Page 109 of Forever Player

Her mom leans forward from a few seats away, “That’s a terrible habit. Don’t start now.” She’s talking about the nail-biting, and she seems cool as a cucumber.

“Kaleb really wants this win,” she explains, and her leg begins to bounce.

“They’re going to kick ass,” Rebel declares and then she looks over at her son, Liam, I’m thinking to make sure he didn’t hear her say the word ass.

“Brett wants this badly too. He only plans on playing a few more years,” I share, feeling nerves swirling in my stomach. Brett was home last night but he had trouble falling asleep. He was thinking hard about the game, even after we had sex he still wasn’t settled.

We stand for the anthems since it is the Montreal Mohawks that made the finals. The puck drops. Wolfe, the team captain , is up for face-off. Liam and Evan are the wingers. Brett’s defensive line is also up. Connor is the goaltender. The buzzing energy in the arena is felt around us as Wolfe shoots the puck to the other side of the ice. The guys take off skating their asses off. A guy from the other team steals the puck from Evan and swoops around the back of the net where he is met with Liam, who steals the puck away and shoots straight into the bottom corner of the net.

It’s only a minute into the game and everyone is pumped. We all stand and cheer. The kids do to and it’s completely adorable because they made signs.

“Callie is getting antsy already. She doesn’t like to be on the arms for too long,” Patty says as we sit back down.

“Neither does Maylee. She doesn’t even want to crawl anymore. She uses the furniture to stand and then walks along holding on.”

“We’re going to have to start baby proofing everything,” Patty says.

I agree and we go back to watching the game.

The other team has the puck close to our net. Brett moves in and blocks one of the other team’s players and the guy shoots the puck to his buddy. The game moves fast and one of the players from the other team shoots to the net, but Connor blocks the shot. He’s been doing amazing this season. Ellie keeps boasting about his crazy stats.

She stands and begins to shout, “You go baby.” Syd stands beside her and begins to shout too.

“Love you, Daddy.” The guys can’t hear obviously, but Connor looks their way and even with all that gear on him, you can see a ghost of a smile in his eyes.

The first period goes whirring by. Both sides shoot on each other, but the shots get blocked by the goalies. During intermission we all run for a bathroom break and I ask Jacob to hold Maylee.

When we return its exactly time for puck drop. This time the coach has Evan on face-off. Evan shoots the puck across the ice and we all sit and watch intently as the guys move crazy fast.

A guy swipes his stick between Liam’s legs, and he falls. Skylar winces and stands with her palms coming together in front of her mouth. When Liam stands right away, she takes a breath. Hockey is a contact sport, and it’s scary to think about one of the guys getting hurt. They all suffer minor injuries during the season, but it’s scary to think of something more serious happening.

The player from the other team gets two minutes in the penalty box and Liam seems to be doing okay as the game starts up again. Brett moves in on a guy and blocks a pass. Then he shoots the puck across the ice to the other team’s net, where Matt sweeps in and takes the puck around the net. He’s met with a guy trying to steal the puck when Brett sweeps in to help him. Brett manages to get the puck and he’s so close to the net, I wonder if he is going to take the shot himself. A player from the other team moves in and tries to steal the puck away as Brett slaps the puck and it shoots under the goalie. It still isn’t clear if it’s a goal because the goalie has his knees locked and he’s kneeling on the ice. When he stands it is evident the shot wasn’t blocked and the crowd goes crazy.

“He’s one hell of a cocky bastard,” Jacob says, leaning forward and looking at me with a grin.

“True, but Brett is amazing, and he told me at home he’s going to try and score a goal for me.” I bat my lashes.

Brett lifts his stick over his head as the guys quickly hug each other. Then he is pointing to me. I know what he means. That shot was for me.

The score is two to zero as we enter the third period. The guys are doing well but anything can change at any time. The fourth line is starting and we are all on the edge of our seats. If we can prevent the other team from scoring in the next twenty minutes, the guys will be Stanley Cup champions. For some it won’t be a first but it is still such a crazy accomplishment. When I think about Brett’s stories of how hard he worked to make it this far, I realize the man is truly relentless. When he wants something, he doesn’t give up, and I am so grateful he didn’t give up on me and my insecurities.

One of the guys is checked into the boards and the ref doesn’t call a penalty. Another player is tripped, and one of our guys ends up in the penalty box. With one player down, the other team scores on us.

“Shit. I really hope this isn’t going to go south,” Patty says. Her husband is a player and her dad is the head coach of the team, so she is very invested right now. “My stomach is turning.”

“Mine is too,” I admit.

“Don’t get down now, ladies. The guys can still win this,” Rebel says full of enthusiasm.

Maylee grows frustrated in my arms so I stand and use her hand to pat the plexiglass, hoping it will be a distraction to her.

The guys are switched out, the game is moving fast. A player from Montreal gets close to our net. Connor is moving fast, bracing for the shot. When the guy gets the puck in the top corner and the puck goes in, the crowd begins to boo.

“Shit,” I hiss. The game is now tied.

“This fucking sucks,” Skylar says.

Crew looks at her with wide eyes and says, “Mom” with a berating tone.

---