Miraculously, I was able to find my family. They were seated right behind the glass, and my mom and sisters were crying.My dad gave a strong, determined thumbs up as he nodded in approval.
It didn’t feel real. None of it felt like it was really happening. Part of me thought I’d wake up in the hotel room, shake Asher, and tell him about the cool dream I had.
But it’s not a dream.
I nudged Asher’s shoulder, and he looked in the direction my finger pointed. He saw my family, and the moment they locked eyes with him, they raised a sign:
ASHER + THEO
WE LOVE YOU BOYS
It was so freaking adorable. I turned to Asher, and the look on his face will never leave my memory.
Tears fell down his cheeks as he smiled at them. He made his hands into a heart and mouthed that he loved them. They responded, mouthing that they loved him too.
I completely missed the rest of the announcer’s speech. It wasn’t until they introduced a country western singer with long blonde hair to sing theNational Anthemthat I realized the ceremony was almost done.
The anthem filled the arena, and silence washed over the fans. I watched as people of every race and ethnicity mouthed the words. More than a quarter of the arena held some kind of pride paraphernalia.
I let the moment take over, my chest swelling as I realized how lucky I was. There will always be more work to do, but I was allowed to stand next to the person I love, a person who was the same sex as me, and proudly love him without fear of punishment.
It’s not like that everywhere else. Hell, it was barely like that in the United States until fairly recently, which was why Idecided to take Asher’s hand in mine at that precise moment. Visibility is important, and I decided to visibly show my love for Asher while mouthing the words to ourNational Anthem.
Because our rights were worth fighting for, love was worth fighting for, and Asher was the love of my life. I knew I’d fight for him until the day I died.
His fingers squeezed mine, and our eyes met. I could see in his face that he was thinking something similar to me.
We’ll fight for each other, Red, because this is worth fighting for.
Chapter 32
Asher
An elbow connected with my shoulder, pushing me back into the glass. My eyes glanced over and saw the snarling faces of the fans, screaming at us as we fought for the puck.
They looked psychotic as they yelled and gnashed their teeth, thirsty to see a fight on the ice.
It was the semifinals, and the game was rough. We played the Bruins, a team from Maine, and the game was tied with one period to go.
The Warriors fought hard the whole tournament. We had been seeded in the middle because of the games we lost while Theo and I were suspended. That meant we played teams of equal skill.
Lacing up your skates meant accepting the fact that you were walking into a cage filled with beasts, each one fighting for MVP honors or the victory. It was why people joined the PCSHL to begin with—to show scouts that they were pro-material.
Theo rushed in and pushed the defenseman off me. I skated toward the crease, aiming my shot to slap it into the top right corner of the net when their other defenseman poked my stick,thwarting the shot. The puck bounced off the crossbar and slid to the boards.
A flurry of bodies raced for the puck. Quincy got there first but was slammed by their right winger moments later, knocking Quincy to the ice. McKenzie was there to battle hard for the puck, but their right winger passed it laterally to a defenseman.
I raced after it, with Theo right there beside me. The two of us scrapped for the puck as more players joined the battle.
Fists flew.
Elbows jabbed.
My shoulder throbbed as their left winger pummeled into me. Theo pushed through and took the puck down the ice, approaching the crease with rapid speed.
I sidled up to him. We’d developed a system where one of us would guard the player with the puck. There wasn’t time to pass, and you had to make split-second decisions, so we assumed roles based on possession.
Theo took a shot, but the goalie deflected it. A winger circled the net to retrieve the puck, then carried it along the boards, meeting their defense on the other side.
