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Our mascot, the Ice Phoenix that Willow had emblazoned across the back of her sweatshirt, danced in front of us, riling the crowd in a warm up act I’d seen several dozen times before.
I made my way past my guys, tapping a helmet here, a quick word there until I hit the other end of the line and stopped next to Coach.Raising my attention from my team, I scoured the crowd for where Jason might have seated Willow.It took a minute, but she was there, in a decent seat across the ice from us.Her gaze was fixed on me, and she gave a tiny wave.
I grinned back at her, and swung around, nearly decapitating Gage and Coach.
When the latter glared up at me, his gaze had muddied.“We’ll talk after the match, Crush,” he muttered.“You’ll tell me everything.Now fucking focus.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Stop kissing my ass, Captain.Get out there and show them how to play hockey.”
I turned to my team and was met with a bunch of smarmy, shit-eating grins.One look at where Willow sat told me everything I needed to know, and I wanted to wipe the grins off all their faces.
After the game, maybe.
The usual energy I reserved for game day lit deep within me, adrenaline already coursing through me in a preemptive response that had been trained into me over years of games.
“The King decided to turn up after all!”Abner Brooks-Caulfield yelled from behind me in his Ice Phoenix costume to thump my shoulder pads.
“It’s Emperor, fuckwit.Get off the ice so we can play.”The ribbing was good natured, and Abner had the most passive nature of anyone I’d ever met.
“Go round up some girls for us, Letterman!”Someone else shouted from the reserve ranks.
I fixed the caller with a hard stare.“Mind on the game.Find your own pussy afterwards.No body wants a fucking loser.”
“Seriously?”Gage glanced over my shoulder, and his head swung back to me so fast, he became a blur that cramped my empty stomach.“You’re fucking around with a girl in the middle of the season?Right before a game?”
“Yeah, I fucked around with a girl after some asshole beat me over the head and dumped me in his trunk then left me in the middle of the fucking desert.That girl?She’s the one who brought me back.”I jammed my helmet on my head more securely and checked my gloves.“Now let’s go play some hockey.I need to hit something.”
Littleton played hard and fast from the start.It felt damn good to get moving again after being so cramped in such a tiny space for so long.The game raced by me in a blur of passing and scoring, finding their weaknesses.By the time we were in the third period, my need to move had greatly worn off.My energy depleting fast, I channeled everything I had into finishing the game on a win for the team, and to hold up my end of the bargain as both center and captain.I pushed this morning far from my mind, and focused on getting that asshole of a puck across the ice and into the net.
Early on in the game my right defence, Rafe Pereira, had pointed out a few weaknesses in their wings.Their unpracticed passes left big gaps that were perfect for interceptions.
Rafe had a damn good eye for strategy, and I’d be as lost without him as I would be without Gage.The three of us formed the main body for boosting morale, and keeping the team motivated.
We’d attempted to capitalize on his observation for the first two periods, but someone or something always got in our way.Finally he managed.The moment Rafe made his second interception and passed the puck to me was the moment Littleton recognized their own weakness.They closed in around me, blocking me off from my wings and defenders.
I pushed through the mess of players with little headway.The puck got lost between their feet, and I was stuck.
The trash talk started, but I ignored most of it, prodding uselessly between blades for the damn puck.I wondered why the ref hadn’t called it, but the whole thing had probably taken less than three seconds.
My head ached, reminding me that I hadn't eaten for the day.Shit.The clock read only a few minutes left in the game, and I needed to focus to get through to the end.
I finally got my stick to the puck properly and passed it across to my left wing who took off with it.Half of Littleton darted after him, but two players stayed on me.I swerved, testing as much as I could to get around them but couldn’t make enough room to build up speed.
“Don’t have enough room to breathe, Crush?”one sneered.
I ignored him, and tried the other side, but my moment of pause had dropped my energy off and I struggled to regain my momentum.I glanced over at Rafe for help, but his attention was focused on Gage where he protected our goal.Which was exactly where his attention should be.I doubled my efforts, dredging energy as I dug deep, but the Littleton’s defender grabbed mine with his next words.
“Or you prefer sucking in a little tailpipe, huh?Get that exhaust into you.”An ugly mug sneered at me through the opposing defender’s helmet.
I opened my mouth to reply but his words conjured the carbon monoxide cloud that had swamped my morning in a toxic haze.My head throbbed and the two Littleton players sparkled at the edges, like fucking vampires.Weren’t they meant to sparkle these days?
I’d dropped halfway to the ice before my eyes registered that I was falling.
