Page 252 of Waiting Game

Happy - Pharrell Williams

When the puck drops,my adrenaline surges.

I’ve always loved my job, but since Mia and I started dating, something’s shifted inside me.

It’s as if my happiness is amplifying everything that I love doing.

And what makes this rock all the harder?

My girl’s in the friends and family box, an actual PAL, cheering along as she wearsmynumber and shestillsent me porn with an ‘xo’ before the game.

Could life get any fucking better?

Wait, it could—Hanna, Fryd, and Ollie are still in NYC after helping Matt with his move. All four of them are sitting behind our bench.

I’m floating on cloud 9, I swear.

Like she’s a magnet, I take note of that one ‘fan’ in the crowd who attends every game in the opposing team’s jersey but I won’t let her fuck with our mojo.

When Gagné trips a forward, I watch as the linesman sends him to the sin bin. There are some boos and hisses in the stands, but he shrugs as he skates over to the penalty box.

Liam lines up for the face off, snatches the puck, and slices it toward Lewis who’s promptly surrounded by a couple Lumberjacks. Feeling the hit coming, he spots me in front of the crease, allowing me to one-time it between the goalie’s legs.

After Lewis wins the face-off at the start of the second period, McIsaac intercepts the puck and passes it to Liam, who’s waiting by the blue line, ready to lead us into the Lumberjacks’ zone. I fly in and rush to position myself as a screen in front of their goalie. Liam takes a shot and with my stick, I tip it into the net.

Talk about being in the right place at the right time.

That’s when a song blares on the speakers and I grin as I high-five Liam and Lewis, who converge on me to celebrate.

I may or may not do a little boogie to the beat of the song, which has Liam shoving me away with a laugh and Lewis grinning at me.

We line up for face-off at center ice, and this time, it’s like I can do no fucking wrong.

The puck and I seem to be in silent agreement that it needs to remain glued to my stick until I decide to shoot it into the goal.

As “Happy” by Pharrell Williams continues to play after I score, I wink at the Lumberjacks’ forward as the puck drops, not about to be disheartened by his dour mood. Especially as the rest of the game goes our way too.

Somehow, it’s only fitting that Lewis, Liam, and I are the three stars. Because I rocked the most tonight, I skate on first, laughing when “Happy” blares on again.

Giving the crowd a show, as I move over to the boards to hand my stick to one of the kids in the audience, Liam skates on next, followed by Lewis.

Once Lewis has passed out his stick, I skate toward center ice and beckon them over.

Liam, accustomed to my antics, rolls his eyes at me but traipses onward. Lewis shrugs and does the same.

As soon as we’re all together, it’s like it’s freakin’ fate.

The chorus hits.

I spin.

Laughing, Lewis spins with me, calling out, “Liam! Come on, bro, you gotta join in!”

Liam, grumbling under his breath, does as well.

All three of us turning pirouettes on the ice has the crowd cheering like lunatics, and ten thousand cameras flash in response.

Cole: Hey

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