Let’s do this.
When the puck drops, though, Ohio State takes it with ease, which pisses me the fuck off. I hate losing the face-offs, but I don’t have time to dwell on it before I’m poke-checking the puck out of the guy’s possession and right onto Gordon’s stick. Gordon carries the puck into their zone quickly, dekeing around the offense before sending it back to Drake. He only holds it for a second before he sends it to Markus as I rush the net. Moving with the puck, hoping to block the goalie’s view, I watch as Markus sends it to Drake, who sends it to Marty, who then shoots. It rebounds. I try to get to it, but the defense beats me to it, trying to clear it out, but Drake is there, stopping it and shooting once more.
But it’s batted away right onto Gordon’s stick. He shoots; it’s blocked to my left. Markus shoots, and the goalie moves to the left. But it goes over him and the bar, hitting the glass and bouncing right onto my stick.
And I have a wide-open goal.
Sending it to the back of the net with ease, I throw my arms up in the air as our fight song sounds and my team wraps me up in a big hug.
“That’s one!” Markus yells happily as we tap helmets.
“Let’s do it again!” I yell and they all rally as we head to the bench for the next shift to go on. When I look up to my family, they are all losing their shit. And in the middle is Avery, with a huge grin on her face and a sign that says, “My boyfriend is better than yours!” in her hands.
For some reason, that sign is better than the goal I just scored.
We win the first game four to one, but it should have been a shutout. Unfortunately, one of our guys tipped the puck in over Trevor’s shoulder, which I hate. No big deal, it happens, but at least we won. After showering and rallying with the boys, all of us hoping to continue kicking ass, I head out into the tunnel leading to the lobby where my family is waiting. As excited as I am to see them, and Avery, I’m worried about seeing my dad. I blocked him out of my mind when I was on the ice, but now that I’m heading down the tunnel, uneasiness is settling in the pit of my gut.
This is probably going to be a shitshow.
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Markus walks with me, a grin on his face because we both scored two each tonight. “So I’m pretty sure I’m going to out-goal you this year. Just a warning.”
I grin. “It’s good to believe in yourself, bro. Just keep doing that.”
He grins back. “Keep on, bro. And when I bypass you and get my own banner, we’ll see who’s encouraging the other to believe in themselves.”
I punch him playfully in the arm, and he laughs as we make it into the lobby. “I’ll come over and say hi to your mom in a minute. Let me go keep my mom and dad from killing each other.”
“May the force be with you.”
He shakes his head ruefully as he goes left toward where his parents are ignoring each other. Being the only child in that family has to suck, but Markus takes it in stride. He shouldn’t have to, though. But I do envy him, because instead of just two people hating each other, I have to contend with six, eight if you add in my sisters-in-law. Oh, joy. My stomach is in knots as I head to where my family usually stands. When I reach them, they are all talking, joking around. But when I get there, Jude puts me in a headlock while Jayden drops an elbow in my back.
“You think you’re good, hot shit,” Jude says, squeezing my head as Jayden’s hard-ass elbow digs into my back.
“Scoring like an asshole. Give the rest of the team a chance, puck hog,” Jayden teases before dropping both his elbows into my back.
“Mom! Make them stop!” I complain, but all I hear is laughter as they continue to beat me up. When I finally get away, my mom pulls me into her arms and glares at them.
“Leave my baby alone,” she scolds before kissing my head. “You did great, sweetie.”
“Yeah, sweetie, you did great,” Jayden chortles.
“I wish I was you, baby,” Jude teases and Claire smacks him.
“Leave him alone. You did great, Jace.”
“Thanks,” I say, meeting Avery’s gaze. Her eyes are dancing with laughter, her cheeks red from grinning. I’m convinced I’ll never see anyone as gorgeous as her. She pulled her hair to the side, braiding it down her shoulder, and I love how the wisps of hair are framing her face. Most of all, I love her smile. She looks happy, and that’s all I want.
Breaking from my mom’s grip, I take Avery in my arms, kissing her cheek. “I’m amazing, right?”
She lets out a long breath and nods. “As much as it pains me to tell you you were right, you were. Amazing doesn’t even cover how awesome you did.”
“That’s right,” I say, gesturing toward Jude and Jayden. “You guys better watch out—I’m coming.”
They blow raspberries at me, waving me off as Avery kisses my jaw.
“Full of himself,” Jude accuses, and yeah, I am, because I’m fucking awesome.