The Goalie Bet novel · Chapter 9 of 32

Chapter 9: The Coach

The coach's office is at the end of the rink hallway, past the locker room.

You can smell the ice through the wall.

He called me in at 11:00 on a Tuesday, which meant no session that day.

I brought the log. I always brought the log now.

He didn't ask me to sit down, so I stood.

He's in his fifties. Big shoulders going soft. A whistle tan on his neck.

"Kline."

"Coach."

"Logan Rusk."

"Yes."

"Where is he."

"He's in week three of a four-week plan."

"Where is he on the ice."

"He's not on the ice."

He leaned back in his chair and looked at me.

"I've got a semifinal in ten days."

"I know when the semifinal is."

"And my starter's in a training room with a sophomore."

"I'm a junior."

"Same thing."

He picked up a folder and dropped it on the desk without opening it.

"Rusk has been my starter for three years. He's the best goalie in this conference."

"He is."

"He misses the playoffs, we don't get past the semifinal. You understand that."

"I understand it."

"Then clear him."

I stood there.

"Clear him for what."

"Practice. Full contact. Ten days."

"He can't push off his right leg."

"He pushed off it this morning."

I didn't say anything.

"He was on the ice at six," the coach said. "I saw him."

I held the log against my chest.

"He wasn't cleared to be out there."

"I know. He did it anyway."

"Then you know what I know."

"He did it anyway and he looked fine."

"He looked fine for four strides and then his leg quit. I watched it."

The coach stood up.

He came around the desk and stood in front of me, close.

"I've got a physical therapist on staff," he said. "I don't need a student telling me about strides."

"Then ask the physical therapist."

"I did."

"And?"

"And he said he'd sign off on what you sign off on."

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