Page 133 of Becoming Selfish

Once again, I can’t believe that man is mine.

When I look back for Marc and Ali, I find quite a few fan’s eyes on me. I still don’t love the attention, but I also don’t know if I care all that much anymore.

Ali waves me over to our seats, which are right up on the glass, directly behind the Minnesota bench.

“Holy shit! These seats.” I turn to Marc, settling in between my two friends.

“Right? The players get to pick their families’ seats for the season, and Eli always gets first choice,” Marc informs me. “He usually just gets three for my parents and me, but he made sure to reserve a fourth for you this year.”

My heart does that flutter thing from Marc’s words as he explains why the seat next to Ali is unoccupied today.

“How is Michigan State?” I ask.

“They’re good, but we should still win this one.”

I did a little research this week about Eli’s conference. Minnesota is really the best among them, with Ohio State coming in at a close second. Minnesota should be able to make it through the league without too much trouble from the other teams.

“Go get ‘em, EJ!” Marc yells through the glass.

“Let’s go, babe!” I project as Eli skates away from the bench to the center of the rink for the opening face-off.

“Sports!” Ali chimes in.

About halfway through the first period, Eli scores, making it 1-0 in Minnesota’s favor. It’s a beautiful shorthanded goal, and the crowd erupts when the puck hits the back of the net. The cheers for my boyfriend radiate throughout the arena as Eli skates by the bench, giving fist bumps to his teammates.

“Nice goal, thirteen!” Marc yells to his brother as Eli takes a seat on the bench directly in front of us.

Eli doesn’t turn around, understandably so, but he holds up a single index finger so that I can see through the glass, making me laugh.

“What’s that about?” Ali asks, nodding in Eli’s direction.

“Eli promised me some goals, so he’s keeping track apparently.” I try to hold back my amused smile.

“How many is he going for?” Marc asks.

“Three.” A laugh slips from my lips.

Marc can’t help but join in. “That arrogant asshole. He promised you a hat trick?”

“You don’t think he will do it?” To be honest, a hat trick is a little insane to promise. One goal, I get it. Two, okay, maybe because he’s Eli, but three? That’s a big ask.

“Oh, no. He will do it,” Marc states. “The guy is nothing if not determined.”

Eli’s second goal comes just minutes later when a shot from the blue line bounces off the Michigan State goalie, and Eli is there to clean up the rebound, tucking the puck into the back of the net. When he makes his way back to the bench, he once again keeps his back to us as he holds up two fingers, reminding me that he’s only one goal away from his promise of a hat trick.

Marc, Ali, and I can’t help but laugh. Honestly, this game between Eli and me is almost more entertaining than the actual hockey game going on right now.

In the second period, Eli goes scoreless. Though, his team is up 3-1 already. During the third period, Eli takes every opportunity he has to score. He hits the goal post twice, plus the goalie has a fantastic save against him.

I can tell that Eli is starting to get frustrated as time is beginning to wind down on the clock. He really doesn’t have to score, his team is up 4-2 at this point, but Eli is determined to get the hat trick he promised.

“It’s not gonna happen,” Ali says as the game clock continues to wind down.

With just under three minutes left, Eli has a one-on-one breakaway and gets tangled up with a Michigan State defenseman. The player in green falls to the ice as Eli shoots towards the empty net. Michigan has already pulled their goalie, hoping to have a man advantage on offense, but before the puck slides into the vacant goal, the referee blows the whistle and calls a penalty.

“Tripping. Number thirteen. Minnesota,” the referee clearly states as he ushers Eli to the penalty box to serve the two-minute sentence.

“Bullshit!” Marc yells as he stands from his seat.

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