Traded (Nashville Grizzlies, #1)

by Carly Marie

As soon as the car was off, it was like Trevor became a different person. He swung his door open and nearly jumped from the driver’s seat, calling to a guy in a sports car who had just pulled up. “Yuri! Get over here. Meet Brax and help me out.” Yuri Yurievich was the Russian netminder who had played backup to Igor Ozols for the two previous seasons. He’d become the starter more often than not this season and was having an impressive early season, letting in an average of just over two goals per game. The rumor mill was that Igor was getting ready to retire. My dad and Igor had been in the NHL for a number of seasons together, though never on the same team, and my dad had a lot of respect for Igor. He still joked that Igor was the one goalie he dreaded playing. I slid out of the SUV and came around the hood just as Yuri walked up. He was an impressive height, at least two or three inches taller than my six-foot-one frame and the small bear in his arm was comical, though after putting my foot in my mouth about dodgeball, I wasn’t about to say anything about the bear. “You beat Seth?” Trevor looked around, though I wasn’t sure how much he could see over the towering front ends of the vehicles around us. “Appears so. He had to stop at the mall first.” A large black SUV came around the corner and Trevor laughed. “Speak of the devil.” “He is happy. Mall, yes.” While Yuri’s Russian accent was still thick, the sarcasm and innuendo had been clear and the three of us were still sni...