| "What the HELL is this?" Eric shouted, walking into the lounge at the arena, holding a copy of Hockey Time. He looked around the room, where Alexandre Daigle was sitting on the couch next to Brielle, who was busy going over new plays with him while the rest of the team was working out before practice. "What the hell is what?" Brielle asked, confused. "I need work on my speed... Since fucking when?!" Eric shouted, throwing the paper on the table in front of Brielle. Brielle stood up, seeing the quote she gave Calista two days prior, about Eric's speed as a right wing. "Since you're slacking off in the speed drills," she stated, walking up to him and getting in his face. "Since Frankie is the only guy out there to finish after you - and he's defense." "I don't need work on my speed," Eric snorted, getting irritated at Brielle's opinions. "Yes," Brielle shot back, "you do. I'm faster than you, and you have longer legs than me. Use them." Eric almost laughed. "You are not faster than I am," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Oh?" Brielle asked, crossing her arms over her own chest. "Prove it." "What?" Eric asked, not thinking she would challenge him to a race. "Prove it. Prove that you're faster than me. Right now, speed drills around the rink. Let's go, get your skates on," Brielle said, turning toward where her hockey bag sat next to the couch. She pulled out her skates and sat down. "You gonna stand there and let me win or put your skates on?" she said, trying to get Eric even more riled up than he already was. Eric didn't say a word, just walked calmly over to his locker and grabbed his skates. Daigle, who had observed the whole thing from the couch, suddenly realized the potential for the situation, jumped up from the couch and yelled into the excercize room, "Eric and Brielle are gonna race!" Within minutes, Brielle and Eric were walking to the ice, followed by the rest of the team, who took places behind the bench to watch their assistant coach and her problem child settle whatever score it was that they had to settle. Or at least take the first step to settling a score. "Alright, around the rink twice, behind the goal cages," Eric growled, stepping onto the ice beside Brielle. Eric topped her height by about five inches, but with skates on, those five inches seemed like a foot. "Alright," Brielle said, taking her mark on the blue line. "We start here, and we finish here. Ready?" "Ready," Eric said, taking his mark next to Brielle. "Alex, count down for us," Brielle said, staring straight ahead. "Ready... Set... GO!" Daigle shouted, watching Brielle and Eric take off. The rest of the team immediately started cheering for both Brielle and Eric, although they knew the comment Brielle made to Calista for Hockey Time was true, that Eric's speed was lacking as of late and Brielle could beat him with one foot tied behind her back. Toby had grabbed the video camera that Brielle kept in her office and popped a blank tape in, knowing that Brielle and Eric would want to see this later on, and was filming every second. Brielle was in the lead taking the first corner, until Eric took the corner a bit too close and nearly knocked Brielle over in his attempt to gain on her. He didn't succeed in making her fall, but he did get shead of her on the corner. Once they were on the straightaway to the other goal cage, Brielle easily gained on Eric and got shead of him by at least two strides. She kept her lead on through the rest of the race, and left Eric skidding to a stop at the blue line, where she stood triumphantly. "I told you that I was faster than you," Brielle said, taking a breath and watching Eric's face display irritation. "Work on your speed and we'll have a re-match." The team congradulated her as she walked back to the locker room, leaving Eric and Tom Kostopolous standing by the bench, watching her walk away. "I don't get it," Eric said, sitting down on the bench next to Tom. "Don't get what?" Tom asked, not sure exactly what Eric 'didn't get,' as there were quite a few things that Tom himself 'didn't get' about Brielle's and Eric's relationship. "Everything. She was never that fast when we were kids," Eric said, taking a deep breath. "Never." "Kids grow up," Tom said, standing up and stepping around Eric to walk to the locker room to get suited up for practice. "And it's about time that you did too." "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Eric asked, scrambling to follow Tom. "It means that you should get your act together already and tell the girl that you remember her," Tom said, turning to Eric. "You're beginning to drive me crazy, and the more you skirt around this issue, the more frustrated you're gonna get, and the more frustrated you get, the suckier you play. God Eric, grow a set already!" Tom exclaimed, walking back to the locker room, leaving Eric standing in the hallway dumbfounded. |
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