Team Captain

Turner's Pov.

Why was he looking at me?

The thought ran through my head for what felt like the hundredth time as I skated off the ice. Of all the things I had to deal with today, Liam Carter's boyfriend staring at me with pity definitely wasn't on the list.

I didn't know the guy.

Had never spoken to him, yet there he was sitting in the stands wearing Liam's jersey and looking at me like I'd just gotten kicked by a puppy.

I hated pity.

More than that, I hated people looking at me like I needed it. That was exactly why I'd mouthed those two words at him. “Mind your business.”

Maybe it was rude.

Actually, it was definitely rude.

I didn't care.

The last thing I needed was some random puck bunny feeling sorry for me. The coach had already done enough damage, I pushed open the door leading toward the locker room and immediately felt my irritation spike again.

The entire situation was ridiculous.

The guys who had actually caused the problem weren't the ones getting yelled at.

I was.

Apparently being captain meant every mistake somehow became my responsibility. Even when I wasn't involved or had done absolutely nothing wrong.

A group of teammates had snuck out the previous night. They'd skipped curfew, gone drinking, and nearly gotten themselves suspended meanwhile, I had spent the entire evening at the rink practicing.

Yet somehow I was the one standing there getting a lecture. The coach's reasoning was simple, I was captain therefore I should have known and I should have stopped them or controlled them.

I should have magically developed the ability to monitor twenty grown men every second of every day.

It was complete bullshit.

The locker room door swung open. Immediately, the conversations that had been going on died down as several players looked up. Most of them had the decency to look guilty, a few avoided eye contact completely.

Good.

At least someone felt bad.

I dropped my hockey bag onto the bench with more force than necessary, the loud thud echoed through the room. Nobody spoke, they were not stupid enough to. They all knew exactly what kind of mood I was in.

Finally, Mason cleared his throat. "Coach done yelling?"

I slowly looked at him.

The idiot actually had the nerve to smile, that smile disappeared immediately.

"Do I look like I'm in the mood for jokes?" I asked.

"No."

"Then don't make any." The room became quiet again which was good because right now, I preferred it that way.

I ran a hand through my hair before turning toward the rest of the team, half of them suddenly became fascinated with the floor while the other half found the lockers extremely interesting.

Cowards.

Every single one of them.

"You guys done acting like idiots?" I asked.

Nobody answered. "Good."

A few winced, I didn't feel bad, not even a little.

"We have a playoff game tonight." I started, my tone was cold and completely distant but I didn't care what they thought of it. "We worked our asses off all season to get here."

Several heads nodded.

"One stupid mistake could have ruined all of that." That got a few guilty looks, as it should.

I folded my arms. "You know what the worst part is?"

Nobody answered.

"I wasn't even mad when Coach started yelling."

A few surprised expressions appeared.

"Oh, I was annoyed," I continued. "But I wasn't mad."

Mason frowned. "Then what are you mad about?"

I stared at him. "Because you're all idiots."

A few groans immediately filled the room.

"Seriously?" one of the defensemen complained.

"Seriously."

"It was one night." Someone protested.

"One stupid night." I counted back.

"Nothing even happened."

I laughed. A sharp, humorless laugh. "Nothing happened because you got lucky."

Nobody responded, because they knew I was right. One bad decision could have destroyed the season, one bad headline or worse, one bad video.

That was all it could've taken.

College athletes learned that lesson every year. Unfortunately, some people never learned until it was too late.

I pointed around the room. "We are literally one game away from advancing."

Nobody looked particularly proud anymore, maybe the message was finally getting through their thick skulls. "We have scouts watching."

No one said anything again.

"We have sponsors watching, and hundreds of people expecting us to skate on that ice and bring back the championship title to our school" Mason looked like he wanted to say something but kept his mouth shut as I looked at him, before continuing what I was saying. "And some of you decided getting drunk was a brilliant idea."

I wasn't finished, not even close. "Do you know how stupid that is?"

Mason sighed. "Okay, we get it."

"No. I don't think you do." The room groaned, but I ignored them. "If you got it, Coach wouldn't have spent thirty minutes yelling at me."

That shut them up.

Because they knew exactly why I was angry, Coach always held captains responsible for whatever the team does and it didn't matter whose fault it actually was.

If something went wrong, the captain got blamed first.

I understood why.

It didn't mean I had to enjoy it, I grabbed my water bottle and took a long drink before continuing.

"Tonight, I want everybody playing their best hockey."

A few players nodded. "I'm serious."

"We know."

"No stupid penalties." More nodding. "No showing off."

"No acting like idiots." Several players looked personally attacked, then a thought occurred to me and it made me smile. The moment my teammates saw that smile, several of them immediately looked nervous.

Mason pointed at me. "Whatever you're thinking, don't."

"Oh, I'm definitely thinking it."

"Turner."

I ignored him. "If we lose tonight..."

The entire room groaned, I hadn't even finished speaking.

"If we lose tonight," I repeated, "every person involved in last night's stupidity gets assigned rink cleaning duty."

Noise immediately filled the room. "What?"

"That's insane!"

"No way!"

"You can't do that!"

I smiled. "Oh, I absolutely can."

Several complaints filled the locker room, and I enjoyed every second of it.

"Until the season ends," I added.

The outrage somehow got louder. "You're evil."

"That's not fair."

"We'll be cleaning forever."

"Then maybe don't lose."

Mason threw a roll of athletic tape at me, I caught it. "You're a terrible captain."

"And yet here I am."

The room erupted into more complaints, I leaned back against the locker and let my eyes drift shut for a second.

Just one second.

Unfortunately, my brain immediately betrayed me. Because instead of thinking about the game, I remembered the guy in the stands. I frowned instantly before brushing the thoughts down.

Most hockey girlfriends and boyfriends acted a certain way.

He didn't.

Actually, now that I thought about it, he'd looked completely horrified when that blonde girl had started talking to him like he'd rather be literally anywhere else.

A small laugh escaped me.

Maybe Liam's boyfriend was just weird. Honestly, that would explain a lot.