Power Play (Nashville Assassins Next Generation 2)

All the guys are nodding and looking around at one another.

Wes quirks his brow as he eyes me. “We do. Do you not?”

I shrug. “No. I mean yes. I mean… Shit, I don’t know. I can’t get a read on her,” I say, falling between him and Aiden on the bench as everyone laughs and chuckles at me.

“You don’t like anyone, Hoenesy,” Willy Bacioretty, one of the defense, hollers at me. During training camp this year, he’d expressed interest in switching to defense. I wasn’t sure about the change since he has a sick wrister, but Coach believed in him, and he was right. The dude is lethal at the point.

“She isn’t here for you to like or not like. She’s here to fix our power play,” Reeves says, and I glare at him. He can be Mr. Know-It-All. Really annoying but a nice guy, and he can make some damn good ribs. His little girl, Lilly, is adorable too, and his wife, Mekena, is really great.

“Can’t get a read on her? Why do you need that? You just have to listen.” Wes says, like a normal person who isn’t obsessing over our new female coach.

Aiden leans in. “She’s a hard-ass but a super-cool chick.”

I give him a look. “You have to say that. She’s about to be your family.”

He scoffs with a shrug. “Maybe, but I like her. I’ve always liked her. She’s good people, super-talented and smart. Really, give her a minute. She was brought in to fix us. She has to be hard.”

“I don’t care that she’s hard. I like that she’s coaching us. I just get the vibe that she thinks she’s better than us.”

He pauses and then nods slowly. “I can see that, but I think that’s just her face and her confidence. I mean, Shea Adler would walk into any room, and everyone knew he was a winner. He didn’t let you think otherwise. The first time I met him, I didn’t know a lick about hockey, but I knew he was good at it.”

Wes grins and nods. “Everyone knew that. He was a badass dude.”

“Still is.”

I roll my eyes. “Is this part of joining the family? Gotta kiss everyone’s ass?”

Aiden chuckles. “Seriously. She’s a good girl—”

“Exactly! She’s a baby, and she thinks she can do this?” I say, giving him a look. “A seasoned man who has won a Cup didn’t even have the confidence she has.”

Wes nods. “Exactly, which is why he’s not here and she is. Honestly, I want a confident coach, someone who knows they can make us win.”

When he puts it like that, I guess they’re right. But still, something is bothering me. When Wes leans over, coming entirely too close to me, I pull in my brows.

“I think you think she’s hot.”

I scrunch up my face. “I do not!”

Aiden giggles like a schoolgirl. “Ha! Or he’s intimidated by her.”

Wes nods, and I’m flabbergasted. “Fuck you both.”

“Yup. He’s attracted to her and intimidated by her. He wants her to blow him instead of that whistle,” he teases and then shakes his head. “But for real, can someone take that thing away?”

“You guys have lost your fucking minds.”

Aiden laughs. “We’re just teasing you,” he says as he puts on his shirt. “But for real, she’s a good girl. You’ll see. I believe in what Shelli is doing here. She’s so smart. And gorgeous. And hot—”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, go suck her ass somewhere else,” I groan, and Wes chortles beside me as Willy shakes his head.

“Leave him be. He’s in love,” Willy sings, and I roll my eyes.

I point to them as I look at Wes. “How can you hang with these two? I feel we need to vote them out of the group.”

The three of them laugh. “Then I’d be stuck with you, and you are an asshole most days.”

“I am not.”

“You are,” they all say in agreement. Wes shrugs.

“But it’s part of the reason we like you,” Aiden says, grabbing his bag. “And you’re loyal as hell.”

Willy nods. “True story.”

Blah, makes me sick. Assholes. The pair of them walks off toward their perfect relationships and happy lives, leaving me to dwell on my confusing thoughts of Posey Adler.

I look at Wes to find he is grinning at me. “What?”

“Nothing,” he says with that shit-eating grin that means way more than “nothing.”

I glare before getting up to put on my sweats. I don’t have time for this shit and I need a nap, but apparently a nap isn’t going to happen. Nope, not when my mind is going at speeds unknown, trying to figure out if I’m intimidated by Posey, attracted to her, or fuck…both.

I hate the dudes I call friends.

* * *

I dislike playing the Devils. Massively.

The reason being, I was drafted to them, played for two years before I asked to go free agent to be traded. That was right around the time Julia and I reconnected, and we started dating. When the Assassins came sniffing, I gave them full access to my ass. Anything to get me out of that organization. Because of this, they hate me. I swear the coach has it out for me and sends his goons after me like I’m a sweet piece of chocolate and they’re all Willy Wonka. It’s really a pain in the ass, honestly.