Back It up, Baby
First Game.
You’d think as a hockey player, I would be used to having 200lbs of man being slammed into me. Lying on my back, looking up into the face of Logan Couture for a split second before a blur of black and gold comes after him, I realized I’m not and I don’t think I ever will be. I couldn’t even see what was going on just behind my head, all I could do was reflect on how I got to this point, two minutes left in the third.
--
Everyone had told me that I would be nervous, but when I hit the ice, I felt at peace. It had been weeks since I played a game and I was itching to be out there again. My focus was on the game and I couldn’t even hear the crowd screaming around me, cheering for us, booing at us, it didn’t matter, my head was in the game and we were doing great.
Evgeni took us to an early league after 10 minutes of play. Coach had put Kuni and Neal on with him and it was just like old times, tic-tack-into the back of the net. Antti Niemi didn’t see it coming at all, nor did he see the one Sidney shot in 3 minutes into the second. Sid had been asking me if Niemi was one of the Finnish goalies that I was friends with, hoping for some kind of weakness he hadn’t figured out yet. It actually made me feel useless when I had to tell him no.
The Sharks played hard but, their offense was no match for our defense. I only had to make half of the saves I would had we’d been playing a team like the Bruins or the Lightning. None of my saves were play of the week worth but, they did the trick long enough to take us into the third period and keep my temper at bay.
“She’s why Bennett isn’t playing tonight,” Thornton yelled to Couture after a whistle, staring right into my mask. Logan looked over his shoulder at me and laughed, saying something to Jumbo Joe. I didn’t let it phase me. I just got ready for the drop and kept my focus.
Thornton to Couture, top right corner, glove save, whistle, easy. I had to actually keep myself from laughing and commenting about this being amateur hour. I dropped the puck into the ref’s hand just as Couture skated past me, “c’mon baby, why don’t you let me in like you let Bennett in.”
“Come over here and say that to my face, dickhead,” I yelled at him, only to have the referee scowled me. I rolled my eyes, “yeah, that jackass get to say shit like that but, I’m the fucking bad guy.”
“Larch,” James yelled, making me shut up. I gritted my teeth and kept my mouth shut. I knew if I kept running my mouth, James was going to give me a good smack in the back in the head. I had told him about the conversation about my temper keeping me from team Canada and he vowed to help me with it in his own way, violence.
Neal took the puck up the net, letting me relax for a bit. I sighed a little when I watched Thornton and Couture get off the ice. The rest of the team kept pretty quiet around me, unsure of what they can and can not say to me, nobody wants a penalty for taking their chirps too far. Kennedy with a shot, Boyle, Burish, Vlasic and even Stuart took shots, they were battling back hard but, I was holding my ground.
“Hey slut, do you call out 19 when you fuck him?” I hadn’t even realized the last shot was Couture. He grinned, “Oh, Beau, give it to me! I bet that’s how you got on the team.”
“Go fuck yourself, Couture. We both know no one else can stand you enough to screw you,” I shot back just as he skated up for the face-off. I had one last chirp that I wanted to get out before the drop, “well, no one except Thornton’s wife.”
This part was a blur. I saw the puck drop but, I didn’t see where Couture had come from. I was watching Letang pass it up to Tanner Glass when Logan slammed into me, sending me to the ice. Couture was gone and replaced with Letang standing over me, “don’t get up.”
“I’m fine,” but I knew what everyone saw. I went down, head first and that meant I was going to the dark room, regardless if I liked it or not. I just waited for the trainer to come help me up with Kris skating next to me. I looked up at my second favourite French man and frowned, “this is bullshit, I don’t even get to finish my first game.”
“We’ll win, just for you, kiddo,” he smiled as he helped me step out onto the runway. I pulled off parts of my gear, handing it to various people who I hardly recognized as staff. This sucked.
--
“Can you tell me if we won yet?” I whined at Dr. Stein. We had just finished all my testing and both of us decided that I was not concussed. He laughed and shook his head.
“How about we go to the trainer’s room and then I’ll tell you,” I rolled my eyes but, followed him away. I was surprised when I saw one of them finishing stitching up Brandon’s forehead. I ignored Dr. Stein’s calls to me and nearly ran to Brandon.
Gently, I touched the cut, “what the hell is this from?”
“Couture got one good one in on me,” he shrugged, wiping the blood away from it while I stood in shock. I hadn’t even noticed him on the ice, let alone was the one to defend me. On impulse, I leaned over and kissed his cheek. He frowned, “gross.”
I laughed and helped him off the bench, “c’mon, I think we have media to do and then movie night.”
“Stepbrothers?” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and started leading me out but, we were stopped my Dr. Stein. He held out a form that I quickly signed.
“Can I go now?” He nodded and smiled.
