just another person that forgot about me, even though it was his job.
I went to the locker room and took off my skates and gear before slipping on sweats and going to find Abrams’s office. The door was closed so I knocked and waited for him to call me in.
“Yeah?”
I opened the door, and he looked up at me with a confused expression. “Why aren’t you at practice?”
I sat down in front of him. He was younger than Romney, only in his late thirties. He retired about five years ago and decided to spread his knowledge and experience with those that could still play.
“Coach sent me in.”
His eyebrows pulled together. “Why?”
I shook my head. “Maybe if you ever came to practice, you’d know.”
The moment the words escaped panic burned in my stomach. I was fired up from the fight and past the point of being able to reign my rage in.
To my shock, Coach didn’t tear into me. He just shot me a glare that could have melted the ice in the rink. “I’m there every day.”
“For Letang’s practices.”
“So what? You’re jealous I give him more attention?” His lips twisted in a menacing sneer.
I scoffed. “Maybe if you worked with me more, I wouldn’t have to sit on the bench every single game.”
He leaned back and stared at me. “So that’s what this is about? You’re sick of staying on the sidelines.”
I let out a humorless laugh. He was just picking up on that? “Yeah. You all know I can handle it. I did last season.” But the golden child can’t possibly take a day off.
“We all know you’re a good goalie. You proved that already, but you’re young, Derrek. There’s still a lot you can work on. There’s a lot for you to learn.”
I groaned. “Why can’t anyone move past my age?”
He leaned back in his chair and tilted his head up. “What do you mean?”
“I’m so sick of people fixating on that. So what? I’m twenty-one. If one more person calls me ‘Kid’ I’m going to lose it.”
He scanned my face silently. Finally, he blew out a breath. “Is that why you punched Elliot?”
My eyebrows shot up. “How did you know about that?”
He turned his computer screen to face me. It was a live feed of the ice. “I might not be in the room, but I’m always watching.”
Then he slid the notebook he had open in front of him toward me. I skimmed the notes and realized it was detailed observations about me and Olli. Things both of us could work on. Ideas on how to improve each of our technique. Shots I let in and how to practice so I didn’t miss them next time.
“I know you think it’s unfair I work with Olli more, but I’ve only been here for three months. I’m still figuring things out and with how long Olli was out last season, I needed to make sure he was back up to par and comfortable out there. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been watching you. I have a plan in place, but I need you to trust me.”
I sat back and nodded, some of the anger leaking out of me. It would have been nice if he had told me all of this sooner. I might not have resented him as much, but then again, I could have asked.
“So now that you know I haven’t forgotten about you, do you want to tell me what the fight was really about?” He rested his hands on the arms of his chair and rocked back and forth waiting for me to answer.
“I didn’t know this was going to be a therapy session.” Talking about my feelings wasn’t something I wanted to do. Ever.