Hayes (A Carolina Cyclones Story)

4.

Hayes

My knee bounces impatiently as I sit in the small waiting area located outside the executive office's within the arena. I've been called in for a meeting with my coach, the team owner and our GM. I'm sure it's nothing big. As the captain I get asked to attend these things every month or so. They like to hear what I have to say about locker room dynamics and be in the know about any potential rifts.

For the most part our team is solid. Even the two newest guys we picked up at the trade deadline seem to be assimilating well. The culture that Coach Segue has created here is one of the things I enjoy most about this team. We're a family of sorts and as someone without a close-knit blood family, they fill a vacancy I don't talk about much. I've played in a few cities before I ended up here and it's something I never had before and it makes me more appreciative of it now. Just add it to the ever growing list of reasons I want to bring home a Stanley cup for this city.

"Hansen!" Coach's booming voice calls to me from down the hallway just outside the team owner, Clyde Livingston's, door. I like Clyde. He's a hand's off guy who lets our everyday management act as they see fit and actually seems to listen to the stakeholders ideas of how to make the team better. I respect a guy who's willing to take others' thoughts, ideas and opinions into consideration instead of just thinking they're God because they hold the checkbook. Our general manager, Patrick Wheeler is the same way. It's a breath of fresh air in this league to be honest and I'm damn proud to play for this group of guys.

"Gentleman." I say in greeting, exchanging handshakes with everyone before I take a seat in a green wingback chair across from the large wooden desk that Clyde sits behind. To my left is my coach in a matching chair and Patrick stands, leaning against a large mahogany bookshelf to our right.

"Great to see you, Hansen. How are you?" Clyde asks.

"I can't complain. What's up?" I ask, hoping to get to the heart of whatever the reason I've been called in today is so I can get back to my daily schedule which includes a workout I should be starting in less than thirty minutes. I hate getting off track but when the brass asks me to come to a meeting I can't exactly say no.

"Just wanted to check in with you and find out how the new guys are fitting in."

A small sigh of relief escapes me that that's all this is. We took a loss last night to Boston and some of the guys tied one on. I saw a video of Jax this morning on social media. He was shirtless walking down some street singing incoherently. It's a miracle he didn't end up with yet another drunk and disorderly. I'm starting to worry about him and I had previously held concerns that this meeting might be in regards to his recent uptick in obnoxious and unbecoming behavior.

"Yeah, I think they're settling in fine so far. Our defense is already improving with them here. Last night was just a fluke. Beau had a bad night and I know he's beating himself up over letting those two in through the five hole. I saw him already here this morning working on his stick control. Storm and Stiver weren't on the ice for either of those goals, so I mean it's not on them that we lost."

"What about the locker room? Anything we should be concerned about?"

This comes from our GM and I rack my brain for any tiffs that I'm aware of and come up empty. "I mean the kid, Kingston, he's all gung-ho and a little overzealous which irritates some of the old timers but that's to be expected. Once he gets a full season under his belt he'll settle down. Hopefully we can keep him away from Jax so he doesn't pick up any bad habits."

I meant it light heartedly but I regret saying anything about Jax as soon as the words leave my mouth and I see the shared looks between my team's leadership.

"That's something else we wanted to discuss.'

"Well, fuck." I mutter.

"Look son," This from my coach, "I know you and Faulkner are good friends. But he's got his head so far up his own ass right now he doesn't know which way is up. We've allowed him some leeway up to this point because he's a damn good player and for the most part we do our best to stay out of your personal lives. Now though, he's at a point where the team's values are being called into question and that's a concern for us."

My heart rate picks up speed as the uncertainty of what all this means. Jax can be an asshole and he's a fucking idiot when he's drinking but he's one of my best friends on the team and I'd be devastated to see something so stupid affect his career. "So what are you saying?"

"We're just saying that we'd like you to talk to him. We know that you guys are friends and he respects you. We're not looking to upset the lineup right now but the future is still up for discussion. His contract's up next year so we're just doing a bit of thinking ahead."

My stomach feels like it's about to fall out of my ass and a sense of dread fills me as I finish up with the meeting and fumble my way through goodbyes. I'm so distracted I don't even remember to count the light fixtures between the executive suite and the players gym. Jax's job is on the line and I've got to find a way to make sure he doesn't let his dumbass decisions ruin his whole damn life. 

AN: Hi everyone! I haven't done an author's note yet this book so wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for reading this! I'd love to hear your thoughts, comments, suggestions! It's been so long since I was consistently writing but I'm having so much fun sharing my love for Hockey & hockey romance books with you guys! I don't have an update schedule set for this book I'm kind of just going with the flow and posting as I write. 

Please remember that I post first drafts on Wattpad so sometimes there may be spelling/grammar errors that I miss on my first check. It helps me if you point these out so I can fix them quickly!

I love you for reading and hope you enjoy Hayes' story as well as the rest of his teammates when I can share them! 

ILY

Sav