Page 168 of The Husband Game

He settled into the flow of the game quickly, the early lead and the home game giving the team a rush of energy.

That was Toronto hockey.

It was a fast, smooth game, with plenty of action. Ottawa’s goalie was fast but Macky was faster, blocking every shot attempted.

But Ottawa rallied.

It was almost inevitable. They were a good team this season and their offense was buzzing.

As Matheson, Ottawa’s right winger, tore down the ice on a breakaway, Nico skated behind him, desperately trying to knock the puck from his stick.

But Matheson retained control and he deked left before shooting a hard slapshot that landed in the top of the net and brought the score to 2-1.

A quick rebound tied it up 2-2.

The Fisher Cats’ groans were swallowed up by the crowd’s loud boos.

Ottawa dominated possession for the rest of the period but Macky held them at two goals, blocking shot after shot.

Dustin had a great chance toward the end of the period but a spectacular glove save from Ottawa’s goaltender, Roman Poole, prevented him from scoring.

“Fuck. He’s gonna be a tough one this season,” Dominic said, breathing hard as they slid onto the bench after their shift.

“Who? Poole?”

“Yeah.”

“I guess we’ll just have to be better,” Dustin said, baring his teeth.

Dom grinned. “I guess so. Now, are you gonna get a goal to impress your husband or am I gonna have to do it for you?”

“Well, I’m sure gonna try but if you could do me a solid and send an assist, I wouldn’t turn that down.”

Dom held out his glove for knuckle bumps. “Deal.”

It was Colton who got the third goal of the game, but Dustin couldn’t complain.

As the buzzer sounded to end the second period, the Fisher Cats were ahead 3-2 and Dustin left the ice flushed and happy.

* * *

During the second intermission, Charlie and Emily took a short walk on the club level to stretch their legs.

“You know, I always knew it would take someone totally extraordinary to get my idiot brother to settle down,” she said as they meandered past a mural with Dustin’s face on it.

Charlie let out a startled laugh and glanced over. “Oh?”

“Yeah. He’s always been totally hockey focused. It was going to take a lot to tear his attention away.”

“Here I am,” Charlie said with a smile.

“Here you are.” She bumped shoulders with him. “I love it. Honestly. I never thought he’d be brave enough to go after what he actually wanted.”

Charlie arched an eyebrow. “You knew Dustin was …”

“Well, we knew he was bi forever. I mean, he’s never hid that from us. I just thought … I don’t know, he’d go the expected route of the pretty blonde on his arm—okay, well I guess he did do that but—”

“But you didn’t expect the pretty blond on his arm to be male,” Charlie said dryly.

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