When we get to the dot at center ice, Danton has me draw in.
“Oh no,” I say. “Face offs are Ryan’s job. I’m no good at these.”I look at O’Shea, and he shakes his head, indicating he doesn’t want to take the draw either.
Danton places his hand on my helmet. “Quit worrying so much. It’s just a face off. You’ve got this.”
I look and see Connor Kennedy standing there, ready to take the draw for the Blizzards.
“Just toss the puck to him. Why even bother putting me in there?”
“Because it’s your boyfriend who’s down the tunnel right now. Give him some hope that we can win this thing without him and take the goddamn face off, Baby.” He lets go of me and pushes me forward. “Besides, if you lose, it’s fine. Then you don’t have to worry about Gavin hip checking you into next season.”
I glare at him. “Are you always this optimistic?”
“You know this. Yes.”
“Hey, Brandon!” Connor says when I crouch down to face him. “Isn’t this fun!”
“Is it?” I ask. “Because I gotta be honest with you, my blood pressure is through the roof right now, and I still have a giant bruise on my ass from your boyfriend.”
“There’s no need to make it sound dirty,” Connor says.
I shake my head at him. “You two are insufferable. Do you know that?”
He shrugs then resets his stick. “It’s been mentioned.”
The puck drops and as I predicted, Connor wins the face off. He sends the puck out of the scrum right towards Gavin as my brother abandons their net to bring in the extra attacker.
Danton makes a run for him and slams his shoulder into Gavin’s side. Gavin barely registers it, and Danton is bounced to the ground. He gets up and starts skating towards Gavin again, who passes the puck to Tavish. I’m close enough to him that I can get to him first. With speed, I barrel into Tavish and press him against the glass. We begin to battle for the puck against the boards.
“Oh shit!” I hear Gavin cackle. “Baby Bouchard has some fight in him!”
Within seconds he’s joined us and now it’s a two-on-one battle.
But they’ve never had to do this with me. And while I may be small and not built for this kind of punishment, I am quick and able to squirm out and away from their pressure. I get my stick on the puck and send it out away from the boards, hoping one of my teammates was able to grab it. I then slip out from between Tavish and Gavin’s bodies.
Once free, I’m pleased to see that O’Shea has the puck. He’s skating as fast as he can with it towards the Blizzards’ end of the ice. He winds up his shot and sends it right into the empty net. The goal horn blares and there we have it. Back to a two-goal lead. This game is ours.
Ryan
“How bad is it?” Brandon bursts into the room to find me sitting on one of the med tables in the athletic trainers’ room.
Wincing, as it still hurts to breathe, I say, “It looks worse than it was.”
“You’re lying.” He comes over and stares at my side. But there’s nothing for him to see. The team doctor had me wrapped up and taped as soon as I got all my gear off.
“Really, it’s not that bad.” I reach for my shirt nearby and attempt to put it on. But I can barely get my arms over my head without having my breath stolen by a sharp pain. Settling myself, I breathe through it, then look back at him. “It’s the playoffs. It’s fine.”
The trainer comes over and hums his agreement as he hands Ryan two pills he’s poured out of a giant bottle of extra-strength ibuprofen.
“He’ll be fine,” the trainer says. “We did X-rays. There’s no broken ribs, just a deepbruise.”
“Are you going to play like that?” Brandon asks, looking like he’s on the verge of panic.
“Of course,” I tell him, feeling warmth run through me as I witness his concern. It makes my throat tight. “Like I said, it’s the playoffs. If this was the regular season, I’d maybe take a few games off. But now? No chance. I’m a Mule and there is no way I am not going to be a part of this over something as trivial as some bruised ribs.”
Brandon
I never should have doubted him. Two days later, in front of our packed stadium, with the home crowd practically blowing the roof off of this place with their cheering, Ryan scores the game-winning goal in overtime.
