Chapter 56 Chapter Fifty-six
Danny POV
I looked up at Ethan and nodded
"Of course," I said, stepping back slightly.
Ethan looked around at the team, then back at me.
"I was at that party. I saw what happened. And I'm going to be real with you guys—what Marco did was fucked up. Like, seriously fucked up. The kind of thing that if it was your sister or your girlfriend, you'd want to punch him in the face."
"Ethan—" I started, but he shook his head.
"Let me finish," he said.
"Marco was our teammate. Our friend. Some of us have known him since freshman year. But what he did that night? That's not the kind of person I want to play with. That's not the kind of person I want representing this team."
"Agreed," Jake said immediately.
"I don't know exactly what happened, but if Cap says it was that bad, I believe him. And honestly? Fuck Marco. We don't need someone like that on our team."
"But what about the championship?" Brody asked.
"What about our shot at winning?"
"What about it?" Henry challenged.
"You want to win so badly that you're willing to overlook someone hurting a girl? Because that's what we'd be doing if we brought Marco back. We'd be saying that winning matters more than doing the right thing."
"Henry's right," Dylan said.
"Look, I want to win just as much as anyone here. But not like this. Not by compromising who we are as a team."
I felt something tight in my chest start to loosen. They were choosing to do the right thing over winning.
"So that's it?" Jake asked, looking around at the team.
"We're all agreed? No Marco?"
There was a chorus of agreement—some guys were more enthusiastic than others, but everyone nodded.
"Then we need a plan," Jake continued, standing up.
"Because Ethan's right that Marco was a great player, and we're going to struggle without him. But that doesn't mean we can't win. It just means we need to work harder and smarter."
"I might have a solution," Henry said, also standing.
"There's a player in the junior league—a freshman, who plays for the Thunder junior team. Kid named Ryan Martinez. He's Ethan's little brother, actually."
Ethan looked surprised.
"You want to pull Ryan up to the senior team?"
"Why not?" Henry asked.
"I've seen him play. He's fast, he's got great instincts, and he can read the ice almost as well as Marco could. He's raw, needs some coaching, but with two weeks of intense training? He could fill the gap."
"He's a freshman," someone pointed out.
"Can we even do that? Bring a junior league player up to the senior team?"
"There's no rule against it," I said, my mind already racing.
"As long as he's enrolled at the university and meets the eligibility requirements. And if he's anything like Ethan, he's more than capable."
"He's better than me," Ethan said with a grin.
"Kid's got talent. I've been telling him to try out for the senior team next year, but if you guys want him now..."
"It's worth a shot," Dylan said.
"Better than trying to redistribute Marco's responsibilities and hoping for the best."
I looked around at the team, seeing the determination in their faces and I felt a burning surge of pride—they weren't giving up or taking the easy way out.
We were going to work for this.
"Alright," I said.
"Here's what we're going to do. I'll talk to Coach about bringing Ryan up to the senior team. Ethan, can you talk to your brother? Make sure he's up for it?"
"Already texting him," Ethan said, his phone out.
"The rest of you—we've got two months until qualifiers. That means two months of the hardest practices we've ever done.”
“ We have to perfect our formations and improve our communication as a team. If we can do that then we won't need Marco Island to win the championship."
"But what if it doesn't work?" Chris, a sophomore named Chris who'd barely gotten any ice time this season asked quietly.
"What if we still lose?"
"Then we lose," I said honestly.
"But we'll lose knowing we did it the right way with no compromise on who we are.”
"Fuck yeah, Cap," Dylan said, and several guys echoed the sentiment.
"One more time," I said, wanting to be absolutely sure.
"Is everyone okay with this? With not bringing Marco back and working our asses off for the next two months and hoping it's enough?"
Every hand in the room went up.
"Alright then," I said, feeling a surge of pride in my team.
"Let's get to work."
The meeting broke up with the guys talking excitedly about strategy and training plans. Ethan came over to me, his phone still in his hand.
"Ryan says he's in," Ethan told me.
"He's nervous as hell, but he's in."
"Good," I said.
"And Ethan? Thank you. For backing me up and telling the guys what happened."
"You're my captain," Ethan said simply.
"And more than that, you're my friend. I've got your back. Always."
We clasped hands, and I felt grateful to have teammates like this. Guys who understood that some things were more important than winning.
As everyone headed out to get ready for regular practice, Dylan hung back.
"Hey, Cap?" he said.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," I said.
"Is Vanessa okay? I wanted to ask but I wasn't sure how that would sound” he. muttered, the question caught me off guard.
"Yeah," I said after a moment.
"She's okay. She's stronger than she gives herself credit for."
"Good," Dylan said.
"Because if she wasn't, if Marco had really hurt her, I just want you to know—we all would have had your back on this even more. The team cares about you, man. And by extension, we care about the people you care about."
My throat felt tight.
"Thanks, Dylan. That means a lot."
"Anytime," he said, clapping me on the shoulder.
"Now let's go win a championship and prove we never needed Marco's sorry ass anyway."
After everyone left, I sat alone in the rink for a few more minutes, processing everything that had just happened.
I pulled out my phone and texted Vanessa.
The team meeting went better than expected. They chose you over Marco. Over winning. I'm so proud of them.
There was no response.
Worried, I tried calling her but nothing went through, I tucked the phone into my pocket and walked out of the building.
She was likely asleep, I should go back to the hostel but I didn't want to do that, my phone beeped and a message from the group chat popped up
Let's do game night?
Most of the guys sent thumbs up emojis, I dipped my hand in my pocket to get my car keys and sitting in the bunch was the key to Vanessa's apartment that she had given me almost a week ago.
I typed a message into my phone
You guys have fun.
I was going to see Vanessa.