Page 11 of Sin Bin Bully

Her eyes narrow and she steps closer to me. “Are you doing drugs, Sam? Is that what’s going on?”

I raise my voice, unable to help myself. “Mom, enough. I’m fucking fine, and I don’t need you in my house questioning me. Nothing is going on. I missed a party, so what? I’m not obligated to be anywhere.”

Her lips smash into a thin line. She gives a small nod, the same one I’ve seen directed at me a thousand times. I knowexactly what it means. I’ve hurt her feelings, and she’ll be expecting a very heartfelt apology.

Without another word, she spins on her heels and walks back down the hall towards the elevator. Her reflection shines on the marble floor, and I wait until I hear the ding of the elevator as the door closes before heading down the hall.

I enter the breakfast nook at the opposite end, eyeing the coffee machine. I’m usually not a coffee drinker, it fucks with my focus during practice. But seeing as how I don’t have practice, a shot of espresso sounds amazing.

Once the machine is done making it, I down the shot. I walk out of the room, heading to the elevator next. I’m sure my mom is long gone by now, which means it’s safe to head to my basement gym.

By the time I reach my home gym, my mind is already back on Kim. In my head, I see the way her body moves as she skates across the ice. The way she flips her hair and runs her hands along her body as she dances. Most of my teammates use intermission time to rest or refuel, but I stay near the ice, watching her perform.

My obsession hasn’t affected how I play, surprisingly enough. If anything, I think I play even better, especially when I notice her watching.

After a grueling set of weightlifting, I toss the barbell to the ground and grab a bottle of water from the nearby fridge. A plan starts forming in my head as I chug the entire bottle.

I know what I need to do. I think I’ve known it for a while, but now I’m ready to actually see it through.

More like, I can’t wait any longer.

But the playoff games are nearly over. The Stanley Cup finals start this week.

And Kim will be mine after we win the Cup next week. Whether she wants to be or not.

6

KIM

Kim

There’s a certain kind of energy in the air today, and I can’t explain it. All of us are practically buzzing. It’s almost hard to focus on our dance routine.

It’s our last practice before the next Stanley Cup Finals game- what I think will be the final game of the season. It’ll be the fifth game of the series, but with the Wolverines up three to one, I think everyone knows it’ll be the last. And it’s taking place here, at the Capital One arena, which I think is contributing to the excitement we’re all feeling.

In twenty-four hours, it’ll probably all be over. I don’t think that’s fully settled in yet. It’s just a job, and it didn’t even really pay that well. But it was more than that for me. I stepped out of my comfort zone and made a lot of new friends, ones that I think will last a long time.

And who knows, maybe I’ll be invited back for next season. So maybe it isn’t really the end after all. I’m lucky hockey season runs so long as it is.

The music cuts off and we all stop moving. Natasha’s voice rings out across the rink.

“Okay ladies, we need to focus! This is our most complicated routine yet, and we need to execute it perfectly! Tomorrow is going to be a huge night, and we can’t have any mistakes happen. Let’s show our boys how much we support them!”

The music starts up again, and we continue the routine. I do my best to keep my brain focused on this one thing. To think about each move, each flip, each twirl. It takes every ounce of willpower I have, but I do it.

When the song ends, Natasha claps. “Okay, again!”

She’s making us practice more than usual, which leads me to think that she’s nervous. It’s starting to make me nervous too. We’ve gone the entire season without any major fuck ups during any of the games, but what if we actually mess this up?

As I sweep across the ice, landing perfectly after a double spin, my eyes find their way to the doorway where he usually stands. I’m shocked when I don’t see him. Instead, I see another player nearby.

Odd.

Matthew has never watched us during practice before, at least not that I’ve seen. And Sam is here almost every time, at least for a few minutes.

After a few more times, Natasha finally lets us rest.

“I’ll see all of you tomorrow bright and early, we’ll be helping with set up for the game. I suggest you all get a good night’s sleep and eat lots of protein. You’re going to need your energy; it’s going to be a long one.”

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