36

Taylor

T aylor made his way to the arena early, with a little pep in his step. Alice had left a little before he did because the social media team was meeting before the game. Things was a little different from his usual game day. He had it down to a carefully choreographed dance. If anyone would have asked him before Alice what would have happened if someone altered his schedule, he would have told you terrible things would happen. But somehow, Alice made it okay. He could tell she respected his schedule and would let him keep it if he needed to, but she made it better.

Conner McPhee was the first one in the locker room, because he was always the first one in the locker room.

“How’s it going, man?” Conner greeted.

“Good.”

“You ready for this game?” Conner asked seriously.

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

“Good, because Florida cannot beat us again,” Conner said as he sat, checked his gear, and got ready.

This game was important. They had lost in playoffs last year to Florida, and that was after one of their players had already taken out Wes Darling with a season ending injury. He was back this year, and he and Conner were on fire. They had it in them to go all the way this year. They just needed to kick Florida’s ass, but Taylor had been studying Florida’s game play, and he was ready.

He popped in his earbuds, launched his pregame playlist, and got ready. Before he knew it, he was standing on the ice, listening to the national anthem. It was go time, and he hadn’t felt this in the zone in a while.

Conner won the face-off and Cash got a hold of the puck and quickly passed it to Wes and the game was going. Taylor’s focus found the puck and the players on the ice. His first shift ended still 0–0, but he could feel the buzz. It was like he was floating above the game, calm and able to take it all in. He squirted water into his mouth, his eyes still glued to the puck.

“You’re back on.” Coach tapped Taylor’s and Cash’s shoulders.

They got up, ready for a change. He hopped over the wall and was instantly skating to his man.

Cash intercepted the puck, and they all headed down the ice. Murphy had the puck, and he passed it over to Wes, who took it behind the net.

Taylor was in front of the net when Wes skated by and tried to dump it in. The goalie managed to block it, but Taylor got the rebound. He chipped in the puck, putting it over the goalie’s blocker side.

The goal siren sounded, and Taylor’s team enveloped him in hugs and helmet taps. The first goal was theirs, and it set the tone.

It was the first intermission, and they were in the locker room. The score was 1–0, and the team was pumped.

“We got this!” Conner said, pumping everyone up. “Keep skating hard and shut them the fuck down.”

Coach Wagner made his way back. “That was a good period, boys. Good job taking away the middle. Keep it up.”

The team cheered as Taylor popped in his earbuds to quiet the noise. He’d had iron focus and was ready to go.

The next period was about halfway done, and the score was 1–1.

Cash and Taylor had just hopped the wall for a shift. As Florida was doing a change-up, Taylor got ahold of the puck. He took off down the ice and looked around, realizing it was just him and one of Florida’s forwards chasing him. On his breakaway, he crossed the blue line. The goalie had been weak blocker side all night, so he skated in close and faked blocker side. As the goalie went up to close the top, Taylor sent it in five-hole, taking the lead.

The goal sounded, and “Do You Believe in Magic” boomed over the loudspeakers. Everything hummed with rightness.

He was on fire.

The buzzer sounded, and it was the end of the second period, 2–1.

“Hey, Taylor,” Coach said as they made their way back to the locker room for the break. “I think they want you for a media spot.”

Taylor’s eyes went wide. Yes, they usually talked to a player during the game, but it was usually Conner, sometimes Wes or Cash. Not Taylor.

“Can you do it?”

Taylor’s eyes were big. The pressure to say yes was heavy, but he also knew he needed to focus if he wanted to keep playing the game he was playing. Luckily, Coach Wagner always had his back.

“I’ll get Conner to do it,” he said, patting him on the back as they headed into the locker room. “But you keep this up, and you’ll have to talk to them after the game as the star of the night.”

“It’s not done yet,” Taylor said as he made his way into the locker room and popped in his earbuds.

The pressure flared, and he didn’t like it.

Florida came off the break, ready to win. When their back was up against the wall, Florida was a dangerous team, and with rivalry that had been building up between them, both teams wanted this game bad.

Right off the jump, they won the face-off and scored an equalizer in the first twenty seconds. Taylor and Cash were on the bench. Taylor’s eyes were on the puck.

“Watch out for Nordic. He’s pushing. Malone is still gonna take those slap shots,” said Taylor as they watched the game.

After a rush at their net, the whistle sounded, and he knew before anything was said that Sven was going into the box for a blatant tripping call.

“What the fuck?” Coach yelled behind the bench. “Get the PK ready, guys.”

As they were getting ready, Nordic skated past them. “Hey, Conner, you still fucking your socials girl? I saw some pictures. I’d tap that when you’re done with her.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Conner said, going chest-to-chest with the guy.

The ref skated in and broke it up. The game was ramping up, and he could feel it.

