The Ideal Team Player Novels & Stories

he repeated, one eyebrow lifting in question, just before he took a sip. The drink slid down his throat smoothly, but the word stuck in his mind like a pebble in a shoe. He rolled it around mentally, tasting it more bitterly than the whiskey he drank. Team. That word rarely came up in his world. People didn’t use it around him. Not his investors, not his board members, not his closest associates. No one wanted to be part of a team with him. They either worked for him… or kept their distance.

It was like everything was choking the hell out of me at once, and I couldn’t breathe properly. But I didn’t cry. I refused to. Two days passed in a blur. Training. Strategy. Sleepless nights. I barely noticed the time moving until suddenly, here I was—standing in front of my team, giving them player descriptions and playing tips. Every single one of them listened carefully. “We stay sharp,” I said firmly. “We don’t underestimate anyone. We play fast, clean, and smart. No fear. No hesitation.” They nodded. We all shared one ambition—to bring the trophy home.

"Just what I thought." "He's innocent." "Loyalty." He scoffed. "How cute." He turned back to the door and yanked it open. "What the fuck is your problem?" I hissed. "Are you so desperate to play hockey that you don't care whose life gets destroyed? News flash, that doesn't make you a dedicated player. We're supposed to be a team, and a team looks out for their own. If you're not going to be a team player, then maybe hockey isn't for you."

Just how are you, and the word actually after it like a door left an inch open. "I'm fine," I say, pure reflex, eighteen years of practice. He's quiet for a moment that runs three seconds longer than his usual quiet. "When I was your age," he says, and his voice has shifted, gone somewhere quieter and less managed, "I had a teammate. Best player on the ice, and I don't say that lightly. He had a read on the game that made everyone around him better just by being there." I go very still.

Planning defenses against the rogues, planning the mock trials, planning the ball and his son’s eighteenth birthday. In all my life, I have never known him to plan any of those things without his team and his Luna. He was always a team player, loves to take an idea and have everybody run with it. He was always encouraging, never assuming his idea was the best or the be all, end all. Maybe that was his downfall. He never, in my presence, looked at someone and just said ‘no.’ There was always the neutral, peacekeeping answers, I’m sure he hoped that if the topic was never approached again it would just go away.

Joshua notice him that the nerdy guy must become his teammates. “Hey, you! Still you don’t have a team? If that so, why not make a team with me?” said Joshua to him. “Ahm, but I’m not that’s strong, I mean I’m useless, everyone here don’t Want me be their teammates, maybe you can find another one much better than me” replied the nerdy guy to him. “Its okay, team with up me, so that we only find one more to form our team.” Said Joshua to him.

Jennifer nodded with her pink lips pouting. "I thought this was a gross error on his part," Sophia pointed her teacup to Jennifer before sipping her chamomile tea from it. How she missed this! She inhaled the smell after she drank from it and then put it down on the saucer to continue her rant. "Not that teamwork was necessarily a bad skill to have, but it shouldn’t be his sole focus. He should be training us in the areas that we excelled in, diversifying our skills so that we could function as a team, watching the others’ backs, and making up for each other’s weaknesses."

Even with their helmets on, I could easily identify each player, recognizing their unique styles and skills. Lucas, in particular, stood out as he led the team with precision and finesse. He was the embodiment of speed and strength, weaving effortlessly through his burly teammates and gliding across the ice as if he were one with it. The entire team worked in perfect harmony, their constant communication and seamless collaboration a testament to their dedication and skill. Among them, there was one player who seemed to make more mistakes than the others. From my vantage point, he appeared shorter than his teammates, struggling to keep up.

Hannah. Fucking great. “Being on the squad isn’t just about being a strong fighter,” Brock continues. “It’s about working as part of a cohesive unit, always having each other’s backs.” I snort. Suuuure, Hannah will have my back. To stab a knife in it. Brock darts me an annoyed glance at my interruption, then goes on. “This is perhaps the most important week of training,” he says. “You can be the best fighter on the field, but you won’t make the squad unless you prove you can be a team player.”

I can see the effect his words have on the team, their resolve strengthening with each passing moment. “I know my old team. I know their strengths. I know their weakness. I know that they care more about their status than they do about teamwork. And I know that we can defeat them.” The team erupts into cheers at Aiden’s inspirational speech. I smile softly, knowing that in this moment, Aiden has brought the team together at a new level. As the players celebrate, Aiden’s eyes turn to me. As always, it feels as though the world falls away around us. My heart leaps.