The Games We Play

Jonathan walked into the United Center the next day for the morning skate to get ready for Game Five against the Predators. He had a good feeling about tonight. It could have been because of his date with Lacey the night before. Either way, when he got to the locker room, something about his demeanor must have been different because the guys were on him like white on rice.

“Hey, look guys, Tazer’s all smiles,” Sharpie hollered from his stall as he was putting on his pads. “Did someone get lucky last night?”

“No,” Jonathan scoffed, though he was still smiling. “Am I not allowed to be happy?”

Sharpie shrugged. “Baby Peek-A-Boo, what do you think?”

Patrick rolled his eyes and pretended to examine Jonathan closely, his finger tapping against his chin. “It definitely has to do with a girl,” he confirmed. “And I think I have an idea which girl it was.”

Jonathan blushed.

Kris, from the other side of the room, gaped. “Don’t tell me you took Lacey out on a date!”

Jonathan raised an eyebrow. “And if I did?”

“No, nothin’,” Kris grinned. “Congrats, is all.”

“Girls always go for the captain,” Patrick sighed, shaking his head in jest. “Oh well. I look forward to seeing what your babies look like in the near future.”

Jonathan’s face paled. “What? Kaner, we didn’t have sex. Unlike you, I don’t fall into bed the first time I take a girl out. We went out to dinner together and I kissed her goodnight. That’s all. Now would you drop it? And stop talking about her like she’s not a person.”

“Yes sir, Captain Serious,” Patrick saluted before going back to tie up his skates.

Jonathan sighed and got ready for practice. As Jonathan was making his way to the ice, Sharpie stopped him.

“Don’t be so harsh on the kid,” he said in a hushed tone. “You know he’s just kidding around. He really had a thing for Lacey. This is just his way of dealing with it.”

Jonathan sighed and nodded. “Yeah. No problem. Thanks for telling me, Sharpie.”

He grinned. “Not a problem. But damn. If I weren’t already taken by a beautiful woman and was about five or six years younger, I’d be jealous.”

Jonathan smirked and the two of them went onto the ice together to meet up with the rest of the team. Throughout practice though, Patrick didn’t make as many of his crude jokes, didn’t spout off any wise-ass comments, and barely chewed on his mouthguard. He was quiet.

Jonathan silently observed his teammate and best friend. Was his and Lacey’s budding relationship really bothering him that much?

During the shootout drill, one of Patrick’s favourites, he went to go take his shot on Niemi and, right before he took his shot, he lost the puck from his stick and it slithered away on the slippery ice. Some of the guys on the team chided him playfully, others asked him what was up. Patrick just shrugged and went to the back of the line.

Jonathan sighed and went on with the drill. He’ll get over it, he told himself. Eventually.

* * * *

Lacey showed up to soccer practice at Loyola all smiles. It didn’t take long for her teammates to notice.

“Hey Lace,” Andrea, a forward, skipped over as Lacey adjusted her shin pads. “You look mighty happy today.”

Lacey glanced up at her teammate. “I suppose so.”

Another forward and Andrea’s line-mate Farah came over. “I think I know what this has to do with. Let me guess, it’s a boy, ain’t it?”

Lacey couldn’t keep herself from blushing. “Whatever.”

“It is!” a mid-fielder, Becky, squealed from not too far away. “Come on, Lacey. You can’t deny it, we’re girls, we know these things.”

“Okay, okay,” Lacey conceded. “I went on a date last night and it just happened to go really well. And that’s all I’m going to say about it.”

“Liar,” Farah scoffed playfully. “Who was the guy? Don’t tell me it was Derek.”

Lacey went wide-eyed. “Ew, no! Derek is like my brother. Besides, he’s dating Kenzie, who happens to be one of my good friends. No, it wasn’t Derek.”

Andrea pondered for a second. “Does he go to our school?”

“No.”

“How do you know him, then?”

“I’m not saying.”

Becky marched over, a look of realization dawning on her face. “This has something to do with those practices you and Derek are doing with the Chicago Blackhawks, doesn’t it?”

Lacey stared at Becky. “How did you know that we were helping out the Blackhawks?”

“Oh, please,” Farah smirked. “A team full of hot guys coming to practice at our school? And famous ones, at that? Everyone knows. And I think the majority of the school hates you and Derek for getting to be the ones to meet them and help them out at practices and stuff. I told my little sister about it and she wanted to murder you.”

“It’s not that big a deal,” Lacey shrugged. “I’m not a huge hockey fan anyway.”

“Yeah, but the rest of Chicago is,” Andrea pointed out. “Okay. So Becky deduced that you’re involved with someone on the Blackhawks. Are we going to have to start guessing their entire roster, or are you just going to tell us? Because you’re awful at keeping secrets.”

Lacey bit her lip. “Promise not to freak out?”

“Too late for that, sweetie,” Becky grinned.

Lacey sighed audibly and played with her ponytail. “Jonathan Toews.”

There was a moment of silence before Farah screamed, “WHAT?”

“You lucky bitch!” Andrea punched her playfully. “Do you know how many girls would kill to be you right now? Wow, you really do know when to pick ‘em, huh?”

“Captain on captain,” Becky mused. “I like that.”

Lacey groaned and shoved her teammates back onto the field. “This is getting awkward. Can we just go on with practice and pretend I didn’t say anything about anything?”

“Nope,” Becky sang, skipping to the rest of her teammates. “The world needs to know about yours and Jonny’s newfound love!”

“Becky, don’t!” Lacey hissed. “Jonathan’s a really private person. Respecting his privacy is the least you could do. Please?”

Becky huffed and put her hands on her hips. “Fine. But only because you asked me and because you’re dating someone famous. If it had been anyone else, the entire state of Illinois would have known by now.”

Lacey laughed. “I know, Becky. Thanks.”