Centuries

“Oh come on ref!” Winnie slapped her hands against the glass as they blew another whistle. Number 2, Duncan Keith, threw up his arms in outrage while being escorted to the penalty box. “If you were going to screw us then you could’ve at least brought a fucking condom!” Slamming her hands one more time on the glass several of the players glanced in her direction. “Unbelievable.”

“Explain,” Keziah shoved another chip covered in cheese into her mouth and waited for the angry brunette to plop back down into her seat.

“They called slashing on Keith when he so clearly did not lift his stick. Now we’re on yet another power play and I swear to golden diaper baby Jesus if we do not kill this penalty I will personally go out onto the ice and kick the referee in the teeth.”

“You are quite the violent little thing,” Keziah pointed a finger to her friend who merely shrugged in response.

“Hockey is my sport. Don’t you have something you go nuts about?” Winnie took a drink of her soda and watched the face-off by the home team’s net.

“Oh trust me.” Keziah took a long drink from her cup. “I have a thing.” Chomping on another chip she smiled. “Which reminds me. Are you ok with me buying a flat screen for the living room? I know we both have televisions in our room and all but I feel like maybe we should indulge in our dirty passions together when we can’t physically attend the games.”

“Where would we put it?” Winnie glanced to the strawberry blonde.

“Well you have that cubby with the splatter paint on top so I was thinking of hanging it in the empty space on the actual wall and flipping the couch so we could watch it.”

“I don’t see why no-ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” Winnie was out of her chair and slapping the glass before the ref blew his whistle. “About fucking time you called one for us!” Brandon Saad was sitting on the end of the players bench watching Winnie with a crooked grin. Glancing at him she pursed her lips and offered a small wave before sitting back down.

“Wasn’t he at the party too?” Keziah leaned forward in her seat. “You talked to him.”

“Kez, darling, nearly all of them were at the party.” Winnie grabbed a chip. “They’re a team.”

“I get that now,” Keziah nodded in agreement. “I just didn’t expect them all to be so good looking.”

“It’s a trait a lot of us girls are still investigating.” The players glided on the ice to the face-off spot by the net and Winnie spotted the infamous number 19 among the jerseys.

“Do you have a favorite player?” Keziah tried paying attention to the game unfolding in front of her but it was all going so fast. The second she thought she knew what was happening they were already on the other end of the rink.

“Not really.” Winnie watched as Toews won the face off and passed the puck to a very quick moving Patrick Kane. He tore down the ice for a one-on-one with the goalie and fired the puck in the five hole. The red light behind the goal began to turn and both girls jumped out of their seats. “Hell yeah!”

“My baby scored!” Keziah cheered hugging Winnie. Winnie leaned away from Keziah.

“What?”

“I’m wearing his jersey number, ok? He’s my baby.”

“And you’re crazy.” Winnie laughed as Chelsea Dagger began to blast from the overhead speakers. Kane, Toews, and the rest of their line skated back to the bench to change shifts, Patrick’s eyes landing on Keziah who gave him a thumbs up. He flashed her a wide grin and winked, eye contact broken as his teammates slapped his helmet in congratulations.

Three minutes later the game ended with the Blackhawks beating the Blues, 3-2. Winnie and Keziah both stayed in their seats watching people file out of the large building. “This was one of the coolest things I’ve ever been to.” Winnie turned her head to Keziah as she spoke. “Thank you for exposing me to hockey.”

“Thanks for coming with.” Winnie sat up in the chair. “Can’t let those season tickets go to waste.”

“Definitely not,” Keziah agreed with a nod. “Now what do you say we go out to celebrate?”

“Celebrate the win or the fact that Patrick Kane winked at you?” Winnie grabbed her cup and empty nacho tray.

“How did you see that?!” Keziah bundled her belongings into her arms and lead the way to the stairs.

“The wink or how red your face got?” Winnie cackled when her friend glared. “It’s rather cute, actually.”

“I’m going to drink away your meanness and then celebrate the success of my first hockey game win.”

“I know just where we can go.”


The Lincoln Tap Room was buzzing from the Blackhawks win. Most of the patrons were adorned in the red or white attire while some rested in booths in regular clothes. Keziah pointed to a booth in the back corner that was empty, Sports Center playing on the television directly above.

Once Keziah had put her things down Winnie was up. "What do you want? First round is on me."

"A whiskey sour and a MGD." Keziah plopped down on the cushioned seat and pulled out her iPhone. Winnie weaved through the small group trying to dance to a Bon Jovi song playing from the jukebox. The bartender was a girl with spiked blonde hair and piercing green eyes.

"I need a whiskey sour, MGD, and a Redd's." Winnie watched as the bartender spun a couple bottles in her hands, the liquid pouring into the glasses effortlessly. Sliding the woman a twenty and grabbing the beverages the brunette didn't wait for change. Keziah smiled once the drinks were set down and Winnie slid into the booth across from her.

"So rumor has it that the boys are going bar hopping to celebrate their win," Keziah said before taking a drink of her beer. Winnie lifted the bottle to her lips and sighed in relief. "Maybe I'll be able to congratulate Patrick for his good shot."

"You'd do more than just that," Winnie teased with a grin.

"Like you wouldn't do the same thing for one of them. Is it Saad?"

"How do you even know that name?" Winnie felt her phone vibrating in her pocket.

"I may or may not have just been Twitter stalking." Keziah shrugged with a sly grin with Winnie shaking her head in response. "Does Toews have a Twitter?"

"Just a parody account. I think Kane has one but-"

"He tweets like once a month." Keziah looked up from her phone. "What?"

"I'm honestly scared for the poor boy."

"It'll be fine. The chances of him coming through that door are the same as me winning the lottery."

Winnie was mid-sip when a loud eruption came from the direction of the bar entrance. Choking on the liquid she couldn't fathom their luck as Keziah's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "I need to buy a lottery ticket."

"I need to buy another drink." Winnie chugged the rest of her bottle and slammed it down on the table. She was about to stand when Keziah beat her to it.

"My turn."

"Please bring nothing back but the alcohol." Winnie pleaded with her eyes but Keziah had already disappeared in the crowd.

Feeling her phone go off again Winnie shoved her hand into her pants pocket and retrieved the device. Four missed calls and seven text messages lit up the screen. Frowning she swiped to unlock it and scrolled through.

Winnifred we have a crisis.
Please call the office.
An international contract is terminating a deal.

"Son of a bitch." Winnie went through her contacts and pressed on 'Caleb.' She gave Keziah a tight lipped smile on her return, completely ignoring the two athletes that accompanied her. The line rang three times before a male voice answered. "What the fuck is going on?"

"Oh my," Keziah gasped. Patrick Kane and Brent Seabrook stood awkwardly behind her.

"Has anybody tried calling them?" Winnie listened intently. "Are you sure?" Rubbing her fingers along her forehead Winnie could feel the heat rising in her neck. "Well how about you guys learn to do your fucking jobs instead of jacking off all night long?" Angrily ending the call Winnie rose. "Kez I'm sorry, I've gotta go on and fix this." It was then Winnie acknowledged the two men. "Gentlemen, great game tonight."

"Thanks," Brent replied with a soft smile.

"Will you be able to get home?" Winnie already knew the answer based on the proximity Patrick was to her roommate.

"Yeah, totally. Go save your company you super girl you."

"I'll see you in the morning."

"Or afternoon, whichever." Winnie didn't have time to roll her eyes.