Page 73 of All In: The Price We Pay

And after practice, I’ll grab Sid and we’ll sort this out.

Coach Denner puts us in the same group for the next practice session on the ice. He’s undoubtedly noticed my brusque approach toward Sid and is trying to keep the team in harmony.

Sid keeps glancing at me. Instead of taking the shot himself, even though he’s in a much better position in front of the net, he passes the puck back to me, and I miss. I’ve gone too far. My little game is over.

We skate around the net. I skate right next to him.

“Sorry,” he mutters.

I tap him on the butt with my stick. “Skate with me.”

We go around one more lap while the next group runs an attack.

“Valentina talked to me.”

Sid trips over his own skates. Oh my gosh.

“Calm down.”

He seems to regain his balance but now stares straight ahead at the ice we’re skating on. “Evan, I’m sorry.”

I don’t have time for this nonsense. “Sid, we were, are, and hopefully always will be good friends. There’s nothing more between Valentina and me.”

“Okay, that’s what she says, too. But I heard . . . ”

“Listen, rookie, the media feeds you bullshit. If you want to know something, ask me. If Valentina and I tell you there was never anything between us, that’s how it is. Even if I haven’t denied it over the last few weeks.” I point to the goal. “I just wanted to mess with you today.”

“Tsk. Asshole.”

I laugh. “I’m half serious. Think about what you did. A teammate’s girlfriend. It turned out okay this time because it’s Valentina and me. But that wouldn’t work with just anyone. If you so much as give Munns’ girlfriend a dirty look, he’ll eat you for breakfast.”

We both turn to our goalie, who’s giving Spears, one of our defensemen, a real hard time. That guy’s got quite the temper; it’s no joke.

“Evan, I didn’t choose this. I don’t wander around town searching for women who are already taken. If she’d made it clear to me from the start that there could never be anything between us, I would’ve backed off immediately. You have to believe me. You realize she’s her own person with a mind of her own. The last thing I planned to do was fall in love during my rookie season. Fuck, I’ve never done this before. If I’d had a choice, she and I wouldn’t be together right now.”

Oh. I understand that all too well. “All right. But you have to be more careful. You could tear the team apart with something like that.”

Everything tightens up inside me. Isn’t that exactly what I’m afraid of, what I’ll be accused of? That I’m selfishly pursuing my own interests instead of looking out for the team?

I glance at Sid from the side. “And you’re sure she’s not just interesting to you because she’s Valentina Garcia?”

Sid shoves me so hard that I slam into the boards. “Come on.” I run after him. “Who’s the asshole now?”

“Still you. She’s . . . the most wonderful person I’ve ever met. You don’t deserve her at all.” He delivers his boastful words with his chin held high.

I have to laugh. “You can put that big mouth of yours to even better use today than insulting me. We’ll go see the coach and tell him. When the first pictures come out, there’s going to be a fuss, anyway. He needs to be prepared.”

“We want to keep all this under wraps for now.”

I wave him off. “Your plans and the eyes and ears of the media are two completely different things. Better safe than sorry.”

He grimaces, but I know he’ll stick with me and that we’ll both see this through today.

“What’s going on with you two? Are you jerking off, do you need to hold hands, or are you coming back to practice?” our assistant coach’s voice booms across the ice.

My back tenses up immediately, and I automatically scan the surroundings to see who’s watching us. Was my behavior somehow conspicuous?

Sid, on the other hand, is the perfect picture of calm. “There’s someone for the real asshole list,” he whispers to me and skates toward the coach with exaggerated movements. “Come on now, babe. Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you jealous.”