“Hey babe.” Chase’s voice was low.
“Hi!” I exclaimed. “I was just thinking about you.”
I could hear Chase smiling as he whispered, “I am hiding in the locker room bathroom, just wanted to hear your voice before I hit the ice for warmups.”
“I love you baby and thanks for calling. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow.”
“I love you too, and don’t forget we have that party at Gavin Hayes’ place tomorrow night for the start of season.”
I had totally forgotten in light of recent circumstances. “How could I forget?” I lied through my teeth.
“I can’t wait to show you off to my teammates babe. I’ll call you later.”
“Sounds good.”
Chapter 12
Chase
Hearing Nikki’svoice was the fuel I needed to put a fire in my belly. The team was getting riled up in the locker room when I made my way back to them.
“What are we going to do tonight, boys?” Coach yelled over the loud room.
“Go for the net!” we called back.
“Crosby, what are you going to do?” Gavin screamed into our goalie’s face.
“Keep my fucking glove up!” he hollered back.
“What are we going to do tonight, boys?” Coach howled again.
“Give ‘em hell!” We roared.
“Fuck, yeah, we are!” Gavin yelled before starting to lead us out of the locker room.
The life force that was emanating from the hyped nucleus of our team was intoxicating.
Brayden came up next to me. “Preseason is a lot of fun, Harding. Enjoy yourself out there tonight.”
“Thanks man.” We bumped sticks and it was time to head out into enemy territory.
We made our way into the barn, and the roar of the fans as they leapt to their feet was deafening. This was it, and I was shitting bricks. I needed to put my game face on, but I was intimidated as all hell. The roaring fans, the blaring horns, the cold air, the flashing lights, the opposing team—it all swallowed me whole.
I shook my head a few times before leaping out onto the ice to follow my guys into the rink. As we skated around, taking a few shots on the goal, I started to feel more and more in my element.
Once the first period was almost over, Coach called for a change and it was my time to jump into the action. There was no time to think—it was fucking show time.
I skated backward, protecting our goal from an enforcer, a short stocky motherfucker who looked like he wanted to eat my face off. He grunted and tried to shoot past me to get to the net, but I threw my shoulder into his chest and he flew toward the boards. Right as his body connected to the glass of the boards, it shattered around him, and glass flew everywhere. I had never seen anything like it. The defender was on the ground gasping for air as a ref rushed to his side.
“Holy shit, rookie!” Crosby yelled over at me. “Remind me to never get on your fucking bad side.”
I skated over to the penalty box as Gavin started to talk to the other ref. I could barely hear him as he asked, “Why is my man getting penalized for shoddy craftsmanship? That was a clean check.”
The whistle blew and I was fine with taking my two minutes in timeout. Even though I was impressed with myself, I was worried the other player had been seriously hurt. He skated off the ice and everything seemed to be fine, and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
* * *
“And tonight’sholy fuck moment goes to Harding! Who knew our rookie was such a beast!” Brayden yelled over the celebration we were having in the locker room after our first win. Even though it was preseason, a win felt good as fuck.