Falling Fast (Loving the Sound Book 1)

by Kat Obie

  What the hell is he doing here this early? I know I’m not supposed to see him until tonight.

  Alice went back to the bedroom. She sat down on the bed next to Scott and kissed him over and over until he stirred again. “Mm-hmm. I thought you said I could sleep a little bit.” Scotty pulled her down in a hug.

  “I wanted to warn you that Lager is downstairs.”

  Scotty’s whole demeanor changed. He went from being lusty to downright confused. Alice couldn’t blame him. She had no idea why he was there either. “Don’t look at me. He’s your friend,” Alice teased as she kissed him. “Might as well get dressed and find out. Do you want any help?”

  “Can you just grab some clothes and bring them over?”

  “Sure.” She grabbed him a grey Sound t-shirt, boxers, socks, and some lounge pants. Those were some of his go-to clothes when he had time off, and they didn’t have anything official planned. Scott pulled the clothes on and got up from bed. He grabbed the crutches that were lying beside the bed, and the two of them headed downstairs. Alice supported him on one side while Scott tried to keep his balance with both crutches under the other.

  As they made their way downstairs, Lager said, “This is why you should have gotten an elevator installed like I told you.”

  Scotty immediately fired back with, “Seriously?! If I had an elevator, I wouldn’t have the perfect excuse to be held by my girlfriend multiple times a day.”

  Alice rolled her eyes. This was when Lager was just a bad influence. But she knew that, underneath Lager’s bravado, he was a good guy. Plus, she completely sided with Scotty on this one.

  Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, she let go of Scotty’s torso. He ushered Lager towards the living room, saying, “I’ve got to sit down. Also, what’s the deal?”

  As they were heading towards the living room, Alice attempted to make a quick exit to go to work. She heard Scotty say, “Where do you think you’re going?”

  Alice turned around, having failed to execute an Irish goodbye. She shrugged her shoulders. “Just about time for me to go to work, and I wanted to let you guys hang out.”

  “Not before you eat some breakfast,” said Scott’s mom sternly. “It’s the most important meal of the day. It’s all set, so it won’t even make you late.”

  Instead of making a fuss, she just did as she was told. She got a plate, put a small portion of eggs and potatoes on it, and sat down next to Scotty as Scotty’s mom prepared other plates of food for the boys. Lager was in the red chair, and Scotty’s mom sat down in the loveseat across from Lager after she handed out the food.

  Alice remained silent as Scotty and Lager dissected last night’s Sound game. As soon as Lager caught sight of her ring, he said, “Don’t tell me you proposed to Alice already? Do I have to start supervising you any time you are away from the team to make sure you guys don’t elope?”

  Alice shook her head and said casually, “Wrong hand for an engagement ring. But Scotty did get me the ring.”

  Scotty pulled Alice close, tipped her chin, and kissed her lips softly. Then he looked towards Lager and said, “Is it such a bad thing that I got her a ring, especially since I know for a fact that you got Bridge those fancy shoes and a necklace from Tiffany’s the last time we played in New York City?”

  “I guess not. But you already blindsided me with having Alice, so I wouldn’t put it past you to propose or elope now that you are on IR for a few weeks. Just remember, tell me about it ahead of time. I want to be there.”

  Scotty’s mom asked what was going on since they were speaking in English, and Scotty did a quick translation of what was being said. Once she understood, she said, “I want to know before you propose to her too.” Scotty just shook his head.

  Alice quickly ate what was on her plate. She didn’t want to be late for work, and she wanted the attention off her. She didn’t hide the ring or even play with it.

  Scott just put an arm around her for a second before kissing her. He said, “I’m glad you are wearing the ring. Don’t listen to Lager.”

  Once she finished her plate, she stood up and said, “Sorry, I have to get to work.” She put her finished plate into the dishwasher.

  She grabbed her favorite travel mug. Scotty’s mom said, “Don’t forget to take your coffee. Scotty told me how he normally preps that for you in the morning.”

