Traded (Nashville Grizzlies, #1)

by Carly Marie

When three bags of balls got dumped onto the ice, I knew I needed to get used to being surprised. I also needed to take Trevor more seriously. Coach split us up by jersey color and suddenly the light practice turned into utter pandemonium. Balls were flying through the air, laughter and screams filled the rink, and the coaches started jeering and taunting us. While their pokes were oddly kind and gentle, they picked apart everything they saw wrong. Our form, the way we cut back and forth on the ice, and footwork were all picked apart for twenty minutes, though laughter and camaraderie were the most prominent takeaways of the game. On our way to the locker room, I jogged up to Trevor and put my hand on his shoulder. “Hey, I owe you a sincere apology. I’d been surprised and taken a little off guard when you mentioned playing games at the end of practice and I definitely spoke without any knowledge of what I was talking about. That”—I motioned behind us—“was amazing. I see why it’s so important to the team.” Trevor glanced up at me, actually looking at me for the first time since the car ride, and I watched as a smile spread on his face. “Thanks. It’s really important to us. Thank you for giving it a try.” We made it to the locker room and each went our separate ways to change. As I pocketed my phone, I noticed a voice mail from an unknown number and took a minute to listen to it. “Hi, Braxlyn, this is Alice Johnson from DASH. I got the application that you submitted last nig...