Killian Read online

  Killian

  Brenda Rothert

  Chapter 1

  Killian

  I ducked, but I was too late. The puck had been fired directly at my head, and it bounced off my mask, knocking me off balance. I slipped but regained myself, digging my skate blades into the ice.

  “Who the fuck did that?” I demanded, casting a furious gaze at the third line. No one said a thing, but I saw two of the guys glance quickly at the third man in their line. Anderson. His ass was mine.

  “Fuckin’ big shot, are you?” I skated toward him and he tried to flee, but he wasn’t fast enough. I jumped him, knocking him to the ice and making sure he felt every one of my two hundred pounds of pissed off fury.

  I was on top of him in a nano-second and landed my first blow to his gut. He grunted.

  The shrill sound of the coach’s whistle made us both stop.

  “Get up, ladies!” our coach Orion yelled. “Work it out later.”

  I got up, pushing off of Anderson’s chest. He gave me a murderous glare, and then silently pulled himself to his feet.

  “Everybody on the line,” Orion shouted.

  There was a collective groan. Bag skate. We’d lost 5-1 last night, which meant today we were facing a grueling practice. It would start with suicides – rigorous skating back and forth between the rink lines. It was something our old coach wouldn’t have dreamed of making us do. I hadn’t done them since my college days.

  The three-man lines skated to and from the blue lines on the rink, most of the guys panting and swearing under their breath within a few minutes.

  “My fuckin’ thighs are on fire,” my winger Liam said. “We’re paying the price for the dead weight once again.”

  “Enough of this shit,” muttered Bennett, my other winger.

  I was still too busy thinking about the ass beating I owed Anderson. If the bastard was lucky this bag skate would probably work out some of the fire in me.

  Ten minutes later our punishment ended and, with a self-satisfied smirk on his face, the coach moved us on to running plays. Believe it or not, we couldn’t do that right either. We were worse than we’d been in the game last night, which seemed impossible.

  The puck got away from one of the guys twice in rapid succession, and Orion was silent for a few seconds. He’d only been coaching us for a couple of weeks, but I knew what that quiet meant. An explosion was on the way.

  “Boys, if you can’t get this shit done in practice, think about what we’re gonna look like in our next game. I think I need to take some of you over to the fucking peewee practice so you can learn how to move the goddamned puck.” He was looking each of us in the eye and there was no doubt what he thought of us. “OK, again, and this time move it.”

  I was getting to know that pissed off glare very well. Two weeks ago he’d started off mild-mannered and cool, but after seeing this fucked up team in action his fuse had shortened fast.

  Our line wasn’t the problem. Me and Bennett and Liam were the first line, and we knew our shit and worked in tandem. But one line couldn’t hold up an entire team. The other lines were the problem, and everyone knew it. They never failed to blow our lead.

  When it was our turn to do the play I charged down the ice and I didn’t even have to look at Liam to know he had the puck I’d passed to him. Bennett finished the play by sliding it into the net and then we all got back in line. Orion said nothing because we’d done the play perfectly.

  Things didn’t go so well for Steve Grayson and his line. He just missed his pass.

  “Grayson, you live to fuck with me, don’t you?” Orion yelled. “Everyone get over here so I can go over this play again.”

  We all skated over and surrounded Orion and watched as he drew fast and furious on his dry erase board. I stood at the back, zoning out. I knew this fucking play as well as I knew all the others, and this was boring as shit. My mind wandered to the brunette bartender at the bar I hung out at. She was much more interesting. Stacy was petite and had nice big tits. She’d slid down the waistband of her pants last night to show me her new tattoo – some kind of flower design right above her bikini line.

  She’d asked me if I’d stay until close tonight, which meant she wanted to come home with me after her shift was over. Fuck, yes I would stay til close. Nothing excited me like fucking a woman for the first time. Only a handful ever made it to a second time, though.

  My mind was jerked back to the present when I became aware the coach had moved on from his teaching lesson. “The new owner’s upstairs watching practice,” Orion announced, giving us the evil eye. We all looked up in the direction of the owner’s box, but I couldn’t see anyone standing inside.

  Orion turned to Bruce, the Flyers assistant coach, and spoke in a voice loud enough that no one could miss what he was saying, “Bruce, did we not have a meeting with the new owner before practice this morning?”

  Bruce nodded his agreement.

  “Tell me if I remember this right, Bruce.” Orion continued. “Did she tell us this team will be undergoing some major changes? That we’ll be making cuts and bringing in new talent?”

  “That’s right, Coach,” Bruce said in an even tone.

  Sighs and shuffling from around me indicated nervousness. I had nothing to worry about. I was the captain of the team and probably the best player here, though Bennett was a very close second. But the idea of cutting the dead weight got my attention. I was as disgusted as Orion with the record of our team. It was fucking embarrassing. He’d been brought in by the new ownership to turn things around and it sounded like that was about to happen.

  “I’ve been here two weeks,” he said. “I’ve given all of you a chance to show me you want to be on this team. Starting today, there’ll be one on one meetings between some of you and the new owner. Later on, Bruce and I will talk to each of you individually to let you know who’s staying and who’s going. Now back to the fucking play, boys.”

