Breaking The Ice

Swap Out

Harry's POV

My legs were complete jelly as Tanner blew the whistle for what seemed like the thousandth time in the past hour, half of us on the verge of throwing up while the other half fought to stay on our feet, but the only thing I could even think about was TJ.

I'd been watching her every second since we'd started the scrimmage, knowing how much pain she must have been in and wishing I'd never let her practice, but her face stayed stoic as she continued to push on like the rest of us. I knew she wouldn't take it easy, that she would push her body beyond any pain threshold that existed within her, and that's exactly what I'd been afraid of. I knew there was no way she would show any weakness, take one second of a break or time to catch her breath, and there she was beside me just acting as though her body hadn't been beaten and bruised the night before.

I had mixed emotions about it, part of me genuinely impressed by how she was giving absolutely no indication that she was in pain, completely hiding it while the rest of the team was perfectly healthy and still not keeping up as well as she was. I wasn't surprised, since she was probably the best conditioned person on the team, but it made me proud that she refused to give up or let Tanner get to her when he was so obviously a dick. The other part of me hated how stubborn she was, mad at myself for giving into her in the first place since I knew there was no going back now that we had a new coach. We both knew me benching her now with Tanner as Coach wasn't an option unless I wanted to completely tank her entire hockey career.

I'd seen the way he looked at her, that smug grin on his face while he condescendingly asked her if she needed to start at the redline so she didn't have to skate as far, and I'd never wanted to punch someone's lights out so badly. But I knew if we had any chance at continuing to win I had to keep my mouth shut. It was my job to lead the team, to be our voice when we needed it, and if I fucked up my reputation by telling Tanner what a dick he was I'd have absolutely no way of keeping us in tact.

I had to keep him close, play his game, if we had any chance of survival.

"You good?" I asked Teej breathlessly as we stopped at the blueline, resting my stick on my knees as I hovered over and tried to get air into my lungs.

"Yep." She said simply, glaring across the area as she waited for Tanner to blow the next whistle.

We both knew she had something to prove, that he already saw her as less because she was a girl, and as much as I hated it I knew I had to let her deal her own way. Me coming to her defense would make her look weaker, and if she ever wanted him to take her seriously she had to fight her own battles. Still, just because I understood that didn't mean it would be easy for me.

"Alright, that's it for now." Tanner yelled as he blew the final whistle, almost the entire team collapsing to the ice in exhaustion.

I stood there, leaning over my skates as I tried to catch my breath as he slowly made his way over toward us, stopping right in front of Teej. I instinctively stood up as he stood in front of her, the two of them glaring at each other in some kind of stare off, as I waited for him to say whatever douche thing he was going to.

"How you feeling, Tomlinson?" He asked, a cocky smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

"I feel great." She nodded. "I can go all night."

He just stared at her for a few seconds, and it was obvious that her determination wasn't something he was amused by, before he turned to me.

"Styles, my office. Ten minutes." He said, turning and heading off the ice with the same arrogant strut he'd walked in with.