Page 28 of Playing for Keeps (Seattle Hawks Ice Hockey #4)

As I skate to position, I see a Seattle Hawks pom-pom hat with familiar icy blond tresses flowing onto her shoulders, her eyes flick to mine when I raise my gloved hand in a wave.

I see Beth next to her say something and they both laugh.

Looks like Em, Mads, Cindy and their friend Susie are all sitting in one long Seattle Hawks’ supporting line.

It makes me grin and my heart etches up a notch.

As I stand facing my opponent with my stick in hand, trying to anticipate which way the puck will fall. I’m on it like a flash and go for the backhand sweep to motion the puck over to Jake.

I mix up my motives at any given faceoff from the forehand pull to the chip forward. It all depends how the puck falls and how fast I can get to it.

Dallas is a hard team to beat, but Taylor and Jake in the forward line are both strong players.

Jake came in as a rookie last season, and he’s received a lot of media attention being the new guy and the newest forward of the team.

I’m thinking he’ll be dropping the rookie status this season because his game time will probably exceed the limit of twenty-five.

Taylor really took him under his wing during the playoffs, where he scored on more than one occasion, assisted as Taylor’s right-hand man in offense, and boosted his season points.

Taylor is one of the most highly paid and winning goal scorers in the league.

He works overtime for the team, going over every play.

He, Tyler and Coach Carter are always analyzing statistics and going over past games and penalty shots.

And while I’m serious about that stuff too, and how we can keep improving as a team, I’m not as analytical as those guys.

I like to watch the playbacks because it shows you a lot, but breaking shit down has always been Taylor’s domain.

Ashton and Tyler on defense are also an unstoppable duo.

I know it won’t be like this forever. Tyler could very well be in his last year before retirement, and the Miami Spirit coach has been sniffing around Ashton in the off season.

We just never know where we’re going to end up, but one thing that is for sure is our friendship.

The three of them have been instrumental in my life over the last few years.

Ashton was the newest to our group, until Jake came along, but it didn’t take long for us to bond.

Ash has been friends with Taylor for years prior when they played in Nashville together.

I know this run of playing with my three best friends won’t last forever, but I want to imagine, in a way, that it will because it makes me feel better. Even through all the years of change I’ve had to cope with from being a child until now, it’s still never come easy to me.

I guess I’m always trying to prove my worth.

Aside from my time in North Dakota playing in the USHL, I still find change difficult, even if it’s just an inevitable part of life.

But one thing my grandpa Ray always used to say was, “If you want to change your life, you better get ready for it to turn upside down in the best possible way, kid.”

I didn’t really get it at first, but over the years I’ve grown to know what he meant.

I had to really step out of my comfort zone when I started playing in the USHL and life really did turn itself upside down.

But it was in the best kind of way, and Grandpa Ray knew I was going places. He always knew it.

What I was doing before, bouncing from town to town with my mom whenever she deemed it necessary, was never going to cut it for me.

And yet here I am going from town to town in the NHL, but the dynamics are completely different because I took a chance.

And the people in my corner took a chance on me and never let me falter.

Jade is a big part of that. Whether she knows it or not.

I sneak glances at her throughout the game. It’s equally hard and easy having her here.

Hard because she’s so fucking distracting, and I just want to stare at her as she cheers on the team and jumps up and down with her friends when we score. And easy because her smile lights up the stadium. It’s always lit me up in the best kind of ways.

I score in the game one more goal than Taylor, but given I’m always close to the net and pivotal in any rebounds and deflections, it isn’t always hard to achieve.

My legs and back are aching by the final buzzer, and I can’t wait to get into the sauna and hot tub.

Both my go to when I’m needing some recovery after a game.

Fuck it, I might even go hot and cold therapy.

Coach is always threatening to throw us in the fifty-two degrees ice tub if our passes during training are sloppy or weak. Sometimes I jump in there just for fun.

I smile up at Jade as I rip my helmet off when we skate to the players’ door, indicating with my ungloved hands that I’ll call her soon when I get off the ice. I don’t want her to fucking go and we’ve not made any concrete plans.

I like seeing her sitting there with the other hockey girlfriends.

The fact she has a Hawks hat on and how engaged she was in the game makes me smile.

I imagine for a second what it would be like so see her in my jersey.

Maybe I’ll gift her one, just for the fun of it.

I can run my own fantasy then, wondering if she’s wearing it and how it would fit her sexy little body.

During our dance lessons I got to see and feel most of it. I had to try to keep my over-excited third leg at bay during some of the moves where our hips swayed together. Thank fuck for sweatpants on the darker shade, that’s all I can say.

I know I need to come up with something fast to stop this train of thought, maybe a cold, hard slap to the face, and fast. Maybe that cold ice bath might just be the ticket after all.