𝔟𝔯𝔲𝔱𝔞𝔩 | 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗮𝗻

one: "no promises"

"I'm telling you guys, it had to be him. No one else on the team has it out for me like Portman does." I shifted my hockey bag on my shoulder as I entered the Chicago Storm arena.

"I don't know Bex, Portman's a dick but he's pretty harmless." I looked over at my best friend Tula who was opening up a protein bar before practice started. "And besides, you guys work great together on the ice."

"Yeah!" My other friend Natalie interrupted. "Why would he do something like that right before a game? Practice maybe, but he likes winning too much to risk that."

I shut my mouth in a huff. I knew Dean Portman had been the one to put tape on my blades right before last weekend's game. We had hated each other ever since 7th grade when I had moved to Chicago and joined the Storm. At first, it started as a friendly little rivalry. A snide comment here and there or some defense that was a little too aggressive. But over time we had formed into full-fledged rivals on and off the ice. I thought he was just intimidated that a girl could play better than him.

I pushed open the door to the locker room and was immediately hit by the smell of rubber and body odor. I made my way to my locker and quickly slipped off my sweatshirt and into my Chicago Storm jersey, #30.

"Think Coach Hanson will go easy on us since we won last weekend?" I looked up at Tula who was tying her skates on the bench next to me.

"Probably not. I mean, we did only win by 7 points." Tula laughed and shook her head. Coach Hanson was a great coach but a little intense. She was only around 5 feet tall and could still scare the biggest and meanest hockey players.

"Ready?"

Natalie and Tula nodded and we all grabbed our sticks and helmets before walking out onto the ice. Most of the team was already skating in laps and I set my stick aside to join them.

"Would you look at that, she skates!" I heard a holler from behind me and immediately recognized the gruff voice of Dean Portman.

I turned around, smiled, and stuck up my middle finger. Dean and a few of the other guys broke out into a chorus of "Ooo's" and I rolled my eyes.

After a few more laps, Coach blew her whistle and we all took a knee at the center of the rink.

"Welcome back team. I hope you all had a restful Sunday after that game against the Granite City Grizzlies. 9-2!"

We all cheered and Coach put her hand up to quiet us. "That being said, I did see room for improvement. Today, we will be running some line drills as well as some defense. We did let the Grizzlies score two on us and you know what I always say."

"A point is still a point." We all repeated the mantra we had heard from Coach many times over the years. It was to remind us that unless we had a shut-out game, a point was still a point.

"Avery, Collins. Start a line drill, please." Our two captains jumped up and waved everyone to follow them. I began to skate forward when Coach stopped me.

"Callahan." I looked over at her, confused. "Grab Portman would you? Meet me at the bench."

I sighed and started to think of the things Dean could've done to get me in trouble. All I knew is that he would never hear the end of it if he did.

I skated over to the line groups and next to Jack Avery. "What can I do for you Bex?"

"Can you get Portman over here? I don't want to."

He looked at me for a moment and then broke out into a grin. "Portman huh? You two are gonna like each other one day, just you wait."

"Uh-huh," I mumbled under my breath, already over this conversation.

"Ayo, Port!"

Dean snapped his head up and came over when Jack motioned for him. He stopped in front of us and smirked when he saw me.

"Can I help you?" He asked and took off his helmet.

"You could shut your mouth forever." I sweetly offered and skated towards the bench where Coach was waiting. "Follow me."

I stopped against the wall and leaned against it. A few seconds later Dean was next to me. I then noticed a small man was standing behind Coach. He was wearing a suit and appeared to be looking for something in a stack of papers.

"What's up Coach?"

"Bexley, Dean. I'd like you to meet Don Tibbles."

The man, Don, kept looking through his stack for a moment before handing Dean and me some sort of contract. I skimmed the words and widened my eyes when I saw "Team USA" written in bold letters.

"Hey guys. As your coach said, I'm Don Tibbles with Hendrix Hockey Apparel. We've been scouting you two for a while now and I'm excited to recruit you to this year's Team USA for the Junior Olympics if you'll accept the offer." Don nodded his head and held up two pens to sign the contracts.

"Hold on." I paused in disbelief. "Team USA? You want us on Team USA?"

"That's the hope. You'll be joined by a few other players from around America as well as Gordon Bombay's Mighty Ducks from Minnesota. You'll fly out to meet them tomorrow." He smiled big and thrusted the pen out towards Dean and me. We both took them and I glanced down at the contract.

"I already talked to both your parents who gave their permission for the trip." Coach reassured me after sensing my uneasiness.

I nodded and began signing my name on the bottom line. Once I was finished Don snatched the paper from my hand and stuffed it into an overflowing folder. "Perfect!" He remarked and grabbed Dean's as well. He was clearly in a hurry. "We've dropped off everything you need to know with your parents already. Your tickets are being held at the airport. Just look for a Hendrix Hockey sign when you land. See you there!"

He quickly walked up the bleachers and out the door. I was kind of still in shock over what had just happened. I remembered almost a year ago when Coach mentioned that Team USA scouts would be at our championship game. It was my dream to be on that team and I played better in that game than I ever had before. I never heard anything more until now and had forgotten about it.

"So are you two excited? Pretty big deal." Coach Hanson beamed and pulled her jacket closer to her body. Even I was getting cold after standing around.

"You sure the team wants Bexley?" Dean pointed to me and I retorted by giving him an elbow to the side. "Ow!" He yelped and kicked my skate out from under me. I grabbed onto the ledge to keep my balance and glared.

"Alright, alright, back to practice you go. And try not to kill each other." Coach shook her head and walked back onto the ice headed towards the line drills.

"No promises," I muttered and followed her and Dean. It was going to be a long plane ride.

_

it's gonna be enemies to lovers because I know ya'll love that shit