Power Play by Deirdre Martin

parted ways outside the restaurant? There was no one in the hall to perform for.
    She made the decision for him. “See you Monday,” she said, starting down the hall.
    â€œThanks again,” he said softly, his voice trailing after her.
    Just as she did the night after their dinner, she resisted turning around.
    High fives and whistles awaited Eric when he returned to the locker room.
    â€œYou are totally my hero,” said Tully Webster with a hearty slap on the back.
    â€œAnd one fuckin’ lucky bastard to boot,” said Ulf.
    â€œI know,” Eric agreed, looking at the pictures of Monica tacked to each guy’s locker. Man, she was gorgeous. Somehow, in the midst of their playacting, he sometimes forgot that. It was hard to believe she didn’t have a real boyfriend in her life, or that someone as smart as her habitually hooked up with jerks, or so she claimed. For a split second when she’d come into the locker room and kissed him, he’d forgotten this whole relationship thing was a bunch of bull, because the kiss was so realistic. Well, she was good at what she did, right? He wondered if that was how she kissed Royce in all those love scenes between Roxie and Grayson. Had to be. It was part of their job. But did she enjoy it? The thought pricked him.
    â€œYo, dickhead.”
    Eric turned to find his brother standing behind him. “Yes, shit for brains?”
    â€œI cannot believe Monica Geary has fallen so hard for you. The way she was looking at you . . .” Jason frowned. “I don’t know if I can watch W and F anymore. Seriously.”
    â€œWhy the hell not?”
    â€œBecause all I’ll be able to think is, ‘That poor, deluded woman has totally fallen for Eric’s line of bull.’ ”
    â€œNo line of bull, my man. The sparks are there. You saw it yourself.”
    â€œYeah, well, let’s just see how long it takes them to fizzle out. With your track record—”
    â€œThis is different,” Eric snapped. Jesus, Jason was a pain in the ass. Jealous, no doubt, now that he’d settled down to a life of Delilah, dogs, and the in-laws from hell.
    â€œWe’ll see,” said Jason. He and Eric picked up their gym bags, and they began walking out of the locker room together. “Nervous about tomorrow night?”
    â€œNot at all.”
    Tomorrow was the season opener on home ice, Eric’s first as a Blade. He’d been going above and beyond in practice, winning the occasional curt nod of approval from Ty Gallagher, which was about as much validation as he could expect at this point. But tomorrow night would be different. Tomorrow night they’d all see he wasn’t just a hero off the ice but on it as well.

SEVEN
    Blow. Suck. Disappointment. Unfocused. Those were just a few of the words Eric was able to come up with to describe his virgin performance as a New York Blade. He wished he could put it down to bad luck, but the bottom line was his reaction time had been poor, his concentration worse. He’d choked when he should have been blowing everyone away.
    Maybe it was the booing when he first stepped out onto the ice. He knew Guy Le Temp’s skates were big ones to fill, and that he’d played for a hated rival, but Jesus Christ, it wasn’t like he was some newbie fresh up from the minors. Too bad he played like one. By the time the game was over and the Blades had lost to Tampa Bay 4-1, he was surprised his teammates weren’t booing him, too.
    â€œMitchell.”
    The stern timbre of Ty Gallagher’s voice boomed through the depressed haze in the locker room, rendering it silent. Gallagher had already done a postmortem with the team right after the game, and hadn’t, much to Eric’s relief, singled him out. So much for that.
    Eric stopped toweling his hair. “Coach?”
    â€œMy office in five.”
    â€œGotcha.”
    He turned back to his locker, looking at the small