  As we turned to get back in line, Orion called Liam’s name. “You’re up first with the owner,” he said. “You know where her office is?”

  My head swiveled to look at Orion. Her? The new owner was a woman? Fucking hell. A woman wouldn’t be able to make the tough decisions this team needed to recover from its place at the bottom of the league.

  And what about Liam? He was a quiet, solid player on the first line. What the hell did the new ownership want with him? I wanted to go with him to that meeting, but that was never going to happen.

  Liam skated over to the bench and I glanced back up at the owner’s box, glowering. Anybody who fucked with Liam was also fucking with me. I had nothing to lose, and a man with nothing to lose was never someone you wanted to fuck with. Especially not by some woman who thought she could overhaul this team and turn things around. Others had tried and failed. She would be no different.

  Sidney

  I stood in the owner’s box, watching the practice, my arms folded and my face impassive. These players were enough to make a girl want to throw up her arms in disgust. When they missed their mark, they either looked like they didn’t give a damn, or they cracked their sticks against the ice like little boys having a temper tantrum.

  “Looks like I bought the proverbial Bad News Bears, Keri,” I said, turning to the woman standing next to me. “It’s going from bad to worse.”

  She shook her head. “I told you to buy a baseball team.” Keri and I had worked together for several years and, as far as I was concerned, she was a P.R. genius par excellence.

  I looked back out over the pristine white ice. “I don’t love baseball. I love hockey.”

  “Well, you’ve got a good coach, and now that we’re here, we’ll get down to work. This is a big challenge, Sid. We’ve re-worked the images of other companies, but we’ve never
had to fight against twenty-something men who only care about partying and getting laid.”

  “Well, I’m the boss now,” I said, arching my brows. “I’ve got a ton of money tied up in this investment and I’m going to make certain it pays off. These guys can either get with the program or hit the road. There’s plenty of fresh talent out there.”

  Keri nodded. “Agreed. But don’t forget about that first line. Orion was adamant about not letting any of them go.”

  “We’ll see. As far as I’m concerned that first line has to prove themselves every day just like everyone else.”

  “Orion did tell us he doesn’t need this job – just remember that. His conditions for taking it in the first place were firm, and they included keeping that first line.”

  I furrowed my brow. “Look, I’m not planning on getting rid of any of them. But they better be as good as Orion says, or we’re gonna have problems.”

  Keri tapped on her wristwatch. “We’ve got those player meetings scheduled all morning. The first guy should be waiting in your office right now. I saw him leave the ice a few minutes ago.”

  “Liam Morrison, right?”

  Keri passed me a clipboard. “That’s right. Here are hard copies of the player summaries I wrote for you. There’s one for each of our meetings today.”

  I looked down at the bulleted information on our top left winger, scanning it again although I’d already read through it on my laptop.

  “You even included their stats,” I said, amused. “Keri, you’re the best. Coming here with me to help revamp this team means a lot to me.”

  “It’s a challenge,” she said as we walked down the concrete hallway of the arena toward our makeshift offices. “And you know I love a challenge.”

  Our offices weren’t far from the owner’s box, and I met Keri’s eyes as I reached for the tacky gold doorknob leading to my office. “Here we go,” I said.

  As we entered the room an attractive blond man stood up from the metal chair he’d been sitting on.

  “Mr. Morrison?” I said, approaching him. “I’m Sidney Stahl, the new owner.”

  We shook hands and I gestured to Keri. “This is Kerrigan Oliver, my director of public relations.”

  Keri shook his hand and we all sat down on the rickety folding chairs positioned along one wall.

  “I apologize for the state of this office,” I said to Liam. “We just arrived yesterday and we’re having furniture delivered later this week.”

  He arched his brows, looking surprised. “You’re using this as your office space? I’ve never known an owner to have an office here at the arena.”

  “It’ll be more convenient for us. Moving forward I’ll be very involved with the team and it will be good to be close by,” I said. “As will Keri.”

  With a nod, Liam Morrison folded his arms across his chest and stared directly at me. “So, am I staying or going?” he asked. “You don’t have to sugarcoat it if I’m out. I don’t really care that much.”

  His attitude caught me off guard. In my experience, minor league players were eager, hungry– desperate even. They played hard in an all-out effort to make it to the big league.

  I glanced at Keri, sending a silent message for her to take the lead.

  “Frankly, the fact that you say you don’t care is a problem,” she said. “You aren’t being cut, but we have some serious work to do on your image. You haven’t done a single charity event or interview since joining this team a year ago. You don’t sign autographs or interact with the fans. That’s all part of the job.”

  He shrugged, looking amused. “With all due respect, I really don’t care about my image. I’m just here to play hockey.”

  “Well I care about your image,” I interjected. “Your image is a reflection of the image of this team as a whole. And ambivalence is not an image I’m interested in.”

  “You want me to do interviews?” he asked, a challenge in his tone. “You want me to be honest about what went wrong after a game? You want me to say this team’s a fuckin’ mess of lazy and unskilled players? That’d make a nice headline, wouldn’t it?”

