Back Check (Aces Hockey #4)(14)

 

The Colorado Blades warmed up at the other end, music blasting, the stands just starting to fill with fans. The scrape of steel on ice, the smack of a puck on a taped blade, the ping of rubber off the goalpost were all so familiar, yet still invigorated him. This was when he needed to focus, not be thinking of Katelyn Medford and her beautiful eyes.

 

She'd said she wasn't interested in hockey. She lied.

 

She'd come to all his games when they'd started seeing each other, and they'd watched NHL games on TV. She'd asked a million questions and he'd patiently explained the game to her. She was a smart cookie and by the end of that season she knew more about hockey than any other girlfriend.

 

A puck sailed past him and he jerked out of his memories. Fuck! Focus, man. They had a game to play-a game to win-and he had contract negotiations happening. He needed to be sharp.

 

-

 

They won four-two.

 

"Good effort from everyone," Duper said in the dressing room after, celebratory music playing. "Four goals from four different guys. Shut down their power play. Way to contribute."

 

Media guys came in and started asking questions, mostly interested in Duper, Army, Rupp, and Boosh, the guys who'd scored the goals, but Tanner was getting some attention because of a crazy save he'd made late in the third when the Blades were coming back with some pressure. That asshole Tolomey had planted himself in front of Stoyker, who gave him a shove just as the puck came sliding through the crease. Tanner had snapped his stick out to keep it from entering the net.

 

"Let's talk about that amazing save you made," Mike Jones said.

 

Tanner resisted an eye roll. Why did all the reporters start off with that "let's talk" invitation instead of asking an actual question.

 

"Yeah, that was pretty lucky," he began. "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Overall, it was a great team effort tonight."

 

He spewed a few other clichés, then gave a brief smile and a "my pleasure" in response to Jones' "thank you."

 

Dressed in athletic shorts and a T-shirt, he drank a protein shake and cooled down on the bike for a few minutes, then went to the foam rollers the trainers had them using.

 

"Fuck, these things are torture devices," he ground out between gritted teeth as he rolled his hip over the cylinder.

 

"I know, right?" Army was sprawled out, massaging his adductors. "Christ Jesus."

 

"Suck it up, buttercups!" Cal yelled. "This will help your mobility and flexibility-prevent injuries." He paced around them. "The skating stride is a unique athletic movement-at the end of a stride, your groin muscle is elongated and rotated, then it contracts and pulls your leg back to midline. It happens hundreds of times during a game. You need to do this."

 

"All righty." Tanner sucked it up and did his hamstrings. He bitched and complained, but looking after his body was important to him. He knew the frustration of being out of the game, how much it sucked watching from the press box. He sure as hell didn't want to be injured.

 

After showering and dressing in their game-day suits, some of the guys headed across the hall to the Aces Ladies' lounge, where the wives and girlfriends hung out before and after the game and between periods. Some of the single guys-Pilker, Rico, Bomber, and Boosh-were going to the Sin Bin. Apparently Rupper had texted Duper that he'd be there around eleven if anyone wanted to come by for cigars.

 

So what the hell, Tanner tagged along. Duper and Army showed up too, and then new dad Rupper arrived, looking tired but beaming like crazy. After they'd all congratulated him with bro shakes and backslaps, he handed out cigars.

 

 

 

        

          

        

         

 

"We watched the game tonight," he said. "Sid's got a TV in her room. Aubree loved it."

 

Tanner laughed. "Right."

 

"No, really, she was fascinated. She's not like a normal newborn. She's totally with it."

 

Tanner shook his head, amused at his teammate's infatuation with his new daughter.

 

"When does Sidney come home?" Duper asked.

 

"Maybe tomorrow. They want to make sure the breast-feeding is going okay."

 

"Ah." All the guys made the same noise and expression.

 

"Yep." Rupper sighed. "Those boobs are no longer mine. But it's all good. Aubree's more important right now."

 

"That's what fatherhood is all about," Duper said with a grin. "Sacrifices."

 

Rupper fist-bumped him.