Page 59 of The Power Play

Collee doesn’t even respond, and I know he won’t. That’s not his style. Neither is fighting, really, but I know he stands up to others when he needs to, but he won’t hurl insults at anyone.

With the fighting penalty call, both players get five minutes, and we resume the game.

I stopped paying attention to the time, but I know we must be close to the end of the game, and I do not want to go into overtime. I take advantage of one of the Spartans losing control of the puck, stealing it for myself on a breakaway and racing toward their zone. They don’t have any defenders on me, and I use this to my advantage with a slap shot, sending the puck into the net.

The buzzer goes off signaling my goal and I’m pushed over slightly by the force of my teammates congratulating me. I look up at the clock to see we have less than ten seconds left. After winning the face off, we have control of the puck and drain the clock.

We won.

Because I gotthe game winning goal, I’m stuck doing post-game interviews yet again. At least this one is more upbeat than the one after we lost. But I still don’t want to be here. I want to leave and see Audrey. I’m trying not to seem too eager to end the interviews, but I’m sure the reporters notice.

As soon as they are done, I jump into the shower and wash myself quickly before getting back into my suit and head out toward the garage. In my attempt to make a hasty exit I almost miss the small group standing in the hallway. Fortunately for me, the gorgeous woman with black hair and glasses catches my attention. That’s when I notice she’s standing with Chandler, Dumont, Collee, and McQuaid.

“There he is, the MVP of the night,” Dumont announces proudly as I approach.

“What’s going on?” I ask, my eyes catching on Audrey’s, but she looks away. I can’t help my slight irritation at that.

“We promised Chandler we would go out for a win, but decided you should get to pick where,” Dumont says, drawing my attention back to him.

I shrug, “I don’t care, Chandler you can pick.”

“You sure?” she asks brightly.

I nod and look at Audrey again to see if she will look at me, but she won’t.

“Brightit is, let’s roll out!” Chandler exclaims, grabbing Audrey’s arm and pulling her along as she walks toward the garage like she knows the rest of us will follow her.

Of course, her boyfriends do. I, on the other hand, think about a way to try and get Audrey to ride with me instead. I jog ahead to catch up with everyone, but Chandler and Audrey moved quickly and are already climbing into Chandler’s car. I huff out my irritation but get into my car and head toward the club.

We all arrive around the same time and go inside together with Chandler and Audrey leading all of us with their arms linked together. I’m biding my time until I can get her alone and ask if something is wrong.

Immediately, we are led to the VIP area that is roped off and has tables surrounded by soft booths varying in color. I assume they are playing off the name because despite the low lighting in here, the colors of the booths are extremely bright.

There’s a bar over here that the girls go get drinks at immediately. I don’t plan on drinking more than a single beer since I’m driving. I think my teammates feel similarly, and there’s three of them that can drive Chandler home if she needs it. And I can drive Audrey home.

The girls join us at the table, Audrey is sitting on the other side of Chandler which is as far away from me as possible. My irritation kicks up a notch, especially when I lean over and open my mouth to say something. Before anything comes out, Audrey hops up and turns to Chandler.

“Let’s go dance,” she says to her friend.

Chandler apparently doesn’t need to be asked twice. She takes a big swallow from her drink, turns and kisses Collee who’s next to her on the cheek, before being pulled out of the VIP area onto the dance floor.

McQuaid is sitting next to me and also seems to also be annoyed for some reason.

“What’s your problem?” I ask him, hoping to distract myself.

“Chandler is fucking with me. What else is new.”

“Do I even want to know?”

I probably don’t.

He shrugs, “I told her I deserved a blowjob for the win, but she said I didn’t get a goal, so I don’t get to make demands like that.”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to know that. And definitely don’t want to know more.”

I go up to the bar to get my one beer, but as I turn around to see if I can find Audrey in the crowd, I do. And she’s not dancing with Chandler. My blood instantly boils at the guy that has his hands on her waist from behind while she moves her body against him.

Dumont has joined me at the bar, and notices where I’m looking. “Oh shit,” he mumbles, taking a sip from his beer before walking back to the table.

---