“Don’t do that,” I growled.
“We’re gonna win, you asshole.” He pushed me. I went to take my gloves off and punch him, but the ref appeared.
“Break it up, boys,” he ordered.
“Fine,” I grumbled, going back to my place. Coach probably wouldn’t appreciate it if I got a penalty. There was too much on the line tonight.
The line changed, again. Finally, the clock ran out. We were still 2-1.
We went into the locker room. I grabbed some water and checked my phone. Kai texted me a picture of the little charm I’d gotten her hanging from her rearview mirror.
Awww. Now I was with her when she drove.
Me
I scored a goal. You’ll have to look it up after class. Also, I didn’t end up in the penalty box.
I was feeling proud of that restraint. There wasn’t any response, but I’m sure she was busy. We’d call her later.
The second period was much like the first–shove a couple guys against the glass, steal the puck, pass it to my teammates, and try to score–or help my teammates score. Ashton protected the goal.
The Panthers scored another goal bringing it back up to 2-2.
During the next intermission, after Coach went over strategy, I saw that Kai had sent me a photo of her soaking wet in a pond.
Kai
Good job! Aren’t you supposed to be playing a game?
I took a picture of myself and sent it to the chat.
Me
It’s intermission. Right now, the score’s 2-2.
The third period was tense because of everything on the line. The clock ticked down, taunting us. Whoever scored would win, or we’d go into overtime.
They scored again and you could hear the cheers from the Panther’s fans, but there were also plenty of boos. Our hometown fans were going hard for us.
I went back in and took another shot. The goalie stopped it. The Panthers took it back down toward their goal, determined to score again. I stole it away, clipping someone in the process. He came after me andtook it back.
“Told you you’d lose. Your team doesn’t even deserve to be in the playoffs, let alone the championship.” It was the same asshole that tripped Ashton.
The line changed and I watched as that asshole went in for the goal again. Our goalie went into a half-split save, stopping him. That Panther fucker kept whacking it at our goalie from the left corner. A teammate of his snuck over to the right ready for the puck to be passed to him.
Ashton was on defense. He slid right into the exposed corner, knocking the puck away. Everyone cheered as the clock ticked down.
“Go get ‘em, Honey!” I yelled. That was some play there.
He and Rhett were called back to the bench as two more defenders went out. There wasn’t much time left. We were 2-3. Could we score? Coach sent out some high scorers.
“That was an amazing play,” I told Ashton. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Beckett shove someone out of the way. Deacon intercepted the puck and took the long shot. It sailed right past the goalie into the net right as the buzzer went off.
Nice. What a shot. Did it count?
“And the Scorpions score, tying the game,” the announcer boomed.
We cheered as the score became 3-3. We were headed into overtime.
