This was real.

This was it.

This was his chance.

Holy. Fuck.

Before he could mentally freak the hell out, though, Coach Baxter cleared his throat. “All right, let’s take a moment and welcome Markus Reeves to the rink. He’ll be playing with us for a while, trying to shake things up. We all know how that goes. Let’s wish him luck.”

Soon everyone tapped their sticks to the ice, nodding their heads toward Markus. Lifting his hand, he waved like a goof. Jayden laughed beside him, causing him to drop his hand as his face burned.

Great first impression there, Markus…

“Next, let’s congratulate Odder and Titov, who will both be leaving tomorrow to play in the Worlds for their home countries.” Again, the tap of the sticks while both men grinned proudly. “Good luck, but you’ll all lose. Go Canada.”

That led to a roar of laughter, and to Markus’s surprise, both men laughed, flipping off their coach. If that had happened back on the Ninjas, Coach Saint would have chopped someone’s head off with a stick. But not here, and just that simple fact had Markus grinning like a fool.

“Okay, back to business. We’ve shaken the lines up, we’re gonna try some new things, see if we can find a groove. So I hope everyone is ready. It won’t be an easy practice.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Even Markus was nodding—because he was ready.

He was born ready.

Markus wasn’t ready.

He wasn’t ready at all.

And he was pretty sure he was dying.

Lying on the bench in the locker room with his head only inches from Jayden’s leg, he sucked in breath as Jayden gasped beside him. While Markus was sure he was dying a very slow and unpleasant death, his buddy looked as if he could go another round. Jayden had the damn endurance of…someone who had a lot of endurance. Markus wasn’t sure, he was just dying, and thinking wasn’t an option.

Looking around the room, he noticed that, thankfully, everyone looked about the same. Two seconds away from death. Anderson was sitting with his arms on his legs, a towel on his head as he sucked in deep breaths. Odder was stark naked, his long legs almost reaching the middle of the room as he lay on the floor and looked up at the ceiling.

At least everyone else was mirroring how Markus felt.

Well, except Jayden; he was basically Batman or some shit.

“Who do we blame for this?” Paxton asked, looking around the room. “Who fucked up to bring on this death practice? I haven’t worked that hard since my first day in the NHL.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, everyone’s gaze swiveled to Markus.

“Fuck,” he muttered as everyone glared.

“You owe us dinner,” Odder demanded.

“And beer, lots of beer,” Anderson added, and Markus grinned.

“If I stay, I got you guys. But right now, funds are tight.”

“That’s why you get a shiny team credit card, buddy, and we’re gonna break that sucker in,” King said, trying to catch his breath.

“Whoa, what? Team card?” he asked because he could really use that.

“Yeah, it’s in your welcome pack,” King said, and Markus looked away. He didn’t get one of those. Just like that, he was knocked down from the high he was riding from his first NHL practice. Yup, they didn’t think he’d be here long. Hopefully, he’d proved them wrong today. He rocked that practice. Killed it. Yeah, he may have swallowed back a lot of vomit, but damn it, he rocked. Surely, he’d make it. He had to make it.

6. Free therapy, three times a week. (Mental health is important!)

What the fuck?

On an exhale, King said, “I’m too old for this shit.”

Thomas chortled beside him, nodding his head. “I was thinking the same thing.”

“Aw, are y’all gonna retire like Adler did?” Brooks called to them, and they glared.

“We aren’t retiring until you do, Grandpa.”

Markus laughed along with the other guys as he leaned into the locker, loving the coolness of the slick wood. But when the door opened, he paused as Coach Baxter walked in. Markus’s stomach dropped because he knew what was about to happen. The chew-out.

“Great practice, boys. All of you worked damn hard, and I couldn’t ask for a better group. Again, good luck, Odder and Titov. Go Canada!”

Markus scoffed as Odder and Titov waved Coach off, laughing. But he stopped laughing when Coach met his gaze. “Great practice, Reeves. Way to come out guns blazing. I may have doubted you a little too early. I’ll see you in the morning?”

Markus sat up straighter. “Yes, sir.”

“Good, everyone else only needs to come for morning skate. Sinclair, you’ll stay after, eh?”

“Yes, sir,” Jayden agreed, wiping his face down, and Markus was confused. Why would Jayden be staying? He knew why he was staying. They wanted to work with him—that wasn’t a problem, he wanted the extra work and training—but there was no reason for Jayden to stay. His sister was getting married, he had a new baby, he had things to do.

“Okay, good. All right, hit the showers, boys. Good job today, I really like this pairing,” he said, and both men nodded their heads because it was a good combo. Jayden and Markus knew how to play together, knew what the other was doing before he did it. It worked, and Markus was glad someone saw that.

Before leaving, though, Coach paused, holding his hands up. “Cover up. Boss lady is coming in here in a few.”

Everyone nodded as they started to get up, ready to hit the showers. Jayden stood, but Markus stopped him. “Bro, why are you staying?”

“To work with you.”

“Oh,” he said, deflated. Maybe he didn’t do as well as he thought he had if they needed Jayden to stay too. Coach did say he kicked ass, but why did they need Jayden, then?

“Yeah, Coach asked after practice if I can stay tomorrow to work with ya on some plays. They loved your play today. So did I. Great job.”

“Oh, awesome.”

Jayden smiled. “Yeah, I’m proud, bro, really proud. They just want to smooth some things out so we can start next Wednesday.”

“Start?” he said, almost choking on the word.

Jayden scoffed. “Yeah, me and you, bro. Let’s do this. You ready?”

Holding his fist up, Jayden waited, but all Markus could do was nod. Was this all real? When his fist connected with Jayden’s, his buddy smiled. “Hurry up, we’re meeting Lucy out at the cabins and having lunch with Mom and River. Angie is excited to see you.”