Captain made a pinched face. “Make your own call on that.”
Rookie groaned. “Let me know whoever gets something. I’ll go in on it.”
Moron. “I’m not getting her shit,” Mikah said.
“I’m not organizing the gift,” Liam said.
Aww, Canadian-style meanness.
Coach flipped the sheet of paper over. “Willow’s first order is to cancel the purity initiatives.”
That was met with a mix of cheers but an equal number of grumbles.
Coach clapped his big hands. “I for one have noticed a lessening of the players’ STD medical holds. You know who you are. Keep up the good work.”
Damn.
“Can we talk about the game? Geels’ Beast will be coming for me.” Liam sounded hyped up, but not in a good way.
There was a fine line between Liam being able to spot small objects flying at him from 180 degrees and insanity. Then again, his ex’s brother was legit known as the Geels’ Beast, and he would be gunning for Liam. Mikah went with logic to soothe his bro. “You’re the goaltender; everyone is coming for you.”
Liam moaned. “I broke up with the Beast’s sister. He’s really coming for me.”
Kiernan shrugged. “Ya, sure, but only in the way Canadians do.”
“Is Willow behind the new gift bags?” Rookie changed the subject. “My parents were there last night when a stripper knocked on my door in a puck bikini and turkey tail. They didn’t find her funny.”
Damn, front office needed to envision a middle ground between purity and prostitution.
“Sounds like one of Willow’s ideas,” Kiernan said.
Liam nodded. “Wasn’t Piper’s.” He looked at Mikah carefully. “Security told me she doesn’t work here anymore.”
Mikah had expected that. Still, the words punched his gut. He said nothing. He had to fix things with her and had no clue how. Win the game, win the girl. Dad’s motto. Didn’t seem to apply. Should he send flowers? Jewelry? She’d just lost her damn job. Cash? Fuck. Why didn’t he have a single friend in a healthy romantic relationship who could advise him.
There was silence, then York and Havard angled forward. These two guys rarely spoke.
“I liked having my mini bars stocked with cheese curds,” York said.
Mikah had played with guys from Minnesota before and knew all about their curd habits. The Norwegian, Havard, spoke next, his accent too thick to understand. Something about reindeer jerky, and the difficulties with meat imports.
None of his teammates understood the real problem that Piper leaving caused for him and for her. Piper was more than access to foreign snacks. What did she need right now?
Kiernan held up his finger. “The extended access porn package Willow set up was good. At first.”
There were grunts of agreement.
Damn, these guys would click on any link someone sent their way.
Kiernan opened his hands like a lawyer presenting a compromise. “But I could barely make it through the last practice. It was pathetic how drained I was. We should just get those channels post-game.”
“Makes good sense,” Ronan said.
“You could not turn the movie on,” Coach suggested. He never had much sympathy for their challenges.
There were snorts of laughter, as if he were kidding.
“I like yoga.” An assistant who hadn’t even been with the team a month stretched his arms overhead. “There was always a new mat in my room on the road, and there were yogis on the dating app to demonstrate each move. Why can’t we hire Piper even if Dahlia’s out?”