Chances Risked

“Yes, yes, yes, fine, all right, I’ll go!” I said and Nick smiled brightly and pulled me into a hug.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” he said and I rolled my eyes and patted his back.

“So when is this game?” I asked and he looked at his watch.

“Two hours,” he said and my eyes widened.

“Nicky!” I yelled and he flinched, “Why not ask Mikey?”

“Because I wanted to ask you- And he’s screwin’ Emma,” he said and I rolled my eyes.

I sighed and then looked at my watch, “Let me go change,” I said and he smiled brightly and nodded his head. I had just gotten home from having a game this afternoon against Tampa, winning that game with the final score of eight to one, I got the second star for having two goals and three assists. Marc had the first because of how many saves he had and Jordan had the third because of his five assists.

I changed out of my dress and threw on some jeans, sneakers, long sleeve grey shirt and my red scarf and walked downstairs to see Nick pacing and texting someone, his fingers going a mile a minute. I rolled my eyes and then grabbed my black peacoat and my keys and looked at him.

“Ready?” he asked and I nodded my head and he smiled and practically drug me out of the house and to my Escalade.

“So what are we going to?” I asked and he smiled towards me.

“You’ll see,” he said and I rolled my eyes and pulled out of the driveway.

“You gunna tell me how to get to where ever we’re going?” I asked and Nick nodded his head, but then shook his head, “It’s gunna be a little hard to get there then.”

“Can I drive?” he asked and I looked at him and then sighed and nodded my head.

“Don’t scratch my baby,” I said and he chuckled and nodded his head. Nick and I switched seats and I sat in the passenger seat and tried to figure out where my little brother was taking me. We drove for over a half hour and then pulled into a parking lot, the University of Pittsburgh’s logo on the sign and I smirked, “We’re at a hockey dome?”

“Yup,” he said and then parked the car and we both got out, “The teams not doing so well and I was kind of hoping that you would give some kind of motivation.”

“They’re winning, right?” I asked and he nodded his head.

“They’re letting their nerves get to them though,” he said and I nodded my head, “Thought if they saw you or you said something to them, you might help them calm down.”

“They your friends?” I asked as we walked towards the dome and he nodded his head, “All right,” I said and smiled towards my little brother and then pulled him in for a side hug, “They know that I’m your sister?”

“Nope,” he said and I looked at him surprised, “I wanted them to be friends with me for me, not because of my name.”

“Aw, you’re so cute,” I said and he rolled his eyes, and what he said made me think about the conversation that I had with Sidney the other day, about the girl that he was crushing on. We made our way into the dome, I paid for our tickets and the man was shocked to see me. I just smiled and walked into the building, wishing that I had a hat or something.

“This way Mags,” Nick said and I saw he was heading down some stairs. I followed him and we went down the stairs and to a hallway, towards a locker room, I figured it was where the boys were at, “Wait here.”

I nodded my head and then sighed and took out my phone and saw that Pat texted me, I smiled at the fact that he was saying hi and asking what I was doing. I hit repley and started to type.

I’m actually at a college playoff game with Nicky.

I hit send and the door opened and I saw Nick’s back to me, “I know you guys are nervous, it’s the playoffs and all, but I brought someone that might calm you down a little, or at least excite you,” Nick said and then looked towards me.

I smirked towards him and then walked into the room and looked at the team of boys and saw their mouths drop, I giggled when I saw that even the Coach’s mouth was opened, “Hey guys.”

“Holy shit!” one of the guys said and I leaned my elbow against Nick’s shoulder.

“You’re Maggie Marshall- Marshall- Wait! Nick! You’re-“

“So my little brother tells me you guys are having issues with your nerves,” I said and then guys looked at me and then Nick.

“It really took you that long to figure out that we were related?” Nick asked and I giggled.

“Nice to meet you,” the Coach said as he walked over and we shook hands.

“Same,” I smiled and the guys all jumped up and started to crowd around me and I laughed at their excitement, “Ok, ok, ok, I know you guys don’t have a lot of time,” I said and looked towards the Coach and he nodded his head, “I’m going to give you a little advice about your nerves, and don’t take this the wrong way,” they all say down and nodded their heads, “That feeling that you get, it’s like butterflies in your stomach,” I said and they nodded their heads, “That feeling is never going to go away, the anticipation of your blades touching the ice, of scoring that goal and knowing that you had just won the game. Those feelings mean that your heart is in the game and you’re exactly where you want to be,” I said and smirked towards Nick, “Don’t fight those feelings; they’re what make you a hockey player.”