  “Merci.” Alice was tempted to say “Mrs. Wheiland”, but Scott mentioned that his mom typically didn’t like to be called anything super formal. So Alice was trying.

  Alice headed towards the garage door, but Scotty looked towards her, stopping her. He got off the couch and gave her a quick goodbye kiss. Before heading through the door, she looked towards Lager and said, “Take care of him while I’m at work.”

  “You don’t have anything to worry about. He’s even going to practice,” said a confident Lager.

  Scotty looked flabbergasted. “That’s news to me.”

  “Yeah. It was decided last night on the plane back. Coach and doc wanted me to drag your ass to the rink. Why the hell do you think I’m here?”

  “Dude, I don’t have time to hear this. But if Scotty is injured even more, I will throat punch you,” said Alice.

  That made Scotty laugh hysterically, but Lager just scoffed. As Alice closed the door, she could hear Lager say, “As if you could reach.”

  All Alice could think at that moment was how much Lager needed to learn about how scrappy a Philly girl could really be.

  17

  Scott

  Scotty was still laughing at the throat punching comment. He’d never heard her say something even remotely similar to that before. Even when they watched games together and despite her hockey mouth, she never called for violence. When Lager tried to say she was too short to reach his throat, that just made him laugh even harder. He envisioned a couple of different ways she would do it, and all would be sneaky as hell. “I don’t know, Lager. She’s scrappy and damn stubborn.”

  “I’ll take my chances. Besides, we all know you aren’t going to get hurt more. Doc wants to see how your knee is healing and to get you into a solid conditioning routine. Coach has something to talk to you about, but I've been sworn to secrecy.”

  Scotty chuckled, “Look at who’s being a good acting captain and all. But at the same time, some friend you are for not telling me why coach wants me there.”

  “Sorry, coach and his habit of making you do herbies until you puke scares me. I don’t need to piss him off. You okay if I drive your car? I wasn’t thinking this morning.”

  Scotty laughed. The thing was, Lager wasn’t kidding. Coach Berman would make Lager do that many herbies if he told Scotty. “Yeah. That’s fine. But don’t get used to it.”

  Scotty turned to his mom and said in French, “Do you mind if I head out with Lager? Apparently, I have practice. Do you need anything before I head out with him?”

  “Go. I’ll be fine,” replied his mom. Then she turned to Lager and said, “Good seeing you again. Take care of my boy.” Scotty had to laugh; Lager always seemed to be the charmer and could get the trust of anyone.

  With that, Lager and Scotty headed off to practice. The ride was friendly, but Scotty couldn't help but wonder what Berman wanted to speak to him about.

  He and Coach were usually on good terms. They had to be since he was the captain and all. He knew it couldn’t be about his post-surgery protocol since they both knew he would be trying to get onto the ice as soon as possible.

  He loved being at the rink and hanging out with the guys. He wished that he could be lacing up too. Everyone was being nice and saying that they hoped he would get off the crutches soon. The only person he knew didn’t want him to heal super quickly was the rookie they’d pulled up from the AHL to fill in until he got healthy. But even the kid said he wanted to play with Scotty.

  Doc was in the locker room as Scotty and Lager walked in. He addressed Scotty while he continued to tape up Andy’s leg. “Talk with Berman first. I’ll g
et to you when everyone’s out on the ice.”

  “Got it.”

  Scotty headed to the coach’s office. He never minded talking to Berman as long as he wasn’t going to get chewed out. He knocked on the doorframe to the open office.

  “Come on in Scotty. Let’s get you off the damn leg. I need you to have a speedy recovery and be on the ice as soon as possible. I know the guys were playing decently, but they don’t have your talent.”

  Scotty nodded and sat down, keeping his left leg extended so he could keep the pressure off it. “For everyone’s sake, I hope the guys play cleaner. That was way closer than it should have been. Lager said you wanted to speak with me.”

  “Yeah. I know you got plenty more years in you yet, but what do you want to do after you retire?”

