The Assistant Coach (BOOK 1: OMEN KING SERIES)

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Kohl Warren

We all huddle together in a tight circle around the ice, shifting from skate to skate as we wait for Leia to show up. It's strange because she's never late. But here we are, standing around like a bunch of idiots, and it's starting to get on my nerves.

I know she's going to come skating in here any minute now, looking all annoyed and asking why we aren't already warming up. I smirk to myself as I think about Leia finally getting wind of Boston's little team. I told Seth that I wanted to completely destroy their reputation and make their families suffer for what they did, but apparently that was a bit too extreme.

So, I had to settle for just getting them kicked off the team, along with their clueless coach.

Coach Johnson glides into the rink, marker and board in hand. "Why aren't you lot warming up?" he barks, his voice echoing off the walls of the empty arena.

"Where's Coach Welsh?" Mason pipes up.

The rest of us nod in agreement, wondering where the hell she is.

"She's not coming today," Coach Johnson announces, and a wave of concern ripples through the group.

"Was it because of last night?" Kateb asks Miller, but they both shrug, just as clueless as the rest of us.

Leia never misses a practice. Was it because of last night? Did I make a mistake thinking she'd be okay? The uncertainty gnaws at me as I take a deep breath.

Or was it because of Boston's team? I knew I should have ruined their reputations, but that douchebag Seth said that would be hard. The bastard knows everyone, how fucking hard could it be?

I've never seen the guy face-to-face, and I know he deal's in shady things, but I met him through a mutual, and I know he's done worse than ruin a few lives. Bastard.

The arena doors swing open with a dramatic creak, and in saunters Leia, looking all confident in her skates. And trailing behind her like a lost puppy is Ari, lugging around a bunch of heavy dumbbells like it's no big deal.

Of course, being the gentlemen that I am, I can't resist skating over to Leia and offering to help her out with those dumbbells, except what I really want to see is if she's okay.

Meanwhile, Owen is doing the same for Ari, taking care of all the water bottles she's got in tow.

Leia shoots us all a glare, "Why the hell aren't you punks warming up?"

I chuckle as I set the dumbbells down and make my way over to the other side of the rink to start stretching out with the

rest of the guys. Yup, she's okay.

"I know, I know, I said I wasn't gonna show up–" Leia starts to explain, but Coach Johnson cuts her off with a wave of the hand.

"We're just glad to have you here, now I can get back to my relaxation," Coach Johnson chimes in, earning a laugh from me.

Leia shoots him a death stare, and he quickly backtracks, getting back to helping her with whatever she needs.

As we all huddle together, trying to warm up in the chilly rink, Leia decides to pair us up into two-person teams. I'm stuck with the hot-headed Kateb, but I figure there must be a reason for it, so I don't bother to argue.

Kateb, on the other hand, can't help but grumble about it, but Leia shuts him down with a simple "Suck it up." Miller and Ant, on the other hand, look like they'd rather be anywhere else but here, in bed mostly.

Tim and Matt are their usual selves, goofing off and joking around. Owen and Ronald are strangely quiet, only talking about hockey between themselves. And Mason is partnering up with Leia, as there are only nine of us in total.