One of the Boys

Chapter 3

Delaney

I woke up early this morning and decided to go for a short run before having my breakfast and getting ready to head off to practice. I went into my walk in closet and grabbed a pair of leggings and a long sleeve shirt before changing. After I got dressed, I went into the bathroom and put my hair up into a ponytail before brushing my teeth.

After I finished that, I headed over towards the door and put my shoes on. Once I had finished tying them up, I put my earbuds in and played my music before grabbing the keys to my apartment and heading out the door to walk down to the elevator.

When I had made my way out of the building and onto the street, I looked at my phone to check the time only to see that it was 6:30. I put my phone back in my pocket before looking down both sides of the sidewalk to see which way I'd start today. "Okay." I sighed to myself. "Let's go this way."

35 minutes later, I was back in front of my apartment building bent over with my hands on my knees. "Man, you look like you could use some energy!" A male voice said as I stood up still huffing and put my hands on my hips. "Here, take this." Jason smiled handing me a smoothie from our favourite local cafe. "Thanks Jace!" I smile as he held the door of the building open for me. "I grabbed us breakfast while I was there too." He said holding up a bag of food when we got to the elevator.

"The usual?" I ask as we step inside the elevator. "You know it!" Jace smiles widely. "We can eat at my place. I've got to get changed before we head out for practice." I said before the elevator came to a stop. "Okay." He replied as we walked to my apartment. "Thanks for breaky Jace. You didn't have to though." I say as I place my keys on the key rack before going to the island and sitting next to him. "I know but I wanted to." He smiles.

******
"Morning Jason, morning Delaney!" Coach greets us as we walk past him to head out onto the ice. "Morning coach!" Jace and I smile. "I've got to talk to you guys after practice today. So when we're done down here, meet me in my office." Coach said.

I froze suddenly at the words that just shot out of his mouth while my thoughts scrambled through my brain. "Del, you okay?" Jason asked as I stood on the bench staring out onto the ice. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine." I smile a fake smile before gliding out onto the ice to skate some laps before practice.

I was about halfway across the ice when Jason had caught up to me. "Come on Del, what's on your mind?" He asked knowing full on that I'm not good at hiding things from him. "Please... Tell me what's bothering you." He begged.

"Okay, you really want to know what's on my mind Jace? Here it is..." I started as I slowed down my strides. "Coach wants to talk to us in his office after practice and that can only mean one thing... we're being traded over to a different team! And God only knows which team that is and how they'll react to having a girl in their team!" I finish my thought before skating away from Jason.

"Del, it's okay to be scared about stuff like that. Stuff happens in life and we've got to learn to just go with the flow sometimes to see what happens." Jason assured me as he caught up to me for a second time.

******
After getting off the ice and quickly getting out of my gear, I got dressed and packed my stuff away before leaving the dressing room and dragging my feet down to coach's office. When I finally found myself standing in front of the door trying desperately to calm myself down. "Okay Del, just take a deep breath, everything is going to be just fine." I say to myself before raising my hand into a fist to knock on the door.

"Ah Delaney, come on in. We were just waiting for you!" Coach said as he opened the door to his office. "Please, have a seat." He smiled gesturing for me to take a seat in the empty chair next to Jason.

I sat down and looked at Jason giving him a small smile. "It's okay, just breath." He whispered putting a hand in my knee as I nod in reply. "Alright, so I'm assuming that you both know why you're here." Coach began to speak folding both hands together in front of him on his desk. "Yes" Jason and I replied.

"This decision was not an easy one to make for us but we had to come to an agreement. The both of you are amazingly talented and skilled hockey players that have done a tremendous job on our team." Coach said before pausing to have a drink of water. "Thanks Coach, means a lot." Jason said knowing what was about to happen next.

"I know your agents have been in contact with you both during the deals and I'm sure you both know what's coming next but before we get to that part, I just want to thank you for your effort and all the hard work you've put into your performance and this team. And on behalf of the Manitoba Moose, I'd like to wish you both the best of luck in your future with the Toronto Marlies." Coach finished saying as Jason and I smiled.

"Del, we're heading home! Can you believe it? That's crazy!" Jason says as we make our way to my car. "I'm so excited! We get to play for our hometown!" I reply.

"Are you okay Del? You seem a little off." Jason asked noticing i had given him a small fake smile when I had answered him. "Yeah, I'm fine. I mean we're heading homeward to play for Toronto and we'll be closer to our families! What more could you want?" I reply trying to hide the fact that I'm also scared of what's going to happen when my new team finds out they've got a new teammate who happens to be a girl.

"I'm not buying it Dels. But I know you don't want to talk about it right now so I'll drop it and when you're ready we can talk." Jason replies knowing that there was still some worried nerves jumping around in my mind.

******
"Mom? Is Mason there with you?" I asked smiling at my mom through FaceTime as I laid in my bed. "No sweetie, I just got home from seeing Matt in Ottawa. Why? What's wrong? Is everything okay?" She asks in a concerned tone. "Yeah everything's fine mom. I just have some good news I wanted to share with you guys. Give me a second, I'll add Matt and Mace into the call." I say tapping their contacts as both their faces appear on my screen.

"Hey, what's up?" They both ask. "I have some news I wanted to share with you guys." I smile. "Alright shoot, we're listening." Mason said. "I'm coming home!" I exclaim as they all cheer. "That's awesome!" Matthew smiles. "I'll be playing with the Marlies in about a couple of weeks." I said.