  Scotty was startled. While he was on the wrong side of 30 in many people’s eyes, he was playing some of the best hockey of his life. To be approached with retirement questions seemed odd. He shrugged. “I always liked the idea of being a coach or scouting maybe a GM job. There are so many guys with potential out there. I just know I couldn’t abandon the game.”

  Berman smiled widely; that scared Scotty more than the retirement question. Coach leaned forward on the desk and propped his elbows on it. “That’s what I hoped to hear. We are going to be in a bit of a jam for a few weeks and we need an emergency scout. With you on IR, Parks was hoping we could maybe use you as a scout. I still need you to be religious about your PT and getting healthy. What do you think?”

  Scotty’s jaw dropped. He was stunned that he was even being considered as an option. It seemed unreal, and he had no idea what to think. “Honestly, not sure, Coach. I always thought it would be down the line.”

  “Well, are you interested or not?” Coach Berman said shortly. He needed a more definitive response.

  Scotty said quickly, “Interested.” He left out the part about being in shock and a little less sure of his capabilities.

  “Good,” Berman said, and then he picked up the phone and said, “Come on down. He’s interested.” He hung up the phone with a bit of a slam. Not out of anger but because he was rushed. He said, “I have a practice to run. Stay here until Parks and Doug arrive. I’m not risking you on the stairs. I want you back on the ice sooner rather than later. This scouting thing is NOT and will NOT be your primary focus. Getting back to hockey is.”

  Scotty just nodded. With that, Berman grabbed his whistle from the desk and left the office. Scotty felt weird being alone in an office that wasn’t his. He tried to look around nonchalantly, but he felt awkward.

  After a few minutes, two men in suits came down. He immediately recognized GM Parks. The man controlled the day-to-day operations and would travel with the Sound. He gave the media the injury updates and would discuss potential trade rumors.

  The other person, who was tall but on the stout side, Scotty wasn’t familiar with but assumed him to be the Doug who Berman had mentioned. He’d seen the name from scouting reports and once in a blue moon from a video session. Scotty was about to stand up to shake their hands when his GM said firmly, “Don’t get up.” So Scott stayed put while Doug sat beside him and his GM sat behind Berman’s desk.

  After the perfunctory greetings, Parks got down to business. “So, I think Coach Berman gave you the gist of what we need. This is a busy time for scouting, between the upcoming college finals, getting a look at kids coming up for the draft, and then reevaluating teams after the trade deadline has passed. If that wasn’t bad enough, one of our scouts needs to get heart surgery. So we need someone to step in, and your name came up since you will be on the IR the whole time that we are short.”

  Scotty nodded. He was still wrapping his head around everything. “So, what do you need me to do exactly?”

  The guy next to him spoke up. “So, we are thinking about having you do professional games and watch them to look for the trends. Basically, list out things you boys can do on the ice to counter those trends. Pay attention to the players that have been recently pulled up from the AHL or acquired. Even think about moments of the game which can be used for video review sessions and then look at talents that could work for or be problematic for the Sound. Pay attention to those who might be entering the free agency market and who you think might be someone who makes sense for us to acquire. There might be a practice or two in the same area as a pro game where we’ll want you to scout some of the undrafted kids.”

  Scotty nodded. “Okay, that sounds straight forward. Do you have a schedule in mind?”

  “Ideally, we would like you to do these games.” Doug passed over a sheet of paper with a list of dates and games.

  These were games that Scotty would have watched regularly. They were all mostly eastern conference games. It was ideal, aside from the fact that he would be on the road a lot and he wouldn’t be watching the Sound play live. But he would catch games at least a day or two before the Sound would be playing them. He even saw a Philly trip at the tail end of the first week he hoped he could bring Alice on, but he didn’t want to mention that.

  “I would go with you the first week for training, and then the rest will be on your own.”

  “That seems pretty straight forward. But would this interfere with my contract?”

  “I checked with your agent already, and there would be no issues as long as you want to do it. But you can call him yourself to confirm.” Parks paused for a moment before continuing with a slightly lighter note, almost like he was dangling a bonus. “I know you brought your girlfriend out on the last Philly trip and that she's from that area. We can make arrangements to have that happen again.”

