Keeping my eye on the puck, I wrestle with the opponent next to me, our sticks clashing and fighting in a battle to takecontrol. I finally pull it away just when Hayes breaks away from the player guarding him, and I make a quick pass to the curve of his stick. He doesn’t hesitate to take the shot as we watch it slide between the goalie’s knees, lighting up the red light with just two minutes left in the game.
Grinning, I skate over to Hayes with the team and shake his helmet with my glove.
“Nice fucking net.”
“Nice pass,” he grins before his eyes narrow. “Turn around, you’ve got company,” he says, focusing behind me as he skates forward to stop whatever is coming at me, but it’s already too late.
I turn just as Morris’s glove slams into my helmet. Shaking my head, I snap out of the hit and grin.
I notice my team surrounding us, as they hold back any other players, giving us our space.
“That’s your one hit, Morris, and you only got that one in because you’re a fucking pussy who takes cheap shots.”
Dropping my stick, I throw my gloves off along with my helmet as I skate around him.
I faintly hear the crowd go wild, knowing they are going to get one last show in this game.
“You’re a fucking asshole, Stone,” Morris spits out, dropping his gear to the ice as his hand curls into a fist as we circle each other.
“I’ve been called worse,” I laugh, “but at least I add value to my team with netting the puck. You’re just a deadweight enforcer, and you’re not even good at it.”
I hear Kane chuckle seconds before Morris slams his body weight into me. He’s strong, I’ll give him that, but he fights recklessly, and it’s easy for me to predict his moves.
Digging my blades into the ice, I remain upright as I fist his shirt in my hand. Dodging a hit I see coming a mile away, I get aclip in on his chin as his head rears back. He loosens his grip on my jersey, and that’s all I need to get the upper hand as my fist hits him square in the mouth, splitting his lip wide open.
Red stains his white jersey as drops of blood drip from his mouth.
“You would think after last time you would have learned your lesson,” I grunt out as he rams me like a bull into my stomach, sending us both to the ground.
“And miss this fun?” He growls, trying to regain the top position, but I’ve managed to pin him to the ground with nowhere to go.
The refs take the opportunity they’ve been waiting for and pull me off of him, breaking us apart. The whistle blows for a penalty, and knowing a roughing call is coming, I skate over to the box to serve my time.
“Looks like you might need a bandaid, Morris,” I point to my lip as he swipes the blood away on his chin. He starts to skate toward me, but his teammates stop him.
“He’s not worth it, Morris. Just let it go.” I hear one of the other players say to him.
I step into the box and grin when Morris also gets a misconduct call for instigating. He slams the door open when he gets to the team bench and heads to the locker room, ending his game tonight.
McCormick skates over with my gear and drops it on the bench beside me as I run a towel over my damp face and hair.
“Nice right hook,” he grins.
“Had to leave him with a little something to remember me by.”
Chuckling, he skates over to take his position for the puck drop. One of their fans bangs on the glass next to me, and I ignore it as I watch the clock start to die down.
Two minutes may not seem like a lot of time, but in hockey, I’ve seen teams score twice in that time frame.
They pull their goalie with forty-five seconds left, giving them the extra man on the ice. My leg bounces with adrenaline as every part of me yearns to be out there again. Gripping the railing with my hand, I watch my guys fight to gain back control of the puck.
Blade stops a shot that most goalies would have never seen, and instead of keeping it for another whistle blow, he sends it shooting to the center line just as eager to finish the game as we are.
Foxx finally gets control of it and sends it straight over to McCormick as he breaks away toward the empty net and shoots it easily in as the game buzzer goes off.
Jumping out of the box, I head straight to Blade, tapping my helmet to his.
“Nice save. I don’t know how you even saw that one,” I chuckle.
