Chapter 5

Chapter Five

HUGO

Our first game is against Las Vegas. We have the advantage of being at home, but Vegas is a really good team. And their goalie is crazy.

Which is something I never say out loud. Those are inside thoughts for sure. You can totally hurt someone’s feelings by saying things like that. But if you’ve ever looked into Azure Dayne’s eyes you know what I mean. He’s scary as fuck.

Thankfully, my job is to protect Winny and keep the puck away. While I do head to the other end, I generally remain close to the neutral zone. I try to keep the puck on their end as much as possible and I can do so better by remaining between the two blue lines than when I’m chasing the puck around the opposite goal.

I made the mistake of looking into Azure’s eyes once. Worse was that he met my gaze. It felt like someone walked over my grave and I could feel their footsteps from six feet under.

I’m sure he’s perfectly nice. He and Noah are good friends. Noah only has nice things to say about Azure. Once, I mentioned how I felt when looking at Azure and Noah got very upset. In hindsight, I understand it. I shouldn’t have been making judgements on people I don’t know and haven’t had a conversation with. Azure didn’t deserve my rudeness, even if he wasn’t there to hear it.

Still, I avoid Azure when at all possible. It’s not a conscious thing when getting close makes the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. I can’t help how I feel, but I can definitely keep the thoughts to myself.

As we spill onto the ice to deafening crowd applause, I take a breath of the icy air and smile. This is my peace. Which is ironic because it’s the very opposite of quiet, but it’s definitely a happy place.

I grab a puck on the way by and dribble it around a few laps. I’m not friends with anyone on the Vegas team so I don’t stop to chat like I do some other teams. I pass the puck to Atty, then he passes it to Noah as Miles passes his puck to me. For a few revolutions on the ice, we just pass or shoot into the empty net while our two goalies skate around for a minute.

When Winslow heads for the net, I move off to the side to stretch. On my hands and knees, I spread my legs and bounce my hips down to stretch all my muscles. When I was fifteen, I pulled a groin muscle from not properly stretching.

Let me tell you what. The way my dick and balls sometimes hurt when I moved in the wrong direction and a shock of pain originating from the pulled muscle went down my leg and into my bits? I’m a big advocate for proper stretching. That shit gave me nightmares.

While I stretch, I watch as Winny scuffs up the ice in front of his net. Back and forth. Back and forth. Four passes. Then he gathers the loose snow with his stick like he’s sweeping and moves it around to the side so it’s not in his way.

That’s usually my cue. I've done this position long enough. I can feel the stretch just fine. Now I bring one leg up and keep the other knee on the ice to stretch my groin again. You know, in a different way. Then I swap legs.

Most of my stretching is on my lower half when I get on the ice. I already did some more intense warmups out back before getting into my gear. But I enjoy using the ice too because it also forces me to always engage my core due to the lack of friction. It’s slippery, so to stretch just far enough without falling or hurting yourself is key.

When I’m certain I’m not going to hurt my dick—ha!—I get on my knees and use my stick as a balancing mechanism between my hands and twist back and forth to stretch my back a bit more. It’s usually at this point that I look up into the stands.

Look at all the faces watching us. They’re here to see us play. I spend the next few stretches searching for a number thirty-eight jersey. It always hits differently when I see someone in my number. Knowing that they’re my fan. They’re maybe here to see me.

I spot one and grin. My grin widens when I find Torin inside Surry the Seal right away, facing my direction. I wave.

At first, I don’t notice the young girl beside him as he waves in return. He’s more animated inside the costume. The girl beside him is maybe eight or nine. She thinks I’m waving to her. I wasn’t, but this time I do.

It seems to snap Torin out of whatever he was looking at. He looks at the girl and makes a display of covering his big seal mouth with his hands. Then he points at me excitedly with the girl. When he starts waving his hands in the air and jumping in excitement, I laugh.

Getting to my feet, I swipe a stray puck from the ice and move to the boards. The girl nods excitedly, jumping up and down. Torin-as-Surry joins her again.

It takes me a few attempts to get it between the net and the glass. Torin catches it and hands it to the girl. She’s beside herself with excitement and runs off. I wink at Torin. This time, he covers his face with his hands and turns away.

Still laughing, I join my team in shooting pucks at Morrison, our backup goalie. Though he’s not playing tonight, he always takes some time in the net during warmups. Just in case. You can never be too prepared.

It isn’t long before we’re signaled to head for the locker room while the ice is cleaned up a bit before the start. We gather in the locker room with excitement hovering in the air and humming under my skin. Another season begins tonight. I’m stoked.

“Are we ready?” Coach Ajo asks.

There’s a chorus of enthusiastic, manly ‘yeahhhhs!’ I grin, feeling all jittery. I’m so ready. These last few minutes before the game are really difficult to wait through. I’m ready. I want to play now!

“Vegas is a tough team. We need to be completely on our game tonight. Focus. Teamwork. And take the shots. What’s the saying? ”

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” we repeat back.

“Exactly. Even an accidental goal is a goal. Take the shots.”

Don’t look Azure in the eyes . That’s a mental note, not one I share. It almost doesn’t matter though. I probably won’t go toward the other end of the ice, anyway. That’s not my job unless I’m sure I can make it.

I’ve made it as long as I have in the league not because of my amazing score record, but because of my defensive success.

