Page 75 of One Timer With A Wingman

“How adorable, all of you dating hockey players. I see you helped your friend out too,” I turn around to the source of the comment to see it’s Scarlett..

“Scarlett, what is your problem?”Annie bites. Scarlett is Cade Price’s ex. The girl that cheated on him in public. She seems like a real bitch.

The girl beside Scarlett whispers something.

“Cade wanted a baby with me and Aaron is probably destroyed over the news.” Scarlett points to my belly.

Again, Annie turns to the side, ready to pounce, but Ruby and Charlie encourage her to keep her cool and ignore the girls. They are clearly puck bunnies.

The guys are having a bad night. We are only in the first period and they’ve had two goals scored on them. Luc isn’t goalie tonight. It’s someone else and things aren’t going well for the guys.

Since the arena is filled with students rooting for Riverside, there is a lot of booing going on. A guy from the other team stick-checked one of our guys and apparently the ref didn’t call it. At least that’s what Charlie is muttering. By the start of second period, it feels like there is a shift in the air. Our team shoots the puck across the ice at face-off. Aaron and Cade have a shift, and they are skating around the Michigan guys, shooting the puck back and forth between them and Finn. Aaron makes a pass to Finn just in time for him to score. The crowd cheers and so do I. It’s easy to like hockey. I get the appeal.

“Oh, that’s the girl I was telling you about. The one who got knocked up,” I hear a girl say a row behind us.

Annie side-eyes me. “Ignore them. They’re just jealous,” she whispers.

“It’s kind of hard.” I’m not the type of person to sit back and take being bullied. “I’m going to the restroom. I need a drink. Do you want something?” I ask my friends.

“I’m good.” Annie answers and Ruby and Charlie shake their heads.

I head out to the bathroom and then to the concession stand. I get an extra-large Sprite.

When I get back, the girls tell me Hayden scored another goal, so now the score is three to two for us.

Aaron is on the ice. Everything is moving fast as Aaron skates around the back of Michigan’s net; he gets hold of the puck. A skater from Michigan cuts him off just as he’s about to make the goal. The guys are fighting over the puck like crazy. Suddenly the player is pulling on Aaron’s jersey.

Aaron is fighting back.

“What is going on?” I ask Annie since she is beside me.

She shrugs. “Looks like the guy said something to Aaron. He cross-checked him and now they’re brawling. It happens on occasion.”

She makes it seem like no big deal, but Aaron swings at the guy and punches him in the face. He’s got a helmet on but his head still whips to the right.

The referee calls a penalty on both of them. They end up in the sin bin. Aaron looks pissed. I’ve watched him play hockey before. I’ve never seen him this stirred up.

The third period goes by without any more goals, so when the buzzer goes off there are huge cheers from Riverside. They win the game, but Aaron seems off.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX

Aaron

“Tell us what happened out there tonight with Daniko,” the lady interviewing me after the game asks.

“It was nothing. He was running his mouth. A lot of players use that tactic to get a negative response.” I grin.

Over the years I’ve learned how to answer media questions. They love juicy gossip. I don’t plan on feeding them any about myself. Fucking Daniko said he heard I got a hot gymnast pregnant. He asked me how flexible she was. I lost my shit, which is what he wanted.

When I finish interviews, I head into the locker room.

“Murray, get your ass in my office,” Coach Heaton barks.

The guys break out into oohs and ahs. Coach is going to wring me out for falling for Daniko’s tactics.

I head into the office and he tells me to close the door.

“You almost cost us that game, Murray. I expect you to keep your cool out there, not fall for some stupid shit another player is saying.” Coach is fuming and I don’t blame him.

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