When I meet up with them about an hour later Phil is in front of his hook stretching.
“I swear Aly looks different,” he says to Matthew, who is taping up his hockey stick. I don’t say anything as I go to sit down, finishing off my protein shake. “I saw her before and she’s glowing.”
“I think she’s in love,” Matthew says, not looking at anyone. “She left the family for the first time ever to spend Christmas with this punk,” Matthew says and I take my T-shirt off.
“Do you know who he is?” Phil asks while Matthew shakes his head. “You think it’s someone we know?”
“Nah,” Matthew says. “No way anyone is that stupid that they are going to go and date my sister.” He puts his stick down. “I’m sure he’s some stockbroker or something, maybe even a banker who doesn’t get his hands dirty. Fuck, he probably doesn’t even know what hockey is.”
“Knock, knock, knock.” I hear Allison’s voice at the door as she holds her hands in front of her eyes. “Please put all penises away. I’m coming in.”
I laugh and Matthew groans.
“Three, two, one,” she says as she opens the door. “Hey, everyone, just checking in to let you know that everything is set up for Buffalo. We will be having the team dinner with whatever families make it down. All rooms have been booked and they are officially sold out, so if you didn’t get an extra room and you needed it you’re shit out of luck. We leave as soon as the game ends, so if your family is not coming on the plane but meeting you there, please make sure to tell me so I can have some extra cards made for you.”
Phil raises his hand. “You bringing your plus one, Aly?” he asks with a big ass smile while Matthew glares at him.
“You never know, maybe he just might show up.” She shrugs her shoulders. “I mean, I need to have someone to kiss at midnight.” She shakes her head, smiling.
Charles and Nico, both rookies, raise their hands.
“I can help.” Charles smiles while Matthew throws his roll of tape in his face. “Ouch, I don’t want her to feel left out.”
I snort, get up, and start putting my things on. “The only thing you need to worry about is getting your ass on that ice and making a difference,” I tell them both, pointing at them. “Head in the game.”
“Okay, well, this was fun. See you guys after the game.” She nods and ducks out.
I close off the chatter and get myself ready for the game and dreading the fact that we are leaving again tonight. I get ready and am bouncing on my skates by the time it is ready to skate.
“I’m so fucking tired,” Matthew says. “All this holiday bullshit and the eating. I am ready to sleep for a whole nine hours without someone kneeing me in the balls.” He runs out to skate.
I follow suit, hearing the fans cheer. I look around, seeing that the arena is only half full for now, which isn’t new since it’s pre-game. I skate out, testing my blades, going left to right as I look up at the families pouring in now. I see Allison by the glass again, with Matthew’s kids. I skate to the glass as little Vivienne smacks the glass while Allison stands behind her. I put my glove on the glass while she hits it, as I wink at Allison and she whispers something in her ear, then the little girl blows me a kiss. I throw my head back and laugh as Matthew pushes me out of the way.
“Stop trying to get my girl to send you kisses.”
I laugh at him. “I was just standing here. She was the one who sent the kisses.” I take off then, accepting the pass from Luka in front of the goal where it lands on the back of my blade and I tip it up over his pad.
“Fuck you!” he yells as he slams his stick down.
The game is pretty slow for both teams, both of us just basically figure skating and not even caring, till they snow Luka in the face after the whistle. I knock the guy back and the referee calls a penalty for me, leaving the fans to boo. I sit out in the box for two minutes, but my team doesn’t let me down by scoring a short-handed goal. One of the rookies, Nico, taps in a rebound. When I finally get out of the box and get back on the bench he leans in.
“How’s that for making a difference?” He smirks at me as I squirt him in the face with my water from the bottle in front of me. By the time the end of the game comes around, we skate off with a victory. I take my gloves off, tossing them in my travel bag in front of my bench, taking off my jersey, and tossing it in the big basket in the middle of the room.