Coach continues to talk to us and we respond with energy. We’re ready to show that we’re a force this season. We’re going to be the team to beat.

Finally, it’s time to get back onto the ice. Since I’m practically bouncing, Winny nudges me with his stick and I grin. That’s his reminder to calm down. Focus. I need to focus. I know that. I definitely need to focus.

As I circle to my spot on the ice, I glance into the crowds. Torin-as-Surry the seal is at the boards with both furry hands flat on the glass. I grin and raise my stick to him. He steps back and points wildly. Taking several steps back, he taps the person in the front row. A young kid. He points at me excitedly.

I love how much energy he has.

“Hugo,” Winny calls and I turn my attention to where our team is lining up. I give Miles, our center, a nod since he’s waiting for me to pay attention.

Okay, no more crowd. Now it’s time to play.

Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly. With it goes the distractions until my focus is narrowed on the puck.

The puck drops and we shove it away toward the other end. I follow closer to the center and hover, watching as Azure catches the puck and almost lazily hands it off. Their player moves around behind the net. They think they’re clear and chuck it down this way, but I’m waiting and catch it.

Noah swings in front of me and I hand it off. He takes off toward the other end against the boards. When the other team gets close, he digs his skates in and halts, passing it off to Atty. Atty makes a shot, but Azure stops it.

My other defenseman, Rigbe, catches it on the rebound and makes a loop around to get a better angle at the net. It’s a game of pass for a few minutes as we keep moving it between our sticks. It hits mine twice before Noah makes another attempt at goal.

It gets blocked by one of Vegas’s defensemen and they take possession of it, bringing the puck behind the net. He hovers there for a second, letting his team reposition themselves. Then he comes toward us.

He skates down the side and I try to move to be in front of Winny. One of their guys gets super in my face, which I find really annoying. I’d love to put my stick between their legs and let them trip over it. I’m standing still, so theoretically they just weren’t paying attention.

That’s not the way the refs would see it, unfortunately.

I keep my hand on his back, fending him out of my bubble as much as I can while I watch the puck come down this way. Three passes between Vegas before Rigbe steals it back and takes off for the other end again.

They spend the next few minutes going back and forth near the boards, stealing the puck from each other but never making it beyond the length of the circle. Atty and a Vegas player get in a tussle over the puck against the boards as they wrestle for possession while one of the refs and several players hover around them. Ready to get involved if it takes too long or breaks out in a fight.

Atty succeeds. He passes it to Rigbe who keeps its momentum going and sends it right on to Noah. Noah takes a shot while the puck is still moving and it sails toward Azure in the net. Azure drops like he’s a puppet, pulling his stick up at the same time. The puck slams off it with an audible smack and goes sailing toward the boards.

We manage to keep the puck. It meets my stick and I send it back in, straight to Rigbe’s stick. He makes an attempt but his stick’s momentum is stopped short by one of their players. The puck continues sliding, but slowly, and it’s an easy save for Azure.

Another tussle breaks out, but we still manage to keep the puck. Once more, it’s a game of keep away as we pass the puck all over between our sticks. I come out of the neutral zone, trying to close the gap a little and keep the puck closer to the offensive zone.

Two more attempts at goal are made and I slide myself backward again, once more between the blue lines. The puck comes sailing down this way and Wiliker stops it. He sends it to me and I push it along the boards to get back into their zone.

We get it back, but it’s quickly flung back toward us. I stop it and skate backwards with it, letting my team come to me and regroup. I pass it to Noah as he skates behind Winny. There’s a Vegas guy on his heels so he pushes it ahead of him to Miles.

Vegas is on us now and I think we’re in our own way. Too many men right in front of Winny and fucking Vegas makes the goal. I can see the irritation on Winny’s face as he glares at Miles and Wiliker for being too far in the crease.

“It’s okay,” I assure Winny as I get close. “We’re only two minutes in. We have a whole game to kick their asses.”

Winny shoves his helmet up and pushes his glove onto the top of the net so he can reach for his bottle of water. I watch as he takes a sip. When he puts it down, he meets my eyes and gives me a nod. “Right. Go take a breather, Hugo.”

Flashing him a grin, I head for the bench. There are days when I forget to get off the ice as often as I should. There are times when I’m just hovering in the neutral zone for long minutes while they fight for a goal, though. I’m alert but not active. Those times, I don’t need to take a rest.

I probably don’t need a rest right now, either. But I listen when I’m told to rest. I’m not always the most aware of my own fatigue signs because I get so into the game. So I appreciate the reminders.

Sitting, I watch as the puck drops and the game resumes while I take a drink. It’s another struggle at Vegas’ end as we make several attempts on goal. Azure is a damn machine, though.

My gaze drifts into the stands and locks immediately on Surry the Seal. He’s standing with a teenage girl who looks like she’s dressed for a beach day and not a frozen arena. Together, they work on making the crowd do the wave. Maybe he took note of her attire and thought she belonged at the beach, too.

The wave is moderately successful. They try again. With each attempt, the wave gets better. Including more of the audience.

Grinning, I turn my attention back to the ice and take another sip. I’m watching as the crowd starts chanting.

“LET’S GO L. A.” Clap, clap, clapclapclap .

Sports, adrenaline, can be like a drug. Their chanting, though it fades into the background, drives me to do better. To make our fans proud.

We’re going to win this game.