“What point?”
“It’s a hockey game,” I explain. “People are here to have fun, not be looked down on by grown ass men who take the game way too seriously.”
Sarah snorts and Bethany throws her hands up, knowing there’s no use in arguing with me.
I lean back in my seat, a triumphant smile quickly taking over.
Bethany, not wanting to break up any more potential fights, suggests that we wait for the majority of people to file out of the arena. Once she decides we’re “safe” to go, I slip my purse onto my shoulder, nudging Sarah and Bethany to follow me away from the exit.
“Where are we going?” Bethany asks when the realization hits.
I shrug my shoulders. “I always go see my dad after a game.”
Usually that involves Amiyah, but she decided that studying for her chemistry exam was more important than coming to the game tonight.
As we finish walking down the stairs, Josh, the assistant coach, is quick to spot us. He doesn’t move from his place on the players’ bench where he’s gathering up extra equipment, but he does smile and wave.
“Hey, Joshey.” I lean against the plexiglass, standing near the entryway of the bench. “I see you’re still doing the job of two people.”
We both look over to where the team manager, Steven, is talking to a few girls who clearly don’t want to be talking to him. They try to inch toward the exit but Steven is quick to invite them to an afterparty and when that doesn’t work, he flat-out offers them weed.
Despite this, Josh has the nerve to say, “He’s not a bad kid.”
He says it in a way that makes me believe he’s trying to convince himself more than me.
“No,” I laugh. “But I think he’s high ninety-nine percent of the time. I’m surprised my dad has kept him around this long.”
Josh snorts, dropping a bag of pucks into a canvas bag, the Griffins logo on the front. “You and I both know that your dad doesn’t concern himself with anything other than coaching those boys. I don’t even think he knows Steven’s name.”
Josh is on the younger side, mid-thirties I believe he told me once, so it’s easier for my dad to get him to do the things he doesn’t want to do, which right now looks like doing Steven’s job.
“Sounds about right.” I smile. “Where is the old man anyways?” I look around, realizing I don’t see him on the ice or on the bench.
Besides Josh in the players’ bench, school journalists interviewing a few of the players off to the side, and a few students still lingering, the rink arena is empty.
“Pretty sure he’s in the locker room chewing some asses.”
I nod my head and push off the board. “Thanks. See ya, Joshey.”
“Later, D.”
I guide Bethany and Sarah toward the hallway that leads to the locker rooms, having to squeeze past a few players who have yet to hit the showers. Some of the guys wave at me but they don’t try to start a conversation. My dad made sure that the second Amiyah and I started showing up to practices and games, that the guys knew we were his daughters.
He said it was so none of the players “tried anything.”
My dad’s words, not mine.
“We’re going in?” Bethany asks in disbelief.
Sarah and I both snort. “You’d love that, wouldn’t you?”
Bethany smacks my arm but doesn’t do anything to deny it. I swat her hands away, laughing. “No, we’re just going to wait in my dad’s office.”
The further we walk down the hallway, the more I’m able to make out a few voices coming from the end of it. I stop in my tracks when I see Lucas in front of a camera, alongside who I’m guessing to be one of the school’s journalists.
Lucas says something into the microphone and the brunette journalist laughs. Even the guy behind the camera smiles.
Jesus Christ, you would think this guy was a messiah or something. He moves around a rink and shoots goals. He’s not out saving lives.