Page 5 of A Shot at Love
The room erupted in cheers and hoots but Neil grinned, waving his hand to quiet the noise. He glanced towards Frankie and the other coaches.
“I now have the privilege of introducing our coaching staff for this upcoming season. Some of the faces standing before you are ones you likely recognize, some you may not, but I can assure you that these folks are a group of people we are all incredibly lucky to be working with so let’s get things started, shall we?”
Frankie was the third assistant coach to step into the centre of the room. She pushed aside one final round and scanned the faces of the men before her, many of whom now wore a look of apprehension as they stared back at her.
“I’m Frankie Stevens,” she said, her voice slipping into the professional tone she used when she was working. “I’m one of your assistant coaches this season and I’ll be working with you on the power play.”
It was impossible to miss the whispers that spread like wildfire around the room and Frankie watched as some of the guys leaned into the person sitting next to them to mutter something quietly.
This was the part she was the most uncertain about…theinitialintroduction because in a room filled with men, Frankie was the only woman, and not only was she the only woman but she was a woman with authority.
She was a woman these athletes had to turn to for leadership, for guidance. In a few short weeks she would be doing that behind the bench during the very first pre-season game with an arena full of people judging her every single decision.
“For those who don’t know,” she said, slipping her hands into her pockets. “I’m coming to you off the back of a championship winning season in the CHL where I was also in charge of the power play and I look forward to bringing the same skill and experience that benefited me with that team in that league to our team here. I fully believe this group is capable of achieving something special and I’m honoured that I get to be a part of it.”
She could see it in their eyes as she spoke – the doubt, the judgement, and even if none of the men sitting before her would admit it, the sexism that was practically built into them. But it wasn’t her job to prove them wrong, to earn her place, because she’d already done that and she wouldn't be in the room right now otherwise.
She deserved to be here, exactly where she was right now, deserved to be a part of an elite group of people at the helm of a professional sports team. Becoming just the second woman to ever hold her position, that alone was enough to cement her place in the hockey history books.
But now it was time to get this whole thing started, to write a new chapter.
Game on.
Chapter 4
“How’s the knee today?” Jules asked as she firmly pushed on the ligaments surrounding the kneecap.
Cam grimaced and tried to pull away. “Well it definitely doesn’t feel good when you’re doingthat. Jesus, Jules. Your fingers are so…pointy.”
From her seat on a rolling stool next to a physio bench, Jules huffed. “Don’t be so dramatic.”
Shortly after they’d arrived in Halifax, Cam had found a sports medicine co-working space in a warehouse district in Halifax and didn’t hesitate before signing his name on the dotted line so he and Jules, and whichever of his teammates tagged along at the time, could do their rehab work.
“It’s fine, no pain when I stride, which is a nice change for once. I finally feel like I’m totally healthy and fit, which is all I wanted after the shitshow that was last season."
Jules frowned as she recalled the three month period where her brother was sidelined with a lower body injury. He was miserable and being around himmade her miserable. The day he was finally able to skate again with a full contact jersey on during practice was a victory for them both.
Being her brother’s private athletic trainer wasn’t exactly what Jules had envisioned for herself when she was little but it’s where she’d found herself after Cam had aged out of junior hockey and secured his first NHL contract.
She’d followed him to the first city he played in professionally and applied for school the same year, graduating two years later with her certifications. Her entire life had always revolved around hockey so it only made sense to find a way to stay close to the sport and her brother in adulthood.
Her own dreams of playing hockey professionally never had the chance to materialize and if she were honest, her life hadn’t really been her own since she was thirteen. It had been Cameron’s and she had just gone along with it all because it was the easy and comfortable thing to do.
They didn’t talk about it much, but losing their parents in a car accident when they were teenagers was something that bonded them together even more than being twins did. Their parents, Nathan and Jackie, were both only children which meant that when they died, Jules and Cam had to rely on each other more than any sibling ever should.
“What’s new with you though?” Cam asked as Jules squeezed out some muscle relaxing cream onto her gloved hands and gently rubbed it into the tissue surrounding her brother’s knee cap. “Find any cool coffee shop to read your little romance novels in? Any gay bars you want to check out?”
She laughed and rolled her eyes. “Not really. I haven’t exactly felt motivated to go out and meet anyone.”
“Jules,” Cam said, giving her shoulder a playful shove. “Come on. I’m sure there’s a woman in this city who doesn’t know it yet but has beendyingto meet you.”
“Riiiiiight, okay, sure. I think you mean there’s a woman in this city who has been dying to meet me so she can meet you. You’re Cameron Clarke, hockey superstar. I’m just Juliette.”
“Oh, come on, that happened ONE time. It’s not my fault if a woman finds me attractive and wants my attention…”
The attention her brother spoke of came from Sam, the pretty blonde Jules had met at a bookstore one day. Sam, who had asked Jules out on a date and even slept with. One day over coffee, Sam had asked, “is your brother Cameron Clarke? LiketheCameron Clarke?”
A few days later, Jules and Sam had gone on a double date with Cameron and his flavour of the month but the entire time, Sam barely glanced at Jules. No, she was far too enamoured by her brother. It basically cemented the rule that Jules wouldn’t date anyone who had an interest in hockey.
