Got A Secret?

"Well Rachel skated yesterday for the first time, she was pretty excited about it and had us all wait while she took her first few laps. I'm not sure when she'll start practice again, she should be fine within the week but it was good to see her on the ice. You could see that she had been missing it and it was like her soul had popped back into her body. She was a bit of a smart ass about it though; apparently Bylsma told her she needed a doctor’s note as proof. She had one alright, but she also had it framed and presented it to him before taking off onto the ice." Mario Lemieux states while we watch Keller take some shots on net. That's right ladies and gentleman Keller is back!

I push my way out of the locker room pushing send on my Blackberry, Jonathan Towes was a nice guy and I had e-mailed him back after he took the initiative to contact me and ask about my progress. It was his Swedish monkey after all that caused my injuries that and I heard his little boyfriend Kane was the one who fell into me. It was sweet of him to ask though, I don't think other guys did that for each other cause I knew I sure as hell didn't.

Shoving my hand down my jersey I manage to wedge my phone into my sports bra, ignore the look Max was giving me as I pushed my way through the guys and shouting, demanding their attention.

"I cannot even begin to explain how freaking excited I am to be able to share this experience with you all"
"Oh here we go" Kris mumbles under his breath, I throw him a glare and mimic a cat licking its paw in his direction. I had found out some fans referred to him as Le Kitty and hadn't let him forget it since. I give him a final hiss and a wink before addressing the others who were now laughing.

"This moment where I will step onto the ice, for the first time in weeks, this moment I'm going to share with all of you, and that camera man over there". I finish pointing to the obnoxious Media guy who seemed to always be lurking around taking shots and recording stuff for the website. I hated him, I don't even know what his name was but he was always around at the worst moments.

"Just get on the ice Keller"
"We've been standing here for 15 minutes, we all got shit to do" Jordan whines banging his stick on the bench. I had insisted that I be the first on the ice for practice, not my fault they were impatient. Well I had made them do this every time I got on the ice in the last two weeks. Today though, today was special, today I would be doing a pre-game skate, today I would get to play.

Today I would skate out in front of everyone proudly as I returned to the game I loved, tonight we were playing the New York Rangers and this game would be important, the last game of the regular season. This shit was serious and I could already feel the determination radiating out of Sidney. He had missed this last year and he was not going to miss it again, it was too important to him and they had lost the last two games.

He'd been in a horrible mood the last week; it was kind of frightening actually. He was trying not to let his frustrations out on anyone else but they'd sneak in every once and awhile.

Ignoring Jordan I continue, "I just want you guys to know that I love you all and to those who helped me during my recovery I thank you, you kept me sane. Tonight I plan on getting back on that ice and fighting as hard as I can, and no Sidney you don't get any extra credit because you gave me a massage last night".
"Awh come on did you have to give us that visual?" Max scoffs; I waggle my eyebrows at him and glance over at Sidney who had a slight blush on his cheeks. He was so adorable sometimes I had a hard time containing myself.

"Yes, yes I did. Now let's go skate our butts off!"
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"Holy shit guys, look at this picture! Where did Ovechkin get a segway?" I question holding my phone up. Sidney shoots me a hard look and I slip my phone back by my water bottle. Okay so maybe whipping my phone out during the game was a bad idea, but in my defense I had forgotten where I put it until it vibrated. No really I had spent a good deal of time looking for it this afternoon then eventually gave up figuring it would turn up.

Then about 5 minutes ago, about 15 minutes into the second period it rang. My first thought being, oh there it is. My second though being, why hadn't I just called it earlier?
"Coach? Can we get segways?" I question grabbing for my phone again; Dan looks down at me with his eyebrows raised looking as cool and collected as ever.
"Excuse me?"
"Segways, can we get some? Look how badass Ovechkin looks!" I insist thrusting the phone towards him, he pauses for a moment before taking the phone and glancing down at the screen.

"This picture is years old Keller" Dan laughs before shoving my phone into his suit pocket. I open my mouth to protest but he gestures towards the ice putting his game face back on. Yeah handing my phone over to the coach probably wasn't the best idea.

I look out onto the ice as Sidney jumps over the boards and Evgeni takes a seat beside me.
"He in bad mood tonight"
"He was alright, until he saw the sign that said 'You can back that ass up on me any day Crosby', I thought it was inventive though". I shrug as Jordan makes his way over to the bench. Giving Evgeni a pat on the shoulder I stand and throw one leg over the boards waiting for Jordan to step in.

The rush came as soon as my skates touched the ice, after not playing in actual games for weeks I had craved this more than anything. I missed the way my skates sounded on the ice, the slap of a stick waiting for a pass. Most of all I missed the noise, I missed the cheers and the sounds of the fans feet stomping as I skated down the ice. The chants, if they were for me or against me it didn't matter they were all here for one thing. Hockey.

Of course there were girls who were only there for the guys, but to appreciate the guys you also had to appreciate what they did on some level so I began to count them. I skate hard following the play as Sidney moves almost gracefully down the ice with the puck. I skate to the right approaching the net and slap my stick down. I had the perfect set up, Biron was angled towards the left leaving a large gap that he seemed completely unaware of. If Sidney passed I could make the shot, I knew I could.

I watch as Sidney brings is stick back and slap my stick down once more, "Sid!," I shout watching as he shoots towards the net, the puck hitting Biron's pads and bouncing right off and onto Marc Staal's stick.

Fuck. He knew I could have made it, what was wrong with him? I feel my eyes narrow as I turn quickly chasing after the puck. He knew I could have made that shot, I know he not only hear me but he saw me, Sidney had the eyes of a hawk there was no way he didn't notice me right there, there was also no way he didn't see that Biron had left his right side open. A quick pass would have done it, so why didn't he? The whistle is blown as Johnson make a save and I skate my way over to the bench where Coach had dropped the classy act and was asking Sidney the question we were all thinking.

"What the fuck was that Crosby?"
Sidney stares at Coach for a moment before his gaze falls to mine and I attempt to hold back my scowl, "I was open," I say quietly knowing he heard, and knowing he understood. It was a simple statement, not harsh at all. He knew I knew though, Sidney Crosby was jealous of his girlfriend.

"I had a few shots on net but I just couldn't seem to get them in tonight. Games are a lot more fast paced then practices are so I think it it took me awhile to adjust during the first period, being back in the game felt good though. The team played great, and we might not have won but we still played a solid game, and most of us played like a team."

After the game tonight Keller delivered those stinging last words and we can't all help but think they were directed towards her captain and boyfriend Sidney Crosby.