Ulrich skates toward the penalty box laughing to himself, and our surrounding fans boo him. He moves his arms up and down, welcoming the attention andegging them on.
Prick.
Down a player, the Rats line up to face off against us, and I join my line on the ice.
The whistle sounds, and the puck hits the ice in front of me. The other center and I wrestle for it, but I ultimately win out, moving down the ice toward the opposing goal and crossing it to our left winger.
It’s amazing how much better my shoulder feels since the injection. I don’t have to anticipate the pain at all as I move, and I can focus clearly on my one goal—winning. We need one more, and I want to be the one to score it.
Moving as a unit, our left winger charges the goal with the puck as a Rats defenseman swarms around us and fights for possession.
He fires the puck towards me. Shooting, I miss wide. The puck rebounds off the post and is caught by our right winger, who tries to get a clear shot but is blocked by a purple jersey. I move behind the net to an open spot as I watch him fight to keep possession. The crowd roars around me as he manages to maintain the puck and feed it back to me. Moving quickly, I skate toward the top of the circle, toe drag, and flick the puck top shelf before the goalie can react.
The crowd erupts in cheers, and my teammates skate toward me in celebration.
3-2. Fuck yeah.
Making a lap around the ice, I pass by Ulrich, sitting in the penalty box, and throw him a wink. The jumbotron flashes video of fans all around the stadium chanting my name. The camera zooms in on Claire. Her whole face is lit up with a smile, and she’s cheering as loud as the Crowns fans around her. She brings her hands up into a double high five, and the girl next to her follows her lead, playfully screaming in her face as their hands join.
My heart swells in my chest. Looking over toward Ulrich, I chuckle as I watch his eyes shift from the big screen to where she stands.
His face turns red, and his eyes go dark.He’s gripping his stick so tightly it looks as though he could snap it. Without warning, he stands and leaves the box early, gunning straight for me.
Fuck.
I anticipate the blow before it happens. One of his hands finds the neck of my jersey while the other makes sharp contact with my chin.
I guess we’re fucking doing this.
I attempt to shove him off of me, but he comes at me harder. His fist connects with my jaw again and knocks my helmet off.
My fist makes contact with the side of his face just as I hear a whistle blow. The crowd sounds insane, getting louder with every swing. The linesmen circle us trying to intervene. In my periphery, I can see that both sets of our teammates have joined in. Blurs of red and purple circle around us as everyone on the ice fights.
I strike the side of Raph’s head, and we fall to the ice.
The weight of a linesman on top of me causes me to stop.
Chest heaving and adrenaline still coursing through me, the linemen separate us, and I watch as the remainder of the fight is broken up.
The referee skates to center ice, calls a major on every player involved, and ejects Raph from the game.
The crowd roars at the announcement, and all I can think isfinally. Picking up my helmet, I move toward the penalty box with my teammates to sit out the next five minutes.
Glancing toward the stands, I find Claire standing, chewing on her thumb nail, nervously. Her eyes find me and then shift back to Ulrich, who’s getting booed as he makes his way toward the tunnel.
Good riddance.
Chapter 7: WAGS Only
Claire
“What a game,” Andi says as we climb the stairs. “Seriously, I didn’t think the Crowns were going to pull it off, but that final goal by your man…” She squeals with excitement. “Holy shit! What a shot! And then that fight between Everett and Raph…absolutely insane.”
“Raph didn’t score,” I mumble.
“Ugh. You can’t be serious right now.” She shakes her head. “Don’t tell me you’re still considering himyour man. He acted like a complete lunatic tonight.”
My stomach turns as I think back over the game. Multiple dirty hits, and then instigating a final fight that got him ejected and every player on the ice put in the box. He was a total ass tonight, and part of me knows it had to do with me. I hope I’m wrong, but something deep in my gut tells me I’m not.
