“How?” I ask, stunned. I’ve been with him every day for months now. It’s impossible. But yet here it is. He’s placed me up on his walls like I’ve always been here.
He smiles shyly at me. “I might have gotten some help,” he says and his eyes flit to my mother. “She sent me your old jerseys and Vicky came by the place and hung them for me yesterday.”
I laugh around a lump in my throat. “We really need to get her more than a Christmas card this year.”
“If we win this thing, I’m insisting she gets her ownchampionship ring.” He slings his arm around me and pulls me into his side. With my parents watching, he kisses the side of my head, then uses his free hand to smooth my hair behind my ear. “Now, who else is hungry?”
Clearly all of us as we sit to enjoy a feast together the night before what will be one of the most important games of my life.
Ryan
This game is much better. Hearing the sound of our home crowd cheering and singing along to our goal song after my shot flew right past Ander and into the net is electric. While the stadium celebrates, I skate down the line of our bench and bump fists with my teammates while they bang their sticks against the boards.
“That’s it!” Coach Chris says. “That’s how we get it done. Roysy! You’re in. Be ready. They’re gonna come out with everything they’ve got.”
“Yes, Coach,” Roysy says as he and his line swing themselves over the boards to take the next face off.
Brandon, O’Shea, and I make our way back onto the bench and take our seats. Right now is the perfect time for Roysy and his line to be out there. This game is starting to get chippy. The Blizzards, for the first time in this series, are on their heels. A position they are bound to hate.
When the puck drops, Roysy loses the face off. No surprise there. But he’s not out there to win the draw. He’s out there to…Slam!Connor Kennedy goes sprawling on the ice after taking a massive hit from Roysy.
Roysy is immediately pushed, and when he turns around to see who it is, he’s faced with Gavin’s intimidating bulk. But Roysy doesn’t care. He drops his stick and flicks his gloves off in one go, then unsnaps his helmet and throws it to the ground right in front of our bench.
Gavin does the same, then grabs Roysy by the collar of hisjersey, pulling him closer. “Don’t you ever fucking touch him again.”
“Finally got some fight in you, eh?” Roysy taunts as he swings and connects with Gavin’s shoulder. All of us on the bench start banging our sticks against the boards to cheer him on.
Gavin doesn’t even flinch. He just grins menacingly and stares at Roysy. “You sure you want this?”
“Quit being polite like your boyfriend and hit me, fucking coward!” Roysy yells, swinging again.
“If you say so,” Gavin says and levels Roysy with an uppercut.
Our entire bench collectively winces.
I’ll give him credit. Roysy manages to stay on his feet. But luckily for him, the refs have arrived to break up the fight. Each of them is grabbed around the waist by a ref and skated away to the penalty boxes.
Once they have them separated, the main ref makes his way to center ice. The crowd goes silent for the call. “Number forty-eight for the St. Louis Mules, and number two for the Buffalo Blizzards…” The ref pauses and makes two fists in front of his chest. He shakes them. “Five minutes each. For fighting.”
The crowd erupts into cheers as their fight is replayed in slow motion on the jumbotron.
“Alright!” Coach Chris says. “It’s not a power play, but we got Marshal off the ice. That should give us some room.” He taps me on the shoulder. “Go make the most of it.”
Brandon
Getting Gavin off the ice for five minutes and making us play four on four definitely did open up more room for us to move the puck, but that goes both ways. Even without his bodyguard out here, Connor is near impossible to play against.
He’s incredibly fast, and the way he turns and spins around people is dizzying. And I haven’t even mentioned his stickhandling yet which puts everyone in the league to shame. His hands are smooth and quick, the definition of silky.
Ironic considering that’s what Ander has always said about me. But compared to Connor, I may as well be playing junior hockey back in Green Bay.
He intercepts the puck again and takes off towards our net. I can hear Gavin cheering him on from inside the penalty box. But as I chase after Connor, I get a glimpse of Ivanov. He’s a brick wall right now in front of our net.
I’m nearly caught up to Connor when he takes his shot.
Ivanov blocks it with his left leg. It rebounds off of him to the right and I grab it with my stick. Now it’s my turn to go coast to coast and skate down to the Blizzards’ end.
Ryan and O’Shea do a good job of splitting the Blizzards’ defense. And Clemmers has the ice cleared for me. I skate with abandon, not caring if I crash into Ander and the net. This goal, no matter what, is going in.
