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“YES!” I scream and punch my fists and stick into the air.
The buzzer sounds, the lamp lights, and my team crashes into me.
“Nice fucking shot!” Burnsy screams.
“That one’s gotta hurt his ego.” Kos laughs.
Those kinds of goals are some of a goalie’s least favorite because when they watch them back, they see that they slowed the puck down, but not enough, and it slowly drifts in behind them.
“Fuck yeah!” I shout and bump gloves with our bench as we celebrate the goal.
The arena is blaring loud, and there is almost no feeling in the world that compares to that. As a defender, I don’t find goals often, and when I do, it’s usually on a deflection of someone else’s shot, which still counts and definitely still takes skill. But it’s not the same as just sinking a puck by yourself.
Costy ends up getting an empty net goal at the end of the period, stretching our score from three to four against their zero. Another win for the books.
I promised Abby that I would finally teach her how to drive the side-by-side, and today is the day I’ll finally do it. She was so excited at her party when she saw it. It made keeping it a secret all that much better, just to get that moment.
I shoot Abby a text as I park along the curb outside of my mom’s house.
Me: I’m here! Let’s do this!
In the blink of an eye, the front door flies open, and Abby rushes outside before I’m even out of my pickup.
“Reed!” she cheers and rushes down the driveway. “Finally!”
“Hey! I’ve been busy!” I tease her. “But I’m here now.”
She eyes me scoldingly. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, get that bad boy off of there.”
I brought it over for her on a trailer I’d borrowed from one of my teammates. It’s been chilling in the private parking garage at the arena since the party.
“All right, all right.” I laugh and walk over to the trailer and drop the ramp to the ground.
“Are you excited?” I ask her as I walk up to the vehicle, open the door, and slide into the driver’s seat.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” she cheers.
I start the engine and drive it down the ramp and onto the pavement, pulling the glittery hot-pink vehicle into the driveway.
Abby charges the car and opens the passenger side. “Can we go for a ride first?”
She scoots over and sits as close to me as she can, and my heart fucking bursts at the love I have for her.
“Of course we can, Abbs.”
She is beaming as I back the side-by-side out of the driveway and onto the street. These vehicles are not permitted on highways; however, they are permitted on residential streets like this one.
“Did you have a good birthday?” I ask her as I slowly drive us down the street.
She might be itching to get behind the wheel, and I’m excited to teach her. But I’m also excited to just get to be her big brother, driving her around like I used to do when I lived with them.
“Yes. It was perfect. Thank you for making it so special,” she says and leans against my shoulder. “I love you, Reed.”
Carefully leaning my head against hers, I say, “I love you too, Abbs.”
After taking Abby on a thirty-minute drive around the neighborhood, I show her the basics of how to drive it. She has her learner’s permit and has driven with my mom in her car multiple times, so I knew that this wasn’t going to be too hard of a lesson. I playfully tell her that she might need my help again, and she brushes me off. I then ask if she’d be willing to go on a movie date with her big brother soon, and she delightfully agrees.
As I walk into my house, I’m desperate for my bed. My body could use some ice, but I’m going to wait until tomorrow and do an ice bath. Nothing sounds better than curling up under the covers and passing out.
