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The crowd goes wild.
I’m gonna kill him.
Against my better judgement, I look over at Petal. She has a hand over her mouth trying to hide her smile, and her friends are howling.
Leave it to Tyler to bring a man back down to earth.
Here I am, feeling like the world’s biggest swinging dick, dying to impress Petal, and I make a fool of myself.
I look at the jumbotron again, and they’re replaying my reaction.
In slow motion.
The universe is definitely out to teach me something. What, I don’t know yet.
“Something wrong, Rake?” Tyler asks, eyes wide, faking innocence.
“Don’t worry, asshole,” I say. “Your time will come.”
The game wraps and we win, one to zero. It was close, and in some regards we got lucky, but nobody ever complains about a win.
Except for Coach. I know we’ll be watching the game vids later in the week and he’ll kick our asses for everything we did that was less than one hundred percent perfect.
Which is fine. That’s the man’s job. And it’s our job to do better each time.
Before I head to the locker room, I glance in Petal’s direction one last time, but she and her friends have already left. Something about that doesn’t feel good.
Goddamn. Am I wanting this woman’s approval now? What the fuck is wrong with me.
I’m turning into a giant pussy.
After a debrief and chat with the guys, I clean up and put my suit on, which feels silly because I’m only heading home. There, I’ll do my own light post-game workout and stretch, but the owners insist we always dress, whether for home or away games. I toss my drenched and stinky clothes in the laundry and hang my pads and stuff for the equipment manager to take care of.
“Hey, you wanna get dinner or something?” Tito and Zink call after me.
It might be nice to spend some time with the guys, get out of my own head, and hear their thoughts about today’s game.
But I say no.
I leave the locker room to head for the players’ door, and when I’m halfway down the cold hallway, I see Petal.
Damn if she isn’t adorable.
“Hey,” she says awkwardly, looking up at me.
I bend to kiss her cheek. You know, in case anyone’s watching.
I mean, isn’t that what you do with your wife?
Thankfully, she lets me, and actually leans into my kiss. I get a whiff of her scent, something spicy and rose-like. It’s unique. Like she is.
I like it.
“Did you have fun?” I ask.
She breaks into a huge grin. “It was crazy. So fast. It’s hard to keep track of the puck. And congrats on the win. So exciting.”
“Thank you. And once you understand the game better, the puck will be easier to follow. Your friends leave?”
