Shutout

Chapter 9 - Logan

"How many more?"

Bac peers at the little pile of pucks on the ice next to him, "Four. Do you want more or stop?"

I shake my head behind my mask, "No, try to do something difficult, though."

Bac does. I only ended up stopping three of the four, but the last one was wicked in a way that made the best center the Cardinal has seen in a long time. We had finished optional practice earlier, and more men had shown up than in the past as we got closer to mandatory practice time. I was going to stay after and practice blocks and dives by myself, but Bac offered to hit some at me, and I can never turn down real-life shots. 

I tell him to go and get ready for this date. He raved about it all day, but he still insists on staying to help clean up the pucks around the net. Once we've cleared the floor, we let the staff know so they can drive the Zamboni over the ice. The locker room has been mainly cleaned out except for Oliver Hayden's stall, which still has his gear. 

"How did you meet this girl?" I ask, stripping off my pads. 

Bac grins smugly, "I met her at a coffee shop. She's a barista."

"Are you harassing innocent baristas while they're doing their job?" Hayden spooks us both, catching us off guard as he strolls into the locker room in shorts and a t-shirt. 

"I don't harass, no," Bac looks offended, but Hayden just gives me a deadpan look that makes me smile before I can stop it, "She was eager to give me her phone number when I asked. Besides, if you saw this girl, you wouldn't be able to stop yourself—well, Klicker would. But not you, Hayden."

I laugh as I finish pulling off my gear, "Thanks."

"I'm a married man, Bac," Hayden says as he begins to gather his gear, "I would be able to stop myself."

"Tomato tomato," Bac brushes it off like nothing, choosing to ignore us as he dashes for the showers. 

Hayden sighs, but there is amusement in his facial features, so I know it's not real, "Careful being around him all the time. He can be a bad influence because he's lost all his brain cells after all these years of getting beat up."

"I think we can all claim the same," I reply. 

"I guess, but I don't know how many that kid started with," Hayden shutters, calling Bac a kid because he's nearly a decade older than the 25-year-old. Hayden was a veteran who has only been on the Cardinals for a few years now but seems to have settled in—

"Oh!" It comes out of my lips before I can think not to say anything. Hayden swings his attention towards me, so now I have to say what popped into my head, "You used to play with Shane Youngman, right?"

Hayden nods, shifting the gear bag over his shoulder, "A few years in Tampa. Why?"

"If..."Should I be asking Hayden this? I don't even know if I'm in with him yet. But Kane...he was so excited as he ranted about how unfair the treatment is and how right he is, "Would you be able to help me get in contact with him?"

If Hayden thought he was about to leave, he's stopped, rooted in the floor as he looked at me with big bushy brows narrowed, "Youngman? What do you need from a retired—oh...is it because...a sexuality thing?"

I almost cringe, but I've had enough practice not to anymore, "Yeah, sort of."

Hayden seems to consider it for a moment before slowly nodding, "Yeah, I could probably scrounge up his agent nowadays. Give me a little bit, yeah?"

I perk up, not having expected to have this conversation and definitely not expecting to have a good result like this, "Of course. It's no rush. I appreciate this."