Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 116231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
I toss a puck over the glass and see Nora get it, and then I skate off the ice. I should be able to shut it off. I should be able to come out here and do my fucking job. After warmups, the minute I skate back onto the ice, I go to center ice and look at the guy in front of me. “Hey.” He motions with his chin and I do the same. I avoid looking up into the suite, where I know they are watching, instead I get down and look over at the referee, who holds the puck in his hand.
“Nothing better than Saturday night hockey,” he says. “Let’s keep it clean.”
He drops the puck and my stick comes out to knock it back, but I lose the face-off and have to follow them into the zone. I feel like I’m two seconds behind everyone in every single play. After the first period, Kirby sits beside me. “Head in the game.”
“Fuck off,” I tell him and he just gets up and walks back to his seat. We start the third period trailing two to one.
I’m on the bench watching the game but not watching the game. Frustrated with myself that I can’t get my fucking mind off her. Coach calls my name for my line, and I get up, swing over the bench, and get onto the ice. Kirby takes the puck and passes it to Lane, who skates down the middle. I skate with him and the whistle blows as soon as he skates into the zone. The side referee points to me and says, “Offside.”
I put my head back as Lane swears at me, “What the fuck is up with you?”
I shake my head, going to the side for the face-off. I’m zero for five tonight and it’s safe to say this is going to be the worst game I’ve ever played. We backtrack to our zone and I follow behind, waiting at the blue line for them to pass me the puck. Kirby tries to clear the puck but I’m too slow to intercept it, and the guy takes a shot on the net. Luckily, it’s saved and the play is dead.
We do a line change and when there are three minutes to go, we pull the goalie and Coach taps my shoulder, and I get on there so we can play six on five. I skate into the zone, my eyes on the puck. I move to the net, watching Kirby pass the puck to Jaxon and then pass it again. Jaxon shoots the puck and I watch it bounce off the goalie’s pad and I put my stick down and try to tip it in. The goalie puts his glove over the puck, but I give him two more shots with my stick. The defenseman on the other team pushes me away from him, and I don’t even know what comes over me. I push him back and then move my hand back to punch him in the face. The whistle blows three times, and the referees now come over to try and break up the skirmish that is happening in front of the net. Jaxon is pushing me away from the guys while Kirby is standing, making sure no one comes for me.
The referee goes to the middle of the ice. “Number six” he says my name, “two minutes for roughing.” I shake my head and head to the penalty box, slamming the door and sitting down. I look up and see there are two minutes and forty seconds left. I take off my gloves, placing them on the side as I watch my team go out there and play five on four. Now that the goalie is back in the net.
It takes the other team forty-five seconds before they score the goal, and I grab my gloves and skate out of the box, past the celebration of the other team and straight to the bench. I don’t even bother sitting, I just head to the back, where I whip my stick against the wall. No one says a word in the locker room. No one fucking needs to, I know I let my whole fucking team down. I get dressed and head up to the suite, my heart beating faster when I know I’m going to see her.
I open the door and step in, my eyes doing a sweep of the room and spotting my kids with Tessa on the side of the room. “Daddy,” Nora says, coming over to me, “you went into the bad boy box,” I nod at her, “and then you lost.”
“I did,” I say, looking around again. Spotting Lexi in the corner with Ariella, I know if Kylie were here that is where she would be. “Let’s get out of here,” I urge, my heart broken yet again.