He growls, tilting his head to the side, knowing my words to him have brought him out of his self-doubting slumber and back to himself.
I nod to the door that Coach Josh is now standing at looking at Jax, "Coach is behind you, don’t let this pussy get you into trouble."
"Too fucking late."
I snort and he presses a quick kiss to my lips, "Enjoy the game, Angel."
I nod, "Love you Jax."
The smile on his face tells me how much those words coming from my mouth mean to him, "Love you too Angel."
He turns and walks into the locker room, and Josh gives me a nod, a nod I have received from Coaches, my father, Paul, my whole life.
The nod, of; it’s game time. I return it with my smile, and he disappears.
As I make my way back to the stands, emotions surface inside me causing tears to begin pooling in my eyes, not because I’m sad, but, because I’m happy. For once in a long time I feel so at peace, and in a way, I don’t know how, but I feel my dad here.
Blinking my eyes, taming the tears from fucking up my make-up, I get back out to the private section.
"You alright girl?" I meet Dax’s gaze on me, and I nod, "Yeah."
He wraps his arm around my shoulders, leaning down as he whispers in my ear, "Don’t worry about Jax. When he steps on that ice he’s a totally different person."
Dax, was close with Jax, still is, and I think he knows probably by reading my face, Jax is nervous, "I know, Dax."
The crowd begins to cheer as the lights go down and the guys start stepping out onto the ice, getting a little skate around and warm up. The ice is perfectly cleaned, shining brightly from the lights beating down on it.
The guys stand on the line, the crowd going wild as each of the first-string players get introduced. It fuels the energy they need, knowing they are on home ice. The crowd here for THEM; Like I said, it is an honor to be playing in these games, and they are intense.
The guys behind me as loud as they can be, Keri, Bree, beside me sharing this moment with me. Thank god, I have my girls to hang out with or I would be doing this with the team, and Paul, and my mother.
Taking a second to absorb this in, as I watch them all cheer, before I hear Jax’s name being called. I look out at him on the ice, jumping and cheering as loud as I can.
Finishing the announcement of players of both teams, the energy still filling the rink, everyone getting antsy ready for the game to begin. Jax skates up to the glass in front of us and meets my gaze as he chews on his mouth guard, I give him a nod before I make a heart with my hands.
He blows me a kiss and I giggle, before I see him look up at Paul. Knowing what Paul being here means to him, his father and his coach. Before he’s gone, skating off to center ice for the puck drop.
I look over at my brother, watching him scuff up the ice, like he always does. I step up to the glass, getting anxious, unable to sit down. Brayden steps beside me and Dax steps on the other side of me.
Jax faces off with Springfield, the team they are playing tonight, Sully off to his left, Wes off to his right, your forwards, and Tyler and Damon behind him as your defenseman.
It’s almost like it’s slow motion, but it’s not. The puck drops and Jax’s stick is on the puck, slapping it straight to Sully on his left. Wes works his way up the ice, and I haven’t gotten to see much of how they work with the team, but it’s a perfect play.
Sully sends the puck to Wes, Springfield just missing it, before Wes takes it in front of Jax, psyching Springfield, Wes let’s the puck slide between his legs, and Jax takes it from him, sending the puck to Sully who is wide open by Springfield's net.
Sully with one connection of his stick to the puck, he sends the puck straight into the net!
"WHOA YES!"
Keri and Bree wrap their arms around me as we jump up and down with our scream of our cheers. Dax and Brayden are up on the glass, hanging from it, screaming at the top of their lungs. The roar of the crowd and vibration in my feet from the celebration as I watch the guys celebrate on the ice, giving me chills, the adrenaline I’m feeling, they have to be feeling it a million times more; This is like a rush.
The plays continue, up and down the ice. I see the fight in them all, how hard they push their skates across the ice, slamming into walls with checks by players, or just plain not being able to stop.
Springfield gets a good play going, making their way to Koda, watching him get into his stance tighter, tracking the puck, anticipating the move that’s coming. Damon goes in to intercept the play, but Springfield make a move so swift, he gets around him and is in Koda’s front yard.
"Come on Koda."
Springfield takes his shot, Koda blocking it with his goalie pad, it bounces and before Koda can get a grasp on it, another Springfield player takes a shot, sending the puck right under Koda’s leg, "Damn it. They scored."