Chapter two

Travis.

"What the hell is going on here?" I barked.

The defencemen glanced over his shoulder at me, eyebrows pulled down in a glare. Before he could say anything, the new guy grabbed his arm and spun him around in a lightning quick maneuver. One second he was pinned and the next he had a man the size of a small truck lying on the ground.

Gasps went up around the small crowd as the blonde picked off imaginary lint from his sweat shirt.

"Anybody else got something smart to say?" He drawled.

"What the hell are you doing?" I snarled.

He spared me a quick glance. "You should be asking your frat bros that instead."

"I'm asking you."

"Well, you wouldn't believe me, but_"

"This asshole says he's Neal's replacement." Sammy cut in, looking furious and confused.

All eyes swung to me, and I could read desperation in their looks. My chest squeezed tight with panic, grief and anger. I wished I could tell them it wasn't true, especially to wipe the smug look off the new guy's face.

"Neal is taking a temporary time off till the heat is off him." I said instead.

"Temporary? " New guy chuckled. "He's done and gone. Don't sugar coat things for your little groupies. Neal Matthews has gone off the rail and it's best he stays_"

"Shut your trap." Sammy growled. "Or I'll shut it for you."

"Your pretty boy face is pretty much all you have going for you." The new guy taunted. "I'd hate to ruin that for you."

Sammy made to rush forward, but I grabbed his arm, holding him back. The last thing I needed was to lose another teammate and have to deal with a bratty replacement.

"Don't get too comfortable, you're not going to be here for long." I rolled my eyes. "As soon as coach realizes that there's a reason you were one of The Red Rogers, he'll toss you out."

"The Red Rogers? Tell me you're kidding." Another teammate laughed. "Isn't that the loser team from some shitty ass county? Have you even ever been on a real ice rink?"

Laughter went up around us, but instead of looking embarrassed, the blue eyed guy just smirked. "Oh no, I come from a little, stupid, loser team. I'm so intimidated to be around big, professional hockey players who have_" he paused, eyes meeting mine. "How many championships do you have again? Remind me."

I saw red.

That time around, it was Sammy who had to hold me back from bashing the new guy's face in. The asshole knew we didn't have a championship yet, and it was a sore topic for me.

"You don't deserve to be here. Neal might have fucked up one time, but he was a damn good player, and we would have gone all the way to finals with his help this season." I spat. "You're just going to drag us back."

He stepped forward till he was just an inch from me. "The season has barely begun and you're already finding excuses for why you didn't get to the playoffs. How pathetic."

Before I could speak, he stepped back. "How about a little test. You think I don't deserve to be here, so I'm going to prove that nobody deserves this more than I do."

"What test?" Sammy asked, voice dripping with suspicion.

"If I can get three pucks through your goalie, then I get to stay. If I can't, I'll walk away and you can all go beg to get your deranged teammate back. Do we have a deal?"

I glanced over at our six foot six goalie who smirked at me confidently.

I nodded, suddenly excited. "You've got a deal."

There was a reason our goalie was called the wall, and the new idiot was about to find out why. We made our way to the rink and the two got skated up before moving on to the ice.

"I bet he won't even get one through." Sammy grinned.

"Fifty dollars says he gets only one through." Another guy chirped on.

A few others placed their bets and then the game started. The new guy skated backward and my eyes narrowed at his movement, suddenly remembering what coach Warren had said about him being a ballerina on ice. His movements were light, and looked completely effortless.

I could feel Sammy stiffen beside me as he skated forward and swung his hockey stick. We watched silently as the puck arced to the left and hit the back of the net.

"No freaking way!" Someone shouted.

"Lucky shot." Another person snorted.

My teeth ground together and I was barely breathing as the new guy skated back again, looking like he was floating over the ice. The goalie took his stance, eyes focused like lasers on his approaching opponent.

The puck flew faster than the first time and our goalie leaned to the side, his arms flying out in the direction of the approaching puck. I smirked as Hendrix's gloves reached accurately for the puck.

"Holy shit."

My smirk died at Sammy's bitten out curse, because right at the back of the net was the second puck. How the hell had that happened? I could feel eyes moving between the ice and me. Even Sammy was staring at me with confusion now.

My heart pounded as the new guy skated around the ice, as effortless as ever.

"He's not going to make the third one, is he?" Sammy asked me.

I couldn't give him an answer. All I could do was watch in horror as the puck went flying again. This time around, the new guy didn't stay to watch it arc toward Hendrix. He spun around, blue eyes clashing on mine as the goalie leaped desperately to catch it.

I knew even before Sammy let out a low growl that he had landed the third shot.

There was a sudden silence as the new guy skated toward us, then stopped right in front of me. So close that I could see the tiny birthmark at the corner of his mouth. My gaze zeroed in on that tiny birthmark and held.

"I guess I'll be seeing you around captain." And then he blew me a kiss and skated away.

The entire building was plunged into silence for over a long moment. Until Hendrix deep accent finally broke the shocked silence.

"I fucking hate that bastard." He grumbled.

"Me too, dude." Sammy replied.

And I couldn't help but agree.