Ice in My Veins by Kelli Sullivan Read Free Book Online

Myles, they call me Coop. My last name is Cooper.”
    I shook his hand. He was bigger than all the guys who had just weighed in. Not as appealing looking as Moose; and far from close to Alex, but cute enough. He seemed like a free spirited guy. A big teddy bear type of guy.
    “I’m Chrissy.” I said, then it was my turn to stand on the scale.
    I excused myself and stepped onto the scale like it was no big deal. The guys - I knew, were waiting to see my weight. Not to often girls told their weight to anyone. Here I was getting weighed in front of a group of them.
    The trainer looked at me with surprise, then he glanced over at Mr. Richmond. He announced out loud as he had for the previous players, my weight and height - “173 lbs and 5’9.” He motioned for me to step down and scribbled onto his clipboard.
    I heard a lot of muttering from the players. I guess they were shocked at my weight as well. However, muscle does weigh more than fat and I was solid. I had less than two percent body fat. Then Coop went up. “192 lbs and 6’1,” the trainer announced. Coop stepped down and walked over to stand beside me.
    “I can’t believe that you weighed in at 173 lbs. That just blows my mind.” He continued ”I would never have guessed. I mean you’re smoking hot, you have a wicked body, I can’t believe you weigh that much. That just floors me.”
    I shrugged, that was my genius response. I was usually witty with my comments or comebacks. I was fully aware of Mr. Richmond’s presence everywhere I was. I didn’t need to test the waters with my degree in smartassology!
    The rest of the day was like Alex had said. Boring, long and I couldn’t wait for it to be over with. The rest of the week at camp was brutal. It consisted of drills, practice and scrimmages. Every day I came back to the hotel sore and in pain. I had taken Alex up on his offer for drives. He was actually a sweet guy. Charming, but somewhat cocky. It was endearing.
    The guys didn’t go easy on me during camp, nor did Alex. They slammed me pretty hard into the boards. I seemed to impress them with my speed and puck handling skills. I think for the most part, they were all very impressed with the daily beatings I took. They seemed astounded that I never complained about it. A few of the guys were whiners and complained daily. Not me!
    A few of them felt my wrath when I took it upon myself to slam them hard into the boards. I rammed Alex with a clean open ice hit. Boy, did it feel good. The team winced as he thudded to the ice. I said sorry and offered my hand to help him up. He just stared at me for a few seconds, before he took my hand. I knew that hit had to hurt. I think I winded him. I also managed to score a few goals and get several assists in the some of the scrimmage games.
    After my first goal Moose skated over to praise me. “You know, only God saves more than Plouffe does, that was a sweet goal.” He chuckled, tapped me on my leg with his stick and skated away.
    It was Monday. Time to find out if I made the team or not. I was a nervous wreck. Almost to the point of becoming neurotic my father told me. I didn’t sleep the night before.
    Dad admitted to me that he had been at the rink during camp sitting quietly, observing, up in the nosebleed section. He told me that he was impressed and extremely proud of me. He also assured me that if I didn’t make the team, he would help me to work at getting onto another team. I couldn’t believe it. He finally could see that I had talent. It touched my heart more than anything else he had ever said to me.
    I took my time walking to the rink today. Kicking the loose stones on the sidewalk as I walked. I told Alex the night before not to pick me up. I just wanted to mentally prepare to be cut. I knew that I had worked hard, but there was a tremendous amount of talent out there on the ice during camp.
    I knew there was a strong possibility that the coach would cut me. I told myself that getting cut is a