He took the blanket Dani handed him, and spread it over Kaylen’s lap. It was cold in the rink, and she was still weak and frail. She was here, though, and that was what mattered. He bent over and planted a kiss on her forehead. “If you see me do anything wrong out there as a coach, I expect you to let me know.”
“Okay.” She laughed, and it was the most beautiful sound in the world.
“Good luck, Coach,” Dani said.
“Thanks, baby.” Trevor gave her a kiss. “I love you.” He grabbed his equipment bag and made his way down to the ice. After lacing on his skates, he glanced up one more time before joining the other guys who were working at the camp. As he did, Kaylen waved.
Trevor kissed his hand and then held it up, laughing as his daughter reached her hand out to ‘catch’ the kiss. Maybe she’d be a goalie someday. Right now, anything seemed possible. He might not have a Stanley Cup, but Trevor felt as if he’d won it all.
###
Keep reading for a special preview of Scoring at Love, next in the Men of the Ice series.
Scoring at Love
Chapter One
The temperature outside topped the century mark, typical of Texas in June, but the inside of the Alamo Ice Rink, was a cool, temperature-controlled fifty-seven degrees. Becker Lawson watched the people filing into the rink and wondered if they were all truly interested in the opening day of the Young Generals hockey camp, or if some of them merely wanted to find a way to beat the San Antonio heat by spending the day in a cool environment. Either way, it appeared that the camp would be well-attended.
There were forty children signed up for the camp, which would allow them to hone their hockey skills with a handful of San Antonio Generals players serving as their coaches. The enrollment numbers for this inaugural camp exceeded everyone’s expectation. Hopefully a few would be budding goaltenders who could benefit from Becker’s tutelage. He knew one of the kids already, a young boy named Bryson Crawford, who was the son of the host family that Becker’s Russian teammate, Nikolai Brantov, had stayed with this season. Bryson had attended a few practices, so Beck was already familiar with his skills.
Beck waited as Meryl Johnson, the director of the camp, introduced the coaches and gave them each a chance to tell the kids a little about themselves and the position they played. Finally, after Nik, team captain and star center, Colton Tremblay, right wingers Trevor Collison and Ryder Carrigan, and defenseman Noah Mann had spoken, it was Beck’s turn. Yeah, typical to save the goalie until the very end. It wasn’t the position of glory and glamour. After all, goalies didn’t score, or at least not very often, and too many times they were the goat, shouldering the blame for giving up the goal that might cost their team the game.
Becker first started playing goalie at the age of ten, and never looked back. He couldn’t imagine playing any other position, and he looked forward to teaching his skills to these boys and girls. “Hi there,” he said, taking the microphone from Meryl after she’d introduced him. “I’m Becker Lawson, and I’m the starting goaltender for the Generals. To me, goalie is the most important position on a hockey team. It combines physical skills, mental skills, and emotional skills.” He went on to explain about the importance of each before asking, “How many of you here have played goalie before, or think you might be interested in playing goalie?”
Six hands went up, including Bryson, as expected, and one girl, which pleased Beck. The NWHL had opened up professional hockey to women, and he wanted the sport, and the position, to be inclusive to everyone. “Great. Anyone else?”
There was a boy in the front that caught Beck’s eye. He raised his hand a little ways, then pulled it down, as if he couldn’t make up his mind.
Beck moved closer to him. “What’s your name?”
“Tristan,” the boy said. “Tristan Myers.”
“Hi, Tristan. You seem a little uncertain, like maybe you’re not sure who want to be a goalie. Do you have any questions for me, maybe help you make up your mind.”
“Oh, no. My mind’s made up,” Tristan said. “I want to play goalie. It’s just my mom...” His voice trailed off as he looked down at the ice.
“Your mom doesn’t want you to?” Beck asked.
“Yeah. She says it’s too dangerous for me.”
A common concern, but not an accurate one. “Is your mom here? Maybe I can talk with her for a minute, change her mind.”
“Could you?” Tristan smiled, revealing a gap-toothed smile. “That’d be great.” He turned around and pointed. “That’s her over there. First row. Blue sweater.”
Beck’s eyes followed Tristan’s finger to a stunning woman with auburn hair that cascaded to her shoulders in soft waves. She wore jeans, the blue sweater Tristan mentioned, and a black leather coat. She was, quite simply, one of the most beautiful women Beck had ever seen. She also quite likely married, and thus completely off limits. He could still talk a little hockey with her, though, just nothing else. “Great. Let me go see what I can do, buddy.”
***
Kendall was glad she’d worn a coat. It might be hotter than Hades outside, but it was plenty chilly inside the rink. Her close friend and fellow hockey mom hadn’t been as smart, and now Lori rubbed her arms as she complained about the cold temperature.
“Hopefully watching all these hot guys in action will warm me up quickly,” she declared.
Kendall raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me? Aren’t you married?”
“Yes,” Lori said. “Married, not dead. I’m still allowed to appreciate a good-looking man, and this hockey team is full of them.”
“Whatever.” Kendall did her best to sound as if she hadn’t even noticed. The last thing she wanted was her friend to get any ideas that one of the players might be a good match for Kendall.
“Yeah, ‘whatever,’ yourself,” Lori chided. “It’s time for you to get back in the game.”