  Scotty blinked. He ran his hand through his hair and said, “You are sure that this isn’t the pain meds? It seems too good to be true.”

  GM Parks immediately said, “Well, I can’t say anything about the meds affecting you. But if you are thinking you are hallucinating from them, stop. I can say that this is quite real. We need an extra scout, and we all know how strong your hockey knowledge is. It won’t be a cake walk. Knowing Philly, they will probably want you to help promote Gritty in exchange for the tickets and have you at the game in a dual role. Not to mention, we want to keep as much of your rehab with our in-house doctors as possible, so we will be flying you back and forth between the games.”

  Scott knew that it was all reasonable. He didn’t expect to have his rehab be cut down. He liked that they were trying to keep things in-house, which meant he would get to see the team a fair amount too. He had to be smart and couldn't just accept the offer. “Can I get back to you later today? I think it sounds awesome, but I need to talk to my agent to make sure he’s on board.”

  “No problem. But the sooner, the better. That way we can get all the arrangements set up for flights, etcetera.”

  Scotty nodded and said, “Will do.”

  With that, both GM Parks and Doug got up to leave. They shook Scotty’s hand, and Parks said, “Go see Curren and do what you need to do. As I’m sure Berman told you are more valuable to us when you can actually play. So we don’t want any setbacks. Call my number with your decision.”

  “Got it.” Scott gathered his crutches to go to the trainer’s office. He wanted to make a few phone calls to get the opinion of his mom and most importantly his agent. Also on the list was Alice.

  He dreaded talking to Alice about the offer. Even though he knew that she would be supportive, he felt like an asshole for dangling the idea that they had several weeks together only to snatch it away from her again. He didn’t like getting her hopes up only to dash them.

  Scotty looked down at his watch and saw that practice would be going on for about 20 minutes more. He went towards the ice to watch the guys practice. Out of habit, he called out everything as if he was on the ice, despite knowing that for the most part, no one could hear him.

  Once they were done, everyone headed off the ice and passed Scotty on the way out. Lager and Dysktman were almost the last two off the ice. Dykstman said,
“Apparently old habits die hard.”

  “You know you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. But at least it was useful, if you could hear him,” fired off Lager.

  Scotty rolled his eyes and said, “Maybe if you talked more on the ice, you wouldn’t need help from the gimp.”

  “Yeah, but we love that gimp. Going to the video session today?” asked Corey as he got off. Scotty noticed that Corey had been practicing more lately and putting the effort in, which he applauded.

  “Definite maybe,” said Scott. He smiled, realizing how much of Alice’s “maybe”s were slipping into his vocabulary.

  He knew he would tease her over that later in the evening. But in this case, he wasn’t using a maybe to couch his response, even though he was really leaning towards yes like Alice. Instead, he really wasn’t sure if Lager planned to bring him back for the videos, and he didn’t know if the coach wanted him there.

  So Scotty gestured over towards Lager and said, “I don’t know. Depends on what that asshole has planned for me today. I’m relying on him for the ride.”

  He probably could drive with no issues since it wasn't his right knee, if Lager gave him back his keys.

  They all laughed and headed towards the locker room. The team was still on a high from the road trip and happy to be at home for a while. They had strong confidence despite so many close games. The guys cared about finding a way to get things done to force the OT and win in OT.

  Scotty talked with the guys as they were getting changed. It was normal locker room banter. Nothing super memorable but a good time. Then Lager and Scotty headed out towards the SUV. The moment the doors to the SUV shut, Lager asked, “So, are you going to do it?”

  Lager had to be dying to ask Scotty that question. It was a pretty big secret that he’d been keeping in, and it had to be nice to be able to discuss it.

  “Yeah, I think so. You know that was something I’d hoped to do when my career was over, and it will make me less useless while I’m out. But it will mean a shit-ton of travelling. Not sure how that will be for Alice. I know she will be supportive, but it will be disappointing too.” Scotty paused for a moment and said, “I assume I should say thank you for the opportunity.”