They started the penalty kill, and Taylor was looking for ways to settle it down. He was by the net, and one of their forwards skated toward the back of the net. Taylor poked the puck and was able to get it away. He sent it up to Conner, who was near the blue line. Conner knew what the fuck to do and was off to the net for a shorthanded goal.

It was tied again. Florida was fucking bringing it. In the next play, Malone gave Cash a high stick to the face. A scrum was forming around them as the refs were pulling them apart Nordic skated by and slashed Conner in the knee, and he went down.

Taylor saw fucking red. They were out of contention last year because Florida pulled some dirty shit on the ice, and it was not happening again. While Cash tended to do the fighting, Taylor could hold his own.

Without thinking, he threw off his gloves, grabbed Nordic by the jersey, and pulled him out of the scrum. They squared up. In seconds, Nordic had his gloves off, and Taylor landed a strong punch to his jaw. Before he knew it, his face was throbbing, but Nordic was on the ice, blood coming from somewhere. He was taken off the ice as Taylor was guided to the penalty box. Five for fighting was worth it. He met Cash in the penalty box. Cash had a two-minute roughing minor for something in the scrum, and the other team ended up with 5 for fighting and 2 other minors.

“I love a full penalty box,” Cash said, skating in to join. “Dude, you fucked him up.”

Taylor just nodded, his eyes still on the ice. His adrenaline was pulsing through him as he squirted water in his mouth.

“Taylor,” Cash said, and Taylor turned to him as the game started. “You just got a fucking Gordie Howe. And you did it before me. How the fuck did that happen?”

“Oh... I did, didn’t I? It’s because I’m better than you.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Cash said, shaking his head, but the smirk never left his face.

Taylor got back to the game with a small smile. A Gordie Howe is a goal, an assist and a fight-in-one game. While they weren’t unheard of, they were rare. Taylor sighed in relief as Conner skated back on the ice, luckily that dirty slash didn’t cause injury.

The game was rough. Florida wasn’t letting up, but they also weren’t able to score, but neither were they. They were sitting tied at 3–3. They made it through the 3–3 sudden death, only to find themselves in a shootout. They had each hit one and missed the rest. Taylor wasn’t usually on their shootout team. When you were a defenseman on a team of some of the league’s top scorers, it didn’t always happen. Yet he was on fire and one goal away from an actual hat trick.

“Taylor, I want you out there in Sven’s spot,” Coach called.

“Seriously?” Sven protested.

“Sit down,” said Coach to Sven. He turned to Taylor. “Get it done.”

And he would do just that.

He skated center ice, closed his eyes, and visualized the goal. He had this. Slowly, he made his way down the ice with the puck. He played like he would go blocker side, just like he had before. But the goalie was smart, knowing Taylor knew he was weak blocker side, which is why he’d successfully gotten a five-hole. It wouldn’t work this time.

As he got closer, he stayed focused on the blocker side, then faked another five-hole, bringing the goalie down in just enough time to chip it up into the corner.

He’d done it! Not only had he won the game. He’d won the game against Florida and gotten a hat trick. Hats were filling the ice as his teammates skated out and huddled up on top of it. This win was everything.

Once they cleared the ice, Coach clapped in on the back. “Nicely done, son. You’ll have to do media now.”

“I know.”

Taylor stopped by the booth, grabbed the headphones, and put them on.

“Taylor, you were on fire tonight. How did it feel?”

“Great,” he said, trying to force a smile.

He’d had extensive media training but still hated all of this.

“You got a Gordie Howe, first player on your team. How was that?”

He chuckled. “Cash had some things to say, but it’s all in good fun. It was a good night out there.”

“Your first hat trick of the season. And it was during a shootout. What was going through your head out there?”

“Don’t miss,” he joked. “I was visualizing it.”

“What changed? Your game was amped up tonight?”

What changed? He thought that one over. One thing had changed. That thing being the beautiful girl somewhere in this building filling his life with color. Fuck. He loved her. She was his. Part of her seemed confused about that sometimes but not after this. She would never doubt what she meant to him again.

He was pulled out of the thought by the woman tipping her head like she was waiting for him to answer. “It was just a good night. All the pieces fell into place, and I have a great team of guys around me.”

“Thanks, Taylor. I’ll let you go celebrate with your team.”

“Thanks,” he said, getting up and handing her the headset.

By the time he made it into the locker room, the guys were out of control. The music was pumping and Conner was dancing to “Simply the Best.” When he entered, the guys all clapped him on their back and kept the celebrating going. Taylor loved it, and if he wasn’t on a mission, he might stop to enjoy time with the team, but he needed to get home to Alice.

She needed to know where they stood, and that the studio he’d made was for her because he wanted her to move in. Maybe it was crazy. It’d only been a handful of months, but when you know, you know. And that, he did. Deep in his soul.

Alice was his. She made his life better just by existing in it, and he would do whatever it took to be there for her and convince her and make her life better.

He made his way to the shower, as tomorrow was a rest day. He intended to spend the day with Alice, but he needed to get to her first.