“We won, by the way,” I couldn’t contain my grin when I looked up at Brandon.
“My first half win!”
--
Everyone had told me that I would be nervous, but when I hit the ice, I felt at peace. It had been weeks since I played a game and I was itching to be out there again. My focus was on the game and I couldn’t even hear the crowd screaming around me, cheering for us, booing at us, it didn’t matter, my head was in the game and we were doing great.
Evgeni took us to an early league after 10 minutes of play. Coach had put Kuni and Neal on with him and it was just like old times, tic-tack-into the back of the net. Antti Niemi didn’t see it coming at all, nor did he see the one Sidney shot in 3 minutes into the second. Sid had been asking me if Niemi was one of the Finnish goalies that I was friends with, hoping for some kind of weakness he hadn’t figured out yet. It actually made me feel useless when I had to tell him no.
The Sharks played hard but, their offense was no match for our defense. I only had to make half of the saves I would had we’d been playing a team like the Bruins or the Lightning. None of my saves were play of the week worth but, they did the trick long enough to take us into the third period and keep my temper at bay.
“She’s why Bennett isn’t playing tonight,” Thornton yelled to Couture after a whistle, staring right into my mask. Logan looked over his shoulder at me and laughed, saying something to Jumbo Joe. I didn’t let it phase me. I just got ready for the drop and kept my focus.
Thornton to Couture, top right corner, glove save, whistle, easy. I had to actually keep myself from laughing and commenting about this being amateur hour. I dropped the puck into the ref’s hand just as Couture skated past me, “c’mon baby, why don’t you let me in like you let Bennett in.”
“Come over here and say that to my face, dickhead,” I yelled at him, only to have the referee scowled me. I rolled my eyes, “yeah, that jackass get to say shit like that but, I’m the fucking bad guy.”
“Larch,” James yelled, making me shut up. I gritted my teeth and kept my mouth shut. I knew if I kept running my mouth, James was going to give me a good smack in the back in the head. I had told him about the conversation about my temper keeping me from team Canada and he vowed to help me with it in his own way, violence.
Neal took the puck up the net, letting me relax for a bit. I sighed a little when I watched Thornton and Couture get off the ice. The rest of the team kept pretty quiet around me, unsure of what they can and can not say to me, nobody wants a penalty for taking their chirps too far. Kennedy with a shot, Boyle, Burish, Vlasic and even Stuart took shots, they were battling back hard but, I was holding my ground.
“Hey slut, do you call out 19 when you fuck him?” I hadn’t even realized the last shot was Couture. He grinned, “Oh, Beau, give it to me! I bet that’s how you got on the team.”
“Go fuck yourself, Couture. We both know no one else can stand you enough to screw you,” I shot back just as he skated up for the face-off. I had one last chirp that I wanted to get out before the drop, “well, no one except Thornton’s wife.”
This part was a blur. I saw the puck drop but, I didn’t see where Couture had come from. I was watching Letang pass it up to Tanner Glass when Logan slammed into me, sending me to the ice. Couture was gone and replaced with Letang standing over me, “don’t get up.”
“I’m fine,” but I knew what everyone saw. I went down, head first and that meant I was going to the dark room, regardless if I liked it or not. I just waited for the trainer to come help me up with Kris skating next to me. I looked up at my second favourite French man and frowned, “this is bullshit, I don’t even get to finish my first game.”
“We’ll win, just for you, kiddo,” he smiled as he helped me step out onto the runway. I pulled off parts of my gear, handing it to various people who I hardly recognized as staff. This sucked.
--
“Can you tell me if we won yet?” I whined at Dr. Stein. We had just finished all my testing and both of us decided that I was not concussed. He laughed and shook his head.
“How about we go to the trainer’s room and then I’ll tell you,” I rolled my eyes but, followed him away. I was surprised when I saw one of them finishing stitching up Brandon’s forehead. I ignored Dr. Stein’s calls to me and nearly ran to Brandon.
Gently, I touched the cut, “what the hell is this from?”
“Couture got one good one in on me,” he shrugged, wiping the blood away from it while I stood in shock. I hadn’t even noticed him on the ice, let alone was the one to defend me. On impulse, I leaned over and kissed his cheek. He frowned, “gross.”
I laughed and helped him off the bench, “c’mon, I think we have media to do and then movie night.”
“Stepbrothers?” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and started leading me out but, we were stopped my Dr. Stein. He held out a form that I quickly signed.
“Can I go now?” He nodded and smiled.
“We won, by the way,” I couldn’t contain my grin when I looked up at Brandon.
“My first half win!”
♠ ♠ ♠
So, I live out on a ski resort right now. Chapters will be sparse but, if I get THREE in depth paragraphs about the characters in this story (Lily, Brandon, Beau, James, Sid, whoever) by Sunday, I will update by Monday.