Page 128 of Just Friends
I nodded. “I’m ready, Hath.”
We settled into the face-off circle. I took one quick glance up into the section of the crowd that was reserved for our girls. Piper stood in a row with the rest of her friends. My girlfriend beamed, wearing the official WAG jersey: a bejeweled denim jacket with my name and number on the back,CAMERON 55.
Seeing her there made me feel like everything in my life was in its right place, like I could do anything. With a determined nod, I returned my focus to the ice.
The referee dropped the puck. Hath won the draw cleanly, sweeping the puck right onto my stick, as promised. I drifted towards center ice, buying my teammates precious time to get set up, and then snapped a quick pass to the open man on the left half-board, Niko.
Anytime Niko has the puck on his stick, a hum of excitement grips the crowd—they’ve been trained to expect big-game moments from our young superstar.
Always the showman, Niko danced with the puck, the crowd goingoohandaahas he dangled down low. His moves, always performed with blindingly quick hands, drew the panicked defenseout of position. With the Nashville forwards now scrambling to correct the gaps in their defensive coverage, we had themrightwhere we wanted them.
Niko whipped a quick, no-look backhand pass to the open man in the slot: me.
Yeah, this was a big moment in the game—but this time, there were no doubts or what-ifs. Niko had played his part to perfection. I had Reavo’s big body wreaking havoc in front of the net. I had Dane standing on the weak side, ready to clean up any rebounds that might happen to come his way. Hathaway, posted on the strong side, was another net-front presence who could bang home a rebound.
In a split second, I simplyknewI had to take the shot—it was the right play. I could feel it in my gut.
Trusting my instincts,I stepped into the pass and hammered the puck with all my weight loaded onto my stick. The puck rocketed off my stick, a black blur shooting through the air. The goalie sprawled to make the save, but he didn’t have a chance. The puck hit the back of the goal with so much force, the netting rubberbanded and spat the puck right back out.
The crowd roared, and the goal horn began to blare. The building shook as the elated crowd jumped up and down in triumph.
I stood with my arms out, ready to embrace my teammates in a hockey hug.
“DAAA!” Niko screamed, the first to jump into me. “WE WIN! WE WIN!”
Hathaway tapped gloves with me. “Nice shot, kid. Perfectly placed.”
“Fuckin’ rights, Big Rig!” Dane yelled, bonking his helmet against mine.
Reavo joined the pile, bear-hugging the group of us. “Let’s fucking GO, boys!”
The arena announcer growled over the PA system:“Goal scored by number fifty-five—”
The fans were ready to take my name right out of the announcer’s mouth. Everyone shouted my name in unison—“BIIIIIG RIIIIIIIIG!”—and gave two mighty tugs on a pretend horn-chain, like a kid in the back seat does when he wants a honk from a trucker on the highway.
“The fans fuckin’ love ya,” Dane said as we pushed off and skated back to the bench.
Niko stayed stapled to my side while we coasted off the ice. “You see? What I tell you?!” he gloated and slapped my ass. “You take shot, BOOM!, you score! Great shot!”
I returned the compliment. “You did all the hard work. Great pass there, Niko.”
“Ya. I know. Was really great pass.” He grinned, basking in his own glory. “Keep shooting, Big Rig. We keep winning.”
We gathered at center ice and raised our sticks into the air to salute our fans. They stood on their feet, still hooting and cheering and chanting my name. I skated closer to the WAG section and found Piper again. Her eyes were wide with awe as she took in the moment—ourmoment, because I couldn’t have done it without her.
She saw me looking and her hand shot into the air to wave at me. When I waved back, she blew me a kiss. Joining the chorus, she pulled her own horn-chain and honked my name.
With a grin, I spun around and charged off the ice, down the tunnel, and into the dressing room.
I’d been thinking about this moment all week long. I couldn’twaitto get out of this sweaty gear, jump in the shower, and be with my girlfriend—my best friend—again.
34
Piper
The Next Summer
Whitefish, Montana.
