Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
“Had a rough couple of days,” he says, smiling.
“Did she tie you up for that?” Matthew asks him, and he just shakes his head.
“You aren’t the only one who cuffs people to the bed,” he says, and Max hits his knee, laughing.
“Laugh all you want; she married me,” Matthew says to everyone.
“She’s so lucky,” one of the guys says, and Matthew glares at him.
“You boys get it all out of your system. We have to go out there and smoke those bastards,” Matthew says. “Losing isn’t an option tonight.”
I get dressed for my pre-game workout, and it goes smoothly. So does getting dressed and heading out to the ice. I skate on and do the turn of the net, then go to the ice where I see Phil giving Michael and Jack a high-five.
I spot Denise standing next to them, and Matthew ribs Max for her wearing my shirt. I stand here just smiling, thinking she’s fucking mine.
I laugh while I skate off the ice from warm-up and spot Olivier who just nods at me. “I’ve already informed the media you aren’t giving interviews even after the game.”
“Thank you,” I say to him, “for everything.”
“It’s what I do,” he says. “Now, don’t give me any more work.” He winks at me and walks away.
I walk into the room, sitting down and drinking some water. I get up when they tell me it’s time; we all line up, and I have Matthew in front of me and Max behind me. Matthew looks behind him. “Whatever you do, try to keep your head in the game.”
“Always,” I say, zoning out the media, Chantal, and Colton. I zone out everything when my skates touch the ice. I skate to the blue line and go around in a circle; the banging of the crowd fills my mind as the puck drops, and Matthew wins the face-off.
He passes to Max, and I slowly skate up, my eyes never really leaving the puck. He skates across Arizona’s blue line where he tries to pass it to Phil on the other side, but it gets intercepted, when Darryl, the right-wing, poke checks it. Colton and Drew both now skate forward. When Nathan gets tripped up, and it’s now a two on one with Colton and Drew skating up on me. Drew skates up with the puck while I skate backward, and he passes it to Colton.
Colton drives up the ice, and I know he’s an asshole puck hog, so I know there isn’t any way he’s going to pass that puck, especially if he can take one up on me. I move backward, but at a slower pace, and when I skate over the blue line, he’s so concentrated on my speed he doesn’t realize I’ve given my team time to get back. Max surprises him from the back, picking up his stick as I move forward and grab the puck, zipping past their defense as I make my way to the net, the adrenaline in me pushing and pumping through me as I swing up my arm and just shoot on net, not expecting anything but my shot catches him on his blocker side as he tries to raise his arm, but it slides under his arm, hitting the back of the net.
The red siren goes off in the back of the net, and the crowd goes wild, jumping to their feet. Max is the first to get to me followed by Matthew and Phil.
“Well, that shows them,” Max says to me as we skate to our bench and celebrate by high-fiving everyone. The rest of the game is smooth sailing. Colton doesn’t even get a shot on net, and we skate off the ice, giving Mark a shutout.
I get back to the room, grabbing my phone when I see that Denise sent me a text.
I’ll wait for you by the car.
I smile at the text and hurry up; the press comes in and a couple of them ask me the dreaded question.
“How did it feel to face your old team?”
I smile at the question. “It was good to touch base with a couple of them. I enjoyed my time in Arizona, but my home is now here.”
“There has been talk about a divorce,” one of the female reporters starts asking me, and I just nod my head.
“Thanks for your time,” I tell them and walk to the shower, and when I peek my head in, the reporters are all gone. I say goodbye to a couple of the guys who are still here.
Walking in the hallway, I pass a couple of my old teammates. They are all cordial, which makes what I have here in New York so much more. It’s such a different type of team, and I’m thankful that I got the better end of the stick. I walk down to my car and spot Denise talking to Max.