Body Checked by My Straight Captain novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: The Captain's Call

Lars Holmgren had been captain for two seasons.

In all that time he had never once argued with Coach about a lineup.

He argued now.

Tuesday night, after everyone else had gone home, he sat in the film room with a laptop and a legal pad.

He ran the numbers himself.

Nobody had asked him to.

He kept two columns. One was Ty Ingram's shifts. The other was what the team did on the ice while Ty was on it.

By eleven he had a page and a half.

Ty had the best shot-differential on the roster. He had the second-most zone entries. Brody Hanratty, on the same minutes, had been on the ice for nine goals against.

Lars read the page again and felt something hard settle in his chest.

It was not rage. It was certainty.

He tore off the sheet and folded it into his jacket.

Then he opened the travel sheet for Friday.

It was still on his screen.

He had made it that afternoon, before Coach scratched Ty, a grid of names and room numbers.

Next to INGRAM it said 412, single, on a different floor from everyone else.

Lars looked at the number for a long time.

He had typed it without thinking, as he had every trip for two years.

He deleted it.

He typed it again.

Then he shut the laptop and rubbed his face with both hands.

Ty had said it plainly in the equipment room. For two years I've slept alone.

Lars had not answered, because he did not have an answer he was ready to say out loud.

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