“Do you still get them?” the one boy asked and I smirked towards him.

“Every day,” I said and patted Nick’s back, “We’ll be in the stands cheering for ya boys.”

“Good luck, guys,” Nick said and we walked out of the room and I wrapped and arm around Nick’s back, “Thanks Mags.”

“Anytime, baby bro,” I said and kissed his cheek, “Your secrets out though.”

“Eh, they needed help,” he said and I smiled and we headed towards the stands and found our seats.

-Kane-
“You all right, man?” Jon asked as he came up beside me and I shook my head and blinked my eyes to stop the room from spinning.

“What the hell happened?” I asked and then pushed myself off of the ice and looked around to see the refs pushing Dion Phaneuf towards the box.

“He got ya with his stick,” Jon said and I nodded my head and checked to see if there was any blood on my face, “You’re good.”

We were home playing against the Maple Leafs. There were five minutes left in the game and we were up by one, the score five to four. When the horn blew and we knew we won, I breathed a sigh of relief that we had a win, losing our last two games against the Kings and Sharks.

I was the last day of February, tomorrow was the first of March and that much closer to the playoffs. The nerves were starting to get bigger every time we lost a game, but Jon or Coach was always there to tell us that we were going to be fine, we needed to step it up and we would make it.

After the game, I showered and changed. I was tying my shoes when I looked up towards Jon and saw him smirking at his phone, “Whatchya got there, Tazer?”

“Nothing,” he said quickly and Sharp appeared behind him and looked at the text and smirked.

“Ya sure?” I asked confused and he nodded his head, “Whatever, are we gunna grab some food?”

“Naw man, I think you should go home,” Sharp said and I looked at him and saw some of my teammates looking at him confused.

“I thought we were gunna go out like we usually did?” Corey asked and I nodded my head.

“No, Pat needs to get home,” Jon said and I looked at him confused and a little annoyed.

“What the hell? Why?” I asked and Jon just looked at me.

“You need to get as much rest as you can get,” he said and I rolled my eyes, “Try not to come to practice exhausted tomorrow, we need something in you.”

“Well if we’re not going out, then how will I plan on coming to practice exhausted?” I asked and Jon smirked, stood up and patted my shoulder.

“See you tomorrow,” Jon said and I heard some of the guys snickering.

I looked towards them and saw that Sharp was whispering something to them, their eyes widened and they smiled brightly, ‘…What the fuck?...’ I thought and then gave up and rolled my eyes, leaving the locker room and heading out to the parking garage. I drove home and then headed towards my apartment. When I unlocked the door and walked in, I flicked the light on and threw my jacket onto the hanger, ‘…What the hell was with those guys?...’ I thought and then started to unbutton my dress shirt.

“Why the long face?” I heard and snapped my head to the side and my eyes widened when I saw Maggie there.

“Mags? Wha- What the hell?” I asked and looked at her; she was sitting on my kitchen island, wearing nothing but my away game jersey. My eyes wandered her up her long bare legs and I stared at her smirking face, “How are you here?”

“Tazer sent me a key and told the doorman to let me though,” she said and I walked over towards her.

“Tazer?” I asked and she giggled and nodded her head as I was in front of her, I stood in-between her legs and placed my hands on her thighs, “When did you get here?”

“About an hour ago,” she said, “I was still in Dallas, had to take a later flight because my family wanted breakfast with me before I left.”

I knew that she got to Dallas with her team three days ago; they were away on some trips. Maggie told me that the day after the Penguins arrived in Texas; her family took Maggie and Mike out to dinner and game to her game.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” I smiled and Maggie ran her fingers through my hair and smiled down at me.

“You surprised me at Valentine’s Day,” she said and then pressed her lips against mine, “I want this relationship to work too, ya know.”

“I know,” I smiled and then groaned and shook my head.

“What?”

“Those asses, they were in on getting you here?” I asked and Maggie giggled and nodded her head, “No wonder they kept telling me that I wasn’t allowed to go out to dinner.”

“Sorry,” she said and I smirked and looked up towards her, “How ‘bout you start with dessert?”

I looked towards her and moved my hands up the jersey and my eyes widened, she really wasn’t wearing anything under the jersey, a bright smile was on her face. Maggie started to unbutton my shirt and I smirked at her, “Yeah, dessert sounds good.”