“Sure.”
He got out of bed and went over to the chair in the corner, picking up the towel. “I’ll just use my filthy ass towel to save on laundry,” he said as he walked into the bathroom.
Practical and sexy. Wes was really starting to grow on me.
Chapter Seventeen
Wes
Despite how great things were going at home, things with the team were an absolute shit show. Keegan and Konstantin were constantly at each other’s throats, we lost more often than not, and though I’d asked Coach if I could meet with him, he’d been putting me off. He surprised me after practice today, though, saying he wanted to see me in his office.
He sat down as soon as I closed the door and said, “What the fuck is happening in the locker room, Kirby?”
“There’s a lot, Coach.”
“As acting captain, it’s your job to make it stop.”
“I can’t force them to grieve any faster, and this shit between Miller and Kon is heating up. Which is what I needed to talk to you about.”
Coach narrowed his eyes. “Are you telling me you can’t handle a little bickering between a couple of the boys?”
“It’s more than bickering. Apparently, Keegan is sleeping with Kon’s girlfriend.”
Coach looked less than impressed. “This is what you were coming to me with? Jesus Christ, Kirby, what do you want me to do with that? When Ben came to me, it was all about the hockey.”
“This is about hockey,” I said calmly. “Kon is looking to get traded this summer, and frankly, I don’t see how that’s in the best interest of the team. We need Kon a hell of a lot more than we need Miller. If we lose him, the first line loses all its momentum.”
“Let’s be clear about something, Wes—right now, this team has no momentum. Not the first line, not the tenth line. And to be honest with you, I don’t see you stepping up to change things.”
“I’m trying, Coach. We’re just way off-kilter and running out of time.”
“Ben wouldn’t have let this happen. Ben was able to motivate these guys to do better, and he would’ve handled this situation between Kon and Miller.”
“I’m not Ben,” I said quietly. “If I’m going to be captain, I have to do things my way, and my way was to come to you, tell you the situation, and let you know that we’re going to lose Kon if we don’t do something about Keegan. They’re not going to just make nice and get past this. Svetlana is currently living with Kon and sleeping with Keegan. I don’t have the power to change that; you and Levoie do.” Mitch Levoie was our GM.
Coach looked up at the ceiling for a few seconds before fixing me with one of his steely gazes. “I need you to find a way to get through to them, son. Otherwise, we’re going to lose more than Kon this summer.”
Christ, was he threatening my place on the team?
“There’s only a week left in the season. I don’t know what I can do between now and then.”
“I know.” Coach suddenly seemed a little defeated. “We were having such a goddamn good season. I’ve never lost a player before. I’ve seen career-ending injuries, but not death, not like this. I don’t know how the fuck we move forward.”
“Maybe it’s because we never said goodbye,” I said slowly. “I mean, we talked about him in the locker room and had a moment of silence before that first game after the funeral, but we never said goodbye. The funeral was short and afterward, it was just family. Maybe we need to do something meaningful. A dinner, just the guys, a tribute to Ben. Tell our favorite stories, talk about who he was to us, give the guys a chance to say goodbye. I know I’m fucking haunted living in his house, using his stuff, sitting on his couch…” I cleared my throat. “I could set it up.”
“The day before the last game of the season,” Coach said quietly. “Instead of a morning skate the day of, we’ll have a team dinner the night before. Maybe Giovanna’s?”
“And let’s invite support staff, you know? Trainers, all the coaches, equipment managers. We need something like this.”
“It certainly can’t hurt. Make the arrangements, and I’ll get the staff on board.”
“I’ll text you the details once Vicenzo tells me if the back room is available.”
Coach nodded and I was dismissed.
Now I just had to figure out how to get the guys to bond, while keeping Keegan and Konstantin apart, and maybe end the season on a high note.
I was so lost in thought I almost missed the snickering in the dressing room, where most of the guys were changing into street clothes. I glanced around and saw Lars leaning against his locker, a look of annoyance on his face.