  I held his gaze. Point made, but I wasn’t about to acknowledge it.

  “We need you to be a team player,” Keri said.

  “Well, I’m not.” He shrugged. “You might as well just cut me.”

  If it had been an option, I would’ve sent him packing right then. Nothing annoyed me more than someone who took their career and their future for granted. Not to mention how much I hated childish, petulant behavior. But I’d promised Orion, and I didn’t want to lose him. I wanted Orion coaching my team.

  “I can give you some media training and coach you on interview skills,” Keri offered.

  “And I can coach you on a thing or two in return,” he said, winking at her.

  My blood heated with anger. What a chauvinist. I was about to put him in his place when Keri beat me to it.

  “That’s very kind but completely unnecessary,” she said. Keri was a consummate professional. She hadn’t defended herself strongly enough, but I’d cover that later, in private.

  “Mr. Morrison, participating in community events and dealing with the fans and the media are part of the expectations I have for every member of this team. We’ll offer guidance and training, and we won’t throw you in all at once. You’ll have ample opportunity to warm up to the tasks. If that doesn’t sit well with you, then you are free to leave the team at any point.”

  He shrugged. “I’ll think about it.”

  “Let me get this straight—are you saying you’d rather quit than play nice?” Keri’s tone was aggravated and a little bit angry.

  “I said I’ll think about it.”

  “Well, you’d better think fast because I’m taking you to your first charity event next week,” she said sweetly.

  Liam glared at her. I got up from my chair.

  “So glad we had this conversation Mr. Morrison. I’ll let you two work on this and Keri will keep me updated.” I flipped the page on my clipboard. “It was a pleasure to meet you face to face. You’re an outstanding player and an asset to this team.” Opening the door to the office I said, “Can you please send Killian Bosch up when you get back to practice?”

  He smiled and stood. “Will do. He’s a sweetheart - you’re gonna love Killian.”

  It was all I could do to hold my tongue until he closed the door behind him. “What an ass,” I said to Keri in a low tone. “I don’t envy you having to deal with his antics.”

  She laughed and stood up. “Nothing we can’t handle, Sid. You want some coffee?”

  “I’ll have Nicole bring some in,” I said, taking out my cell phone to text my assistant.

  “She’s watching practice from the stands,” Keri said. “Can’t say I blame her. Some of those guys are hot.”

  “Don’t get distracted,” I said firmly. “Nicole’s been told fraternizing with the players is off limits. I wouldn’t lay down a directive like that to you, but be careful, Keri. These guys are only looking for sex, and it would affect your ability to work with them if you ever got involved in that way.”

  She waved a hand dismissively. “No, never. I’m a professional. You’re paying me very good money to be here and I’m focusing on my job. I have no interest in playboy hockey players anyway. Especially not if they’re all as arrogant as Liam.”

  “Well, next up is our team captain, and I’m not expecting much humility from him.”

  Killian

  I took off my pads and stripped off my sweat-soaked t-shirt. Bennett was doing the same on the other side of the locker room bench. He met my eyes with a glare that said everything I was thinking.

  Orion was a good coach, but he was no miracle worker. Today’s practice had been another reminder that our team had dead weight that needed to go. My line worked hard every time we were on the ice—at every practice and at every game. But I was sick of carrying the guys who couldn’t be bothered with their weight training or going the extr
a distance in practice. Those guys needed to get the fuck out.

  “Pensacola tomorrow night,” Bennett muttered. I sighed deeply, but said nothing. They’d annihilated us last time we played them. After my line picked up a two-point lead, the second line managed to hold it steady, but then the third line blew it. After that we got crushed.

  “Wanna lift before lunch?” Bennett asked.

  “Yeah.” I pulled on a clean t-shirt as Liam approached and nodded at me.

  “Your turn with the new boss lady,” he said.

  “What’d she want with you?”

  He shrugged. “Just her and her PR lady tellin’ me to stop being such an asshole.”

  I laughed and he cracked a smile.

  “So that’s it, then? They just want to tell us to be good boys? Guess I’ll feed ‘em the same line of shit I fed my mom in high school.”

  Liam shook his head slightly. “These two won’t remind you of your mom, man. They’re both fuckin’ hot.”

  I knitted my brows together with surprise. “Seriously?”

  “Go see for yourself. And, Killian, they don’t seem like the type who like to be kept waiting.”

  “You mean like fuckable hot?” I asked.

  “Hey, watch it.”

  I turned at the sound of Orion’s voice. He was none too happy. “None of that shit. You’ll respect Sidney and her staff, or you’ll feel my foot in your ass.”

  “I didn’t mean any disrespect,” I said, meaning it.

  “No locker room talk about the owners, the staff, or my wife,” he said. “Anyone else is fair game.”

  “I have to go up to the new owner’s office,” I said to Orion, heading for the door.

  He followed me out and stepped into the hallway after me. “Come find me when you’re done,” he said. “I want to give you a heads-up about who I’m cutting.”

  “How many?”

  “For now, four.”

  I nodded and headed down the hallway. The new owner’s office was in a room upstairs I’d never been in. I took the stairs two at a time and found the office, knocking once before opening the door.