Free Losing an Edge (Portland Storm Book 13) by Catherine Gayle Page B

Indian, but there was a lot more in there, leaving her with dramatic features to go alongside her taller-than-the-average-woman stature. Add in some killer heels, and you couldn’t honestly blame the guy for being smitten with her.
    “Tell me what you all talked about heading into the third period, only up by a single goal against this dangerous Avalanche offense.” She pushed the mic toward him.
    “We just wanted to keep the pressure on them, not get caught thinking we were ahead and didn’t need to do anything more. One-goal games can be a trap, especially when you’re on the road.” Still the pat answer all hockey players tend to give, but Ghost said it with feeling, not to mention with cocky smiles and a bit more muscle flexing than was entirely necessary.
    But Anne absolutely ate his response up. “You and your line did exactly that. Nice goal there halfway through the third. You were so strong on the puck with the Avalanche double-teaming you.”
    “Gotta give the credit to my line mates and 501 over there,” he said, winking and pointing in my direction. “He’s the one who made the magic happen. Great shot to get some action in front of their net. It was a group effort. Everyone on the ice contributed to that one.”
    Anne flashed a smile in my direction, but the amount of time she spared me was very brief. After that, her attention was squarely on Ghost.
    Drywall Tierney came up to take my gear from me.
    “How’s your chin?” I asked as I hoisted my bag over to him.
    He lifted his head to show me. “Seventeen stitches, but at least I’ve still got all my teeth.”
    “Better than most anyone else around here can claim. Didn’t fuck up your jaw?”
    “It’d take a hell of a lot more than some stray puck to take Drywall out,” Hammer said, coming back from the showers. He stripped off his towel and tossed it in the hamper in the middle of the room, leaving himself naked as the day he was born.
    “You don’t care that…” I trailed off, waving my hand toward Anne and Ghost. At least the cameras were facing them and not us, but Anne would get an eyeful if she turned around any time soon.
    Hammer glanced over and chuckled. “She’s not paying any attention to me. Not with her lover boy right there making googly eyes at her.” He took his time getting dressed, and Drywall headed off with my bag.
    I took a seat on the bench next to him. “So we did all right tonight. You and me, I mean,” I added when he arched a brow at me.
    “I’d say we did a hell of a lot better than all right. That was your best fucking game since I’ve been here. By a mile. You were calm with the puck. You made good first passes to clear out of the zone. You got a fucking assist. Give yourself a bit of credit sometimes, 501.”
    I shrugged. “I do when credit is warranted.”
    “Bullshit. Never met a kid so hard on himself before. Give yourself a damn break every now and then.”
    “But it’s only one game.”
    “It was a good fucking game. Take ’em one at a time. Build on it.” He sat down next to me to put on his shoes. “Look, you’re going to have bad nights. We all do. The thing is, you can’t focus on them. You can’t let the fuckups outweigh the good nights, or all you’ll end up doing is fucking up even more. You’ve got as much potential as any defenseman I’ve played with in my career, and I’ve played with some of the best. That’s why they drafted you. That’s why you’re here and not in the minors. You just have to start believing in yourself. No big deal. Take chances. You’re bound to fuck up sometimes, but you’ll probably also start to do things you never thought you were capable of.”

    HAMMER’S WORDS WERE still ringing in my ears hours later when we got to our hotel in St. Louis. We would have stayed in Denver overnight if not for the fact that we had a back-to-back situation, so it was about two in the morning when we headed up to our rooms.
    Koz was my road roommate, but he