Chapter 28

28

Joey

Standing in the hallway, waiting to take the ice for my last college game is…weird.

Nothing about this game series has been normal. Paul got appendicitis so he’s out, and Brendon got targeted by some asshole at the game last night and got a broken nose. I was not mad about spending five minutes in the sin bin with Preston, Jeremy, and Willis for fighting. Dude had it coming for going after Brendon and I’m pretty proud of the fact that he needed to have his forehead glued shut. Asshole.

So, we’re down a few players. This far in the season, that’s not abnormal. Hockey is a physical sport, lots of injuries happen, but it’s my last one.

We’re announced, the crowd cheers since we’re in our home stadium, and we take the ice. Jeremy looks back to slap sticks with Paul and Brendon but they aren’t here, so I do it with him instead. I hope the good luck works. Riggs and Sinjen—a guy who’s been trying to be on the active roster all season—fill in for Paul and Brendon with Jeremy. They did some warmup stuff today, but honestly, Jeremy and Riggs haven’t practiced much with Sinjen. It’s either going to be awesome or a disaster.

Once teams are announced and the national anthem is played, the first lines from each team set for the puck drop, and my last game has begun.

Maybe it’s because I’m too in my head tonight, but the game goes by in a blur. I’m out on the ice, protecting my goalie, with Matthews to keep these Minnesota assholes out of the crease. The one causing problems last night isn’t out here from what I can tell and I get a sick sense of pride from it. I hope he’s on concussion protocol. I’m going to have to ask Brendon about that dude.

The front lines switch before me and Matthews, which is fine because these guys are pissing me off and I’m about ready to hurt someone.

Jeremy gets the puck and races up the ice, Riggs on his ass, though he can’t get ahead of him, so Jeremy is forced to pass it backward. Sinjen is off in la-la land and of no help, so Riggs passes to Jeremy who takes a shot on goal, but it bounces off the goalie’s stick. Fuck.

A Minnesota player snatches it and comes for me. I don’t know why but he’s looking right at me. I think he’s trying to psych me out but I swear he doesn’t even blink.

Third line is switched out for first line so Louis puts on a burst of speed to catch up. When the Minnesota winger passes, Louis is there and shoots it toward the goal. By some miracle, it gets through and the lamp lights up.

Fuck yes!

The crowd cheers, the guys cheer, and me and Matthews are switched for Carmichael and Willis.

For the rest of the period, we’re hustling. Minnesota beat us yesterday and think they’ll take us out tonight, but we’re hungry to show them we aren’t easy. Despite being our last game after a brutal season full of injuries, we will not surrender.

During the fifteen-minute break, we recharge, hit the bathroom, and get pumped up.

“Listen here!” I yell across the locker room. “This is the last game of my college career, and I will not be defeated today! Not in our home stadium!” Cheers erupt. “They think we’re too tired to defend our ice but they’re going to learn tonight what happens when you fuck with Darby U!”

There are back slaps and war cries as we rush back to the ice, ready to show these fuckers just who we are. Yesterday they got the best of us, but they will not beat us again.

The next two periods are a mess but we hold the lead. They get angry and frustrated, making sloppy penalties and even worse shots. Austin barely has to try in order to keep their attempts out of the net.

When the final buzzer sounds, we’ve won. The team floods the ice, coaches too, and the stands are deafening. In a huge group, we hug each other. Sweaty, bloody, exhausted, but proud. We fucking did it.

Back in the locker room, we’re all celebrating our win and taking longer than normal to get changed. Everyone comes by and pats me on the back, thanks me for being captain this year, and says they’ll miss me next year.

“What the fuck?” Louis says, looking at his phone. He shows his screen to Willis in the cubby next to him who shrugs.

“Hold the fuck up!” Louis yells, getting everyone’s attention. “Are you two fucking married?” He points between Paul and Brendon.

“I didn’t think that sentence was going to end that way.” Paul laughs. “Yeah, we got married in Vegas.”

No shit? Well, that explains some things…

The locker room goes silent for a minute but Brendon can’t stay quiet, so he opens his mouth. “Honestly, did you really think anyone else was going to put up with my shit? Good thing I’ve got a nice ass, huh?”

“New rule!” I announce. “No one talks about their sex lives. No details.”

The entire room says “Agreed” in unison, and Brendon laughs.

“Oh, come on, you sure you don’t want to hear about when Paul jack—” Paul puts his hand over Brendon’s mouth, and everyone groans. Paul grimaces and pulls his hand away, so I assume Brendon bit him.

“Also,” Brendon says as he picks up an adorable white puppy with a brown patch around one eye and ear. “This is Señor Butts.”

“Seymour!” Paul shouts.

“That’s what I said.” Brendon shrugs.

Everyone laughs, a few people go over to meet the adorable puppy, and we go back to celebrating. Seriously, where did they get a dog?

It’s a strange feeling to look around at these guys and know they won’t need me next year. Some of them I’ve known for years, some only a few months, but this is the last time I’ll share the ice with them again.

Hell, I don’t even know what I’m doing after graduation. Maybe I will run into these guys down the road. I hope I do. I know I’ll be watching the games and following their careers. They’ll always be my teammates.