Read Online Dreams (New Beginnings Book 3) by Michelle Lynn - Free Book Online

“You have no idea, do you? You have this enormous amount of God-given talent. You don’t have to work yourself to death just to keep your head afloat. If you don’t play well, you might lose a few minutes of ice time. If I suck long enough, I could be finished.”
    “Whoa, dude. Calm down.”
    “No. I’m sick of you not taking this seriously. We get to play hockey for a living. Don’t you get that? They pay us to do this. I’ve had to work harder than most to get here. I didn’t coast on my talent. I don’t have the option of blowing it off. If I don’t constantly improve, the young guys coming up will pass me. Look at what happened this week - I let myself get distracted and I played like shit.”
    “Everyone played like shit,” Mack said quietly.
    “That doesn’t make it okay.”
    Mack drove in silence for a few minutes. Josh doubted anything he said would actually sink in to his friend’s thick skull. He’d never understand.
    “Who is she?” He finally asked.
    “What?” Josh responded.
    “I assume a girl was the reason you were distracted.” Mack grinned sideways at his friend and everything was back to normal between them.
    “No one. It’s nothing.”
    “The Josh I know doesn’t let anything affect his game.”
    “It’s complicated,” Josh paused, considering if Mack was the right person to talk to. They’d been close since he made the team, so he continued. “Her name is Taylor. You remember that kid on the Winterhawks who died last year?”
    “Of course I do. It really freaked me out.”
    “Yeah, me too. She was his girlfriend.”
    Mack’s breath whistled out. “Shit.”
    “She’s still pretty broken because of it.”
    “I’d imagine she would be. And you want to be her knight in hockey pads to help her finally get past it.”
    “Something like that,” Josh sighed.
    “Want my advice?” Mack asked.
    “On girls? No.”
    Mack ignored him. “There are loads of girls who would kill to go out with you. Ones that aren’t a mess.”
    “You seriously giving me the ‘plenty of other fish in the sea’ speech?” Josh scowled.
    Mack shrugged, but didn’t respond.
    “There’s something else,” Josh admitted.
    “What more could there be?”
    “She’s kind of Coach Scott’s daughter.”
    Josh didn’t see Mack’s hand coming before it hit him upside the head.
    “What the hell?” he yelled.
    “You have a death wish?” Mack asked. “Coach Scott is a scary dude. For someone who is so worried about his hockey career, you’re being pretty stupid, dude.”
    “Yeah.” Josh slumped back in his seat. “I know.”
    “You need to stop hanging out with her.”
    “I know.” 
     
    ###
     
    Taylor finished pressing her Panini before picking up her tray and walking across the dining hall to join Abigail at her table.
    “Hey, Roomie.” Abigail looked up and smiled.
    “Hi.” Taylor sat down, still not completely comfortable with her new friend. They’d spent a lot of time together over the past week, and Taylor was glad to keep her mind busy. It gave her less time to think about Danny. Or Josh. The latter had called a few times since she ran out on him, but she decided it was easier to just cut the cord. She wasn’t ready for the kinds of things she was feeling for him.
    “We haven’t even been here that long,” Abigail started, “and I’m already sick of dining hall food. I mean, come on, is it so hard to make it edible?”
    “It’s not that bad.” Taylor took a bite of her lunch.
    “Stop being so damn nice and just bitch with me for once.” Abigail scrunched her forehead.
    “Fine,” Taylor said. “It sucks.”
    Abigail laughed loudly. “You’re so bad at that.”
    Taylor shrugged and continued eating.
    “You’re so lucky you can go home for a home-cooked meal whenever you want.”
    “I guess.” The truth was, Taylor hadn’t been home once in the couple of weeks since school started. In fact, the only times she left campus was to spend time with