Page 48 of Right Pucking Daddy (Daddies of the League #7)

FORTY

AIDEN

Finally!

The energy in the arena pulsed as I raced out onto the ice with the rest of the front line—the roar of the crowd a welcome sound. I loved it, like a shot of pure adrenaline straight to the heart.

We circled the rink, tossing our hands in the air to get the home crowd on their feet.

Raising my arms and stick into the air over my head, I danced across the ice to the beat of my favorite song, singing along to the lyrics the PA system blared.

The ice felt charged with the bass that traveled up through my skates.

I was hyped up.

The team was on fire.

The crowd was electric.

It was a beautiful day to play hockey.

I slid to a stop with my linemates and dropped to the ice to stretch, glancing at the bench and the stands behind it.

The grin on my face spread even further.

Shane, Tata, and Mama sat behind the bench cheering, twirling Mauler towels over their heads while Daddy stood with the other coaches behind my teammates on the bench, all of them looking out at the team, laughing. We were all hyped for this game.

“Listen to that fucking crowd man,” Ethan Ruggers said.

“Best music on the planet.”

“Hell! Fucking! Yeah! Boys!” Trey said, punctuating his words with a thrust, humped the air. The puck bunnies in the building screamed, and the level of sound moved from ear-piercing to deafening.

Compared to a month ago, when just being in the barn made my head vibrate with pain, today I felt like I had before the accident—at home on the ice.

I missed every game between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The doctors gave the go-ahead to do a full practice a week ago.

It was the first game of the new year. I didn’t know if I would make it back before the playoffs, but they finally lifted the ban on games just in time for me to get added to the roster for tonight’s game.

Now that I was back on the ice, I had everything I wanted but an NHL contract.

Sasha swore it was in the bag. I’d proven myself on the ice and off, injured and healthy.

The injury scared me, but I did everything asked of me.

If they said sleep eight hours. I slept ten.

They said no screens. I removed all the cords from my devices to remove the temptation.

Daddy called his friend Julie, who walked him through setting it up for someone with little to no sight.

I dictated all my homework, then sent it to Daddy, who transcribed it .

Mama and Tata were here as much as they could be. They stayed with Daddy when they were in town, which gave me an excuse to spend time over there. The coach’s house became the place to be. It’s where we did our study hours.

Ollie, once he learned what happened, jumped in to help, too.

He drove me wherever I needed to go. He even customized a Mauler Hockey shirt with ‘Driver’ under the front logo and ‘TEAM MERCER’ on the back above my number.

I rolled my eyes when I saw it the first time. I loved Ollie, but he was super extra.

The ref called the first line to the circle. The nerves set in, like they always did, as I slid into the face-off circle across from Will Colgan, the Redmond Warriors’ center.

“Mercer, good to have you back on the ice,” the ref said, holding up the puck.

“Thanks,” I replied, staring at the ice between my stick and Colgan’s.

“Alright, boys, it’s time to shake and bake!”

The puck dropped…

Colgan pushed and shoved, trying to snatch the puck, but I fought back. No way would I let…

“Sorry about your luck,” I yelled at him as I skated away with the puck.

“Asshole!”

Ignoring him, I passed the puck across the ice, yelling “E-man!”

Ruggers scooped up the puck, pushing it down the ice. I wanted that puck in the net, and I wanted to be the one to put it there .

I moved down the ice, putting myself in place as the rest of the team did the same. The puck passed between us. We yelled to one another and chirped at the other team, trying to make a play.

“Over here!” Trey called for the puck only to send it back to Ethan as he yelled, “No, you don’t, Warrior dude. This biscuit is ours. Get your own.”

I chanted, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.”

The puck got knocked down the ice, but Isaac nabbed it. Isaiah skated with his brother, providing some protection while chirping at the guys on the other team chasing after the biscuit. “Too bad, so sad. That’s our puck, baby suckers.”

Isaac skirted around Isaiah, deked by a defender on the other team before sending the puck sailing across the ice as he told the guy, “Now you see it, now you don’t.”

“It’s loose!” I yelled, dashing toward the free puck.

Everyone else zeroed in, too, all of us racing to scoop up the rubber disk.

The crowd vanished.

The arena went silent.

All that existed was me and the puck.

Laser focused… stick drew back… ready…

Trey’s scream broke the silence, “C’mon, Mercer. Sink it!”

C’mon. C’mon. C’mon. C’mon. C’mon. C’mon.

Now!

I let my stick fall .

The puck flew off the ice…

“Top shelf, baby!”

Pandemonium ensued.

Maulers: 4 Visitors: 0

The party started in the room as soon as we got off the ice at the end of the game. Half-naked, and in Trey’s case, fully naked, guys danced to the thumping beat of the music. But it all happened around me like I watched from above as I sat in my locker, completely befuddled.

Befuddled didn’t do what I felt justice.

Neither did blown all the way away.

I played the game of my life.

I stared down at my hands.

Three pucks rested in my palms.

I couldn’t believe it.

A hat trick.

My first ever.

“Mercer?”

I looked up at the sound of Sasha’s voice. My gaze met his, and the expression he wore was one I’d not seen before—pride, happiness, shock painted his face all at once.

“Yes, Coach. ”

“Can I see you in my office, please?”

My brow furrowed as I nodded, “I’ll be right there.”

“Shower and change first.”

“Yes, sir.”

I stood, looking at the pucks again before tucking them away in my locker. I still couldn’t believe it. I shook away the fog of disbelief, then quickly stripped. I headed to the showers before drying my hair and getting into my suit.

I dropped my towel and shook out the dress pants.

Prayers that my dick stayed soft played like a litany.

The suit—one of Alex’s Christmas gifts for me, and I loved it—was solid black from head to toe with a slight sheen, but the buying experience topped the gift by leaps and bounds.

The whole day lived rent-free in my spank bank.

Getting dressed earlier had been difficult thanks to the wood I popped pulling on the pants.

Isaiah stepped up next to me to tuck his shirt into his pants. His eyes traveled from my feet to my crotch, pausing to watch me wiggle the snug dress pants on, before continuing to my eyes.

“Damn you look good in black.”

“Thanks,” I muttered.

I hurried through pulling on the rest of my clothes, then slipping on my shoes, uncomfortable with the way he checked me out, even though it was a heady experience.

The contradictory feelings only served to make me more uncomfortable.

I didn’t want Alex to get the wrong idea if he caught on to what went on within the team.

The hooking up the unattached queer players did was weird to me .

“I’ll… uh… I’ll see you guys later,” I said to him, walking out of the locker room and knocking on Sasha’s door when I got to his office.

“Enter.”

I’d not been in the room since the night I confronted Alex and my dick liked that memory very much. I took a few deep breaths and opened the door.