AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ishir could feel his face light up in a smile. He was come-dumb and dopey. “Yeah?”
“Yeah, Zammy. You can go to sleep.”
Ishir nodded. He kicked the sheets towards the foot of the bed and got under them, not caring about the mess.
Ishir squinted at him. “Get the light, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Slowly, Zee lifted his hand until just the tips of his fingers rested on Ishir’s forehead, the gentlest of touches.
Ishir closed his eyes and let sleep take him.
CHAPTER SIX
The home crowd was especially loud that night. It boomed around the arena, people with painted faces and signs.
It was the last game of the calendar year, and everybody wanted to go out with a win.
Ishir squeezed water over his hair during the ad break, slicking it back and putting his helmet on. He had already sweat through his underlayers, every shift brutal.
The Salem Ghosts, despite being at the bottom of the standings, had not come to play.
Petey had let a goal slip by in the first five minutes, but he had been locked in ever since, giving the rest of them a chance to do their thing. So far, they’d only managed to tie the game while being out-shot nineteen to fifteen at the beginning of the third.
“First line, you’re taking the face-off. Zee, Zam, you’re on.”
Ishir nodded, skating slowly to the circle.
They all got into position, Orion facing one of the Ghosts, managing to scrape the puck behind him, and Corona picked it up.
They were off.
Ishir tried to always know where Zee was. Tried to play according to his position, manoeuvring himself to be able to pass or receive the puck. That was why he had the perfect view of one of the Ghosts sticking his leg out as Zee raced passed, knocking his knee into Zee’s.
The hit was vicious, spinning Zee and leaving him on his back with a shout.
Ishir didn’t even think, just flung his stick and gloves aside and jumped on the motherfucker, shaking him violently as they exchanged punches. He managed to knock the guy’s helmet off and land a few good ones before the linesman pulled them apart.
“You fucking piece of shit,” Ishir snarled at him. “Can’t even score so you injure us, you waste of space?”
The other player, Stevenson, he recognised now, sneered. “I didn’t do shit.”
Ishir lunged for him again, but he was kept away, herded to one of the penalty boxes instead.
“Wait,” he pleaded. “Let me check on Zee. Just a sec.”
The linesman let him go for a moment, but Zee was already being helped off the ice by Orion and Corona.
“Zee,” Ishir called weakly.
Zee turned his head to give him a wobbly smile. “I’m fine. Score a goal for me,” he said, but Ishir could see the pain on his face.
Ishir let himself be taken to the sin bin, sitting and stewing there for the five-minute roughing penalty. Stevenson had gotten a game misconduct, but Ishir was still out for blood.
The game turned downright nasty. Ishir didn’t score a goal, but he managed two assists and a win, and he counted that as enough.
He went straight to the medic room as soon as he left the ice.
