Scoring Position (Hockey Ever After #2)

by Ashlyn Kane

SWEAT DRIPPED off Nico Kirschbaum’s nose as he pedaled harder. He’d hopped onto the bike after his run-in with Rees an hour ago, filled with a restless resentment that he couldn’t think of any other way to burn through… short of punching his GM in the nose. But his mother always said there were some acts people couldn’t forgive. Ironically, his father might actually have praised his initiative. Either way, pissing off the GM wouldn’t get him more ice time. All he could do was stare at the bike’s readout until the numbers blurred. His fingers ached where he’d clenched them on the handlebars, and his legs burned. He was an adult. He didn’t need a keeper. He gritted his teeth and dialed up the bike’s resistance. He had no idea what the fuck Rees thought he was doing bringing in Ryan Wright, then calling Nico into his office and asking him to make friends with the guy. And Nico didn’t think it was a coincidence that they’d asked him, the other openly gay guy on the team, to do the friending. This was all so stupid. And possibly homophobic. Nico did not need management to trade friends for him. Anyway, if that was that they wanted, then why had they sent Lucas away? Lucas had actually understood Nico’s sense of humor. He knew when to leave him alone and when to drag him out to socialize. And unlike many other guys in the NHL, Lucas had never had Nico’s dad on a pedestal and had no problem badmouthing him when he and Nico were fighting.