When The Whistle Blows

Chapter 1

Astrid (Aiden)

My bag weighed down heavily on my shoulder as I walked through the old stone hallway. My stick swinging slightly as I went. The distant sound of the Zamboni on the ice could be heard echoing through the halls. The smell that I could always associate with hockey rinks brought a smile to my face.

Home

This rink has been my home for three years now.

The hallway, lined with old team pictures, eventually led you to the team locker room. Which is where my destination lay.

The bag swung as I adjusted the shoulder strap. My footsteps echoed down the hall and skid to a stop as I pushed open the locker room door with my shoulder.

Of course

I eyed Ryder as I walked to my cubby. Which sat on the opposite wall of the locker room door.

"Evening," Ryder said, not even looking up from his phone.

Ryder wore his usual attire, jeans and a dress shirt paired with some fancy fucking shoe brand that I never cared to learn. His black hair, stuffed under a baseball cap that had an NHL team on it that I disliked. His chin had maybe three days old stubble lightly coating it. Ryder's cubby sat to the right of the door in a corner that he had to himself.

"Captain," I grumbled as I let my bag drop to the ground.

My tone must have caught his attention because his ice blue eyes flicked up to me.

"Something the matter?" Ryder drawled.

"Nope." I shook my head as I dropped my bag and took a seat in my cubby. I ignored his pressing gaze as I dragged my bag to me and unzipped it.

Like always, I looked through my gear, twice, and made sure everything was there. Sure enough everything looked perfect and I was able to start getting ready.

I reached in my bag, grabbed my jock cup, some leggings, and my breezers, and went to the bathroom to change.

I took my sweatpants off and threw on my leggings. I stuffed my jockstrap with some toilet paper then threw it on. Then to complete the bottom cover I put on my breezers.

I went back into the locker room. Ryder had gone back to his phone, ignoring me. So I went back to gearing up.

Next, I put on my long athletic socks then shin guards, and cover socks. After a couple of layers of tape, I threw on my skates and went about tying them.

"Did you hear about Tipper?" Ryder's sudden question made me jump slightly.

"What about him?" I grunted as I tied my skates.

"Coach cut him."

"For?"

"Some girl is accusing him of rape and Coach didn't want to distract the team so we decided to cut him." Ryder shrugged as he went about typing on his phone.

"You and coach made the decision?" I paused in tying my skate.

"Yea." His eyes flicked up to mine again.

"Shouldn't Alt's have at least been told about this?" I set my elbows on my knees and glared at the prick.

"I'm telling you right now aren't I?" Ryder ground his jaw. His attention once again went back to his phone.

"You mothe-" I cut myself off as the door to the locker room opened.

Bentley and his huge smile greeted me as he walked in.

"Hey Caps," Bentley said as he sat down at his cubby. His English accent could easily be heard.

"Hey, Ben." Ryder and I said at the same time. Which led to a glaring match between us.

Ryder broke first. Can you guess where his attention went instead?

Bentley's cubby was on the left of the door when you walked in so he sat across the locker room from me.

Bentley had his brown hair cut short on the sides and longer on the top. His athletic basketball shorts and light white T-shirt showed off his muscular build. His face cleanly shaven, like always. Bentley's light green eyes flicked to me as he smiled at me.

"How did your Chem test go?" Bentley asked me as he unzipped his hockey bag.

"I passed." I couldn't help but grin as Bentley smiled brightly.

How was the Brit always so happy?

"That's brilliant," Bentley said, he grabbed some stick tape and his stick and went about taping his twig.

Leave it to Bentley to brighten the stuffy atmosphere in this locker room.

I returned to tying my skates. Once they were perfect, I reached up and took my baggy sweatshirt off. Thankful that I always remembered a baggy shirt and my wrap, I quickly threw on my chest pads and elbow pads. I reached blindly down for my practice jersey only to come back empty-handed.

It suddenly dawned on me that I left it at home in the laundry. And since I keep it in a different pocket than the rest of my gear I didn't notice it was missing earlier.

"Uh, Bentley." I frowned as I sat up and looked at the Brit. "Do you by any chance have an extra practice jersey?"

For once Bentley's permanent smile faltered, "Sorry mate, but I barely remembered to bring one for me, my extras are still in the wash." Hah, it seemed like we had the same idea. I watched as a smirk grew on both Bently's and Ryder's face. "I betcha Ryds got an extra sweater though."

That's what they were smirking about.

I risked a glance at Ryder who's eyes were finally looking somewhere else other than his phone. "All you gotta do is ask." The teasing in Ryder's tone was suffocating.

Going out on the ice without a jersey was not an option. I can't risk anyone seeing the slight curves that were not very manly. I sighed heavily but kept my face impassive. "Ryder, could I please borrow a jersey for practice."

He almost seemed stunned that I'd given in so easily. A look at Bently showed that he too was shocked at how easily I'd given in.

Ryder leaned forward and dug through his bag. Pulling out a huge black practice jersey for me. He threw it at me and I swiftly tugged it on, finally covering my body. I then reached for my helmet but opted to wait till the last minute to put it on.

I had to wear a beanie to hide my hair, since I refused to cut it, and the hat was always so suffocating. I wore the beanie under my helmet too so that's why I wait to put it on.

I grabbed my gloves, stick, and helmet then left the locker room. I could hear chatter coming to the hallway, but turned left outside of the locker room, towards the ice.

The zam had already gotten off the ice so I made quick work of putting my helmet and gloves on, then opened the huge metal door and jumped on the ice.

The all too familiar sounds of my skates cutting the ice relaxed me.

Home

This is where I belong. Right here on the ice. Just me, my twig, and the cold air.

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Thank you so much for reading Chapter 1. I can already tell I'm going to have so much fun writing this book. Hockey is a huge part of my life and writing about it is beyond amazing. I hope you enjoyed this first chapter and I can't wait to see you in many more!