Page 94 of These Pucking Boys

“Are you all right, son?” he asks, and I guess he’s repeating the question.

“I’m not sure.”

He helps me get up, and—slowly—I skate to the bench and go straight to the dressing room to get checked by the medical staff.

The pain is less intense, but it’s still too much, and I can’t move my right arm. I need assistance getting out of my jersey and protective gear.

“On a scale of one to ten, how badly does it hurt?”

“Seven.” He touches my shoulder, and I wince. “Fuck. Eight or nine.”

“Yeah. You aren’t going back into the game tonight.”

Hell. I know that look on his face. It’s not only the rest of this game I’m missing. I’ll be benched for the foreseeable future.

JUNE

I let out a loud gasp and jump from my seat when Ryan goes down. “Oh my God.”

“Ouch. That was a hard one,” Maya chimes in.

“There goes my man,” Wendy says with a smile when her husband shoves the Lions player back, then throws a punch.

I don’t know how she can be amused when Ryan is still down, and we don’t know how badly hurt he is. The Lions guy locks Malcolm in a tight grip and punches his middle a few times. It’s clear to me who’s winning that fight. Wendy’s smug grin turns into a grimace. I should feel bad about it, but I don’t. I like most people, but when I don’t vibe with someone, I really don’t.

“Ryan’s getting up now,” Fiona pipes up.

The crowd claps, but I remain frozen like a statue as I watch Ryan skate toward the bench with his chin dipped low. I can’t see his face thanks to the helmet, and I hope he’s not in too much pain.

“Jesus, now everyone wants to fight.” Maya takes a large sip of her drink.

I spot her husband in the scrum, throwing punches, and I wonder how she can remain so calm. I hated seeing Jake get sucker punched the other night, and now I’m consumed with worry about Ryan. Maybe I’m not cut out to date hockey players.

“They need to eject that Lions brute,” Wendy seethes.

The referees finally manage to separate her husband from the Lions’ D-man, but they still trade insults. It takes another minute before all the fights end, and then the referee goes to the middle of the ice to dole out penalties.

Surprisingly, Kaminski doesn’t get one, but Malcolm does for roughing.

“That’s fucking bullshit!” Wendy shouts.

“As hard it was to watch, it was a clean hit,” Fiona replies.

Wendy whips her face to her. “Shut up, Fiona. No one asked you.”

Fiona arches her brows. “Jesus, take a chill pill.”

Wendy gives her another scathing glance before exiting the row.

“You shouldn’t have said anything,” Maya chimes in. “You know how Wendy gets when her man doesn’t win a fight.”

“It’s hard to watch though,” I say, remembering how angry I got about Jake’s fight in the last game.

“You’ll get used to it.” Fiona shrugs. “The boys love it.”

“I’m not sure I’ll come to a lot of games.”

Both look at me as if I spoke sacrilege. “If you and Jake decide to be more than friends, you have to be here.”

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