Jessa Haywood and her best friend, Sheldon Hopson, have accepted jobs as junior athletic trainers for team USA's Olympic hockey team. When Jessa accepted, she didn't realize that four players would fall for her, and she didn't expect to fall for the...
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Jessa Haywood walked through the halls of the Colorado facility with Sheldon by her side. Today was the first day of tryouts for the men's Olympic hockey team. They both looked around in awe at all the players in the building. It was crazy to think that not even a quarter of them would make the team. "Hi, Doc." Sheldon said as they approached their mentor in one of the back rooms. He shook their hands.
"Jessa, Sheldon, you both know Coach Brooks." He said. "Of course." Sheldon nodded. Jessa held out her hand. "Nice to see you again, Coach." She said. Herb nodded. "And this is assistant coach, Craig Patrick." Doc said, introducing the man to Herb's right. He both shook their hands. "Nice to meet you." He said. "You as well." Jessa responded. The coaches walked off and Jessa and Sheldon continued walking with Doc. "You will both have your own offices back in Minnesota, but for this week, we will have to share."
"That's alright." Jessa responded. "Thank you again for this opportunity, Doc. We really appreciate it." Sheldon told their mentor. Doc waved him off. "No trouble. You both know you were my favorite students." He said. The two friends laughed. "Besides, you've worked with Herb before. And you know most of the players trying out." Doc continued. "That's true." Sheldon said. "Yeah, we've worked with Brooks before. A few more months ain't gonna hurt." Jessa said.
***
Jessa stood next to Sheldon with her arms crossed a little ways behind Coach Patrick and Doc as Coach Patrick read out the names of the boys who had made the roster. "Hughes. Ross. Auge. Delich. Horsch. Strobel. Christoff. Morrow. Suter. Ramsey. Janaszak. Christian. Pavelich. Verchota. Baker. Harrington. Schneider. O'Callahan. McClanahan. Silk. Johnson. Craig. Cox. Eruzione." He read out. "And that's the roster for now. The rest of you. thanks for coming out."
The boys who didn't make the roster all stood up and left, with most of them hanging their heads in disappointment. The boys who had made the team started talking amongst themselves. Jessa could hear congratulations being thrown around. Sheldon grabbed the stack of papers off the ground and handed half of them to Jessa. "Take a good look, gentlemen." Herb's voice rang around from the bleachers above the boys.
"Cause they're the ones getting off easy." He paused for a second as he started walking down the stairs. "We're putting a few of you on reserve in case somebody gets injured or their game goes to hell." Herb continued. "The final roster will have twenty names on it in seven months, so more of you are going home." Herb reached the bottom of the stairs where Coach Patrick, Doc, Sheldon, and Jessa stood. You give 99%, you'll make my job very, very easy."
He turned to face the group. "I'll be your coach, I won't be your friend. If you need one of those, take it up with Doc, Coach Patrick, Sheldon, or Jessa here." Jessa smiled at the boys, catching the eye of a blonde boy who smirked at her. Herb turned and walked away. "Alright, gentlemen. Congratulations to all of you. That's it for today. On the way out, pick up one of these." Coach Patrick said, gesturing to the stacks of paper in Jessa and Sheldon's hands. "You've got a little homework to do before you celebrate."
The boys laughed. "Thank you." The boys all came down the stairs one by one and grabbed a paper from either Sheldon or Jessa. "Jess." Jessa heard a voice say. She handed the rest of her papers to Sheldon and turned to face Robbie McClanahan. "Mac." She said, a smile immediately appearing on her face. "I didn't know you were gonna be here." He said, engulfing her in a hug. "I didn't know you were gonna be here." She retaliated. "You know I wouldn't miss it." Mac responded. The two had known each other since their senior year of high school. They had shared the same intro to economics class and had been friends ever since.
"Anyways, how've you been?" Mac asked, pulling away from the hug but keeping his hands on her arms. "Pretty good. I mean, I'm here." Jessa said, shrugging nonchalantly. "What exactly are you doing here?" Mac asked. "Sheldon and I are Doc's assistants." She told him. "So, you better behave or else I'm gonna be the one to have to fix you up." She teased. "Oh, I'll be sure to be on my worst behavior then." Mac continued. "Hey, we're going out for drinks later. You guys are welcome to join us." He said, looking over at Sheldon. "We'll be there."
***
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Jessa walked into the bar with Sheldon, Mac, and Mark Johnson. Mac looked over at a table and waved at someone. "Hey, Rizzo!" He shouted out to Mike Eruzione. "Mac." Rizzio nodded. "I'll go get us some drinks." Mac whispered into Jessa's ear as they walked towards the rest of the boys from Minnesota. She nodded. "Hey, boys." She said. "Hey, Jess." They all responded. Jessa knew most of the boys from Minnesota as most of them had played for Herb alongside Mac.
"Jessa, can you give us the answers to this stupid test, please?" Buzz Schneider asked. "You guys do realize you don't have to finish them right away, right?" She asked. "What?!" They all exclaimed. "I just finished mine." Janaszak groaned. Jessa laughed as Mac handed her a drink. "Thank you." She said. She glanced over to the other table. "I'll be back in a minute." She whispered to Mac. She walked off the the table where the Boston boys sat when Jack O'Callahan stormed past her. "Jeez, what's up with him?" She asked as she reached the table.
"76." Rizzo responded. Jessa rolled her eyes. "He's still on about 76, Rizzo, Silky?" She chuckled. They both nodded. Jessa turned to the other boy who was sat at the table with them. "I'm sorry, I don't know your name." She apologized. "Ralph Cox." The boy responded. Jessa nodded. "Not from Boston?" She questioned. Ralph shook his head. "Hey, your boyfriend over there is staring at ya." Silky told her. Jessa looked back, smiling when she caught Mac's eyes. She turned back to the Boston boys and Ralph. "Mac? He's not my boyfriend." She said. Rizzo smiled. "Good to know."