“Can we quit with the sports references, please? Oh, and the divorce has only been final for two weeks.” Kendall wanted a chance to enjoy her new singlehood, which sounded good in theory. The reality was all she’d done so far was feel sorry for herself.
“Yes, but the marriage was over long before that,” her friend said, before softening her tone. “Look, Kendall, I know it still stings. Carter was an ass. But it doesn’t mean all men are.”
Kendall was about to offer another ‘whatever,’ which had become her new favorite word, when Lori said, “Oh my. Hello. Hottie alert. And he’s coming this way.”
Sure enough, Kendall turned her head and spotted one of the Generals players, whom she recognized as the starting goalie, heading toward them. Lori wasn’t exaggerating. He was definitely hot, with dark hair and piercing brown eyes.
He approached the railings that separated the spectator seating from the ice rink. “Excuse me, Mrs. Myers?”
It sounded weird to be addressed that way. She was no longer Carter Myers’ wife, and for that she was glad, but she wanted to have the same last name as her son, so she’d kept the Myers name, even after her attorney had advised her she could take her maiden name back. “Yes.”
“I’m Becker Lawson, Generals goaltender.” He smiled, revealing perfectly straight, white teeth, and Kendall wondered if they were real. Hadn’t most hockey players lost their teeth?
“Yes, I know who you are.” After all, her son had his poster on his bedroom wall.
“Great,” he said. “Anyway, I’m going to be coaching the goalies in camp, and your boy, Tristan, tells me it’s the position he most wants to play, but you won’t let him.”
Wonderful. Now I sound like the mean, horrible mother. Kendall wondered if Carter had been putting ideas in their son’s head, or talking bad about her. She wouldn’t put it past him. “I never said I wouldn’t let him,” Kendall corrected. “It just scares me because it’s so dangerous.”
Becker nodded. “A common enough misconception, but goalie is actually probably the safest position in hockey.”
“How so?” Kendall had
a hard-time believing it.
“Well, most serious jockey injuries are the result of collisions with other players, or along the boards,” he explained. “The kinds of things that occur more often when you’re skating out, not playing back in goal. The most serious injury I’ve had in my career is a groin strain. Otherwise , it’s just been a bunch of bruises, and I think of those as a badge of honor. It takes someone brave to play goalie. You should be very proud of Tristan.”
“I am proud of him.” Kendall seethed. Was this guy seriously telling her how to raise her son? She’d had enough of arrogant assholes who thought they knew everything after being married to Carter for ten years. “I just don’t want him to get killed.”
“And I assure you, Mrs. Myers, that all of the drills I will work on with him will be with his safety in mind.”
Kendall sighed. “If I say yes, will you leave me alone?” She was tired of talking to him, for one, and she also needed to score some ‘Cool Mom’ points with Tristan if she expected to keep pace with his dad in that race. Carter liked to make everything a competition.
“Yes, ma’am, I sure will.” Becker grinned. “It’s been a pleasure meeting with you. I better get to work and give Tristan the good news,” he said before skating off.
“My God, he’s gorgeous,” Lori said. “And he seems so nice.”
“He’s an arrogant jerk,” Kendall muttered, even if she couldn’t deny her friend was right. Becker might be an arrogant jerk, but he was a damn gorgeous one.
Books by Michele Shriver
Women’s Fiction:
After Ten
Tears and Laughter
Aggravated Circumstances
Contemporary Romance:
Finding Forever
Leap of Faith
The Art of Love
Starting Over
Love & Light
Dissonance (2016)
The Men of the Ice Novellas:
Playing for Keeps
Crossing the Line
Winning it All
Scoring at Love (2016)
Chasing the Prize (2016)
Making an Impact (2016)
Breaking the Ice (2016)
Boxed Sets:
Heroes to Swoon For
Spring into Love
Score One For Love
Christmas Pets and Kisses
Spring into Romance (March 2016)
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed the story and will consider posting an honest review of this book on the site you purchased it from.
Author’s Note and Acknowledgements
I love hockey and hockey players, so I knew I would have fun writing about them. What I didn’t know was whether anyone would want to read about them. It turns out you do. Thank you! I am thrilled with the response to the Men of the Ice series, which has now expanded to seven planned books, up from the original five—and three before that. What can I say? I love these guys (and their girls)!
I hope readers enjoy Trev and Dani’s story and will also look forward to future Men of the Ice Novellas, featuring Becker and Kendall (Scoring at Love), Ryder and Jess (Chasing the Prize), Casey and Char (Making an Impact), and Noah and Riley (Breaking the Ice).
As always, I am grateful to everyone who has helped me along the way in my publishing journey. Your support and encouragement means the world.
I owe a special debt of gratitude to my personal assistant, Valentina Rodriguez, for all of her creative ideas to help me promote and brand this series.
Michele Shriver writes women’s fiction and contemporary romance. Her books feature flawed-but-likeable characters in real-life settings. She’s not afraid to break the rules, but never stops believing in happily ever after. Michele counts among her favorite things a good glass of wine, a hockey game, and a sweet and sexy book boyfriend, not necessarily in that order.
Contact:
www.micheleshriver.com
twitter.com/micheleshriver
Facebook page: Author Michele Shriver
[email protected]
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For more about the Generals and the Men of the Series, visit the website and Facebook page:
Website: https://menoftheice.wordpress.com/
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Winning it All (Men of the Ice Book 3) Page 10