Erik smiles, but his expression is still confused. “That’s great and all…but not sure I’m following you.”
“It’s gone and I think that has everything to do with you,” I tell him, and his eyes soften with understanding. He presses his lips to my forehead. “And sometimes, realizing that…it just overpowers me. In the very best of ways, but to where I might need to collect myself for a few moments before I find myself sobbing with joy or something. And that’s why I’m out here.”
Erik’s arms wrap around me, and he pulls me in tight for an embrace that embodies everything about how secure I feel with him.
Resting his cheek on the top of my head, he tells me, “If it makes you feel any better, you overwhelm me too. Like you said, in the best of ways.”Chapter 23ErikI’m not going to be able to figure out what happened until I can see the game footage, but as the net is dislodged and I watch the two players grapple on the ice, I know our chances of winning this game against my former Demons team are down the drain.
We had a chance to tie it up. We were down 3–2 with a minute and ten left on the clock. Coach Perron waved Legend off the ice and the minute he cleared it, we put an extra forward out there. With our net empty, we were up a man in their zone and we were working hard to put the puck in the net so we could tie it up and force overtime.
Dax, Tacker, and Bishop have provided as good an offensive line as you can find in the league these days. I take the right-side point and our other defenseman, Carter Frost, positions himself in front of the net as a screen. The extra forward, a young rookie by the name of Guy Demere, also sets up in front of the net where a vicious pushing match ensues to clear line of sight for the Demons goalie.
Tacker moves to the right side just below me, while Bishop takes the center position near the blue line. Dax takes the left, and as anticipated, because Tacker is our best player, the Demons line as a whole drifts right when he gets the puck rather than hold their positions.
From here, the play is simple and we’ve practiced it together hundreds of times. Tacker should pass to Bishop, who passes it right back to Tacker, keeping the Demons defense right-side heavy. It would then go back to Bishop who will quickly unload it left to Dax.
If all goes according to plan, Guy is screening the goalie and Dax is already winding up his slap shot when Bishop starts to pass it. If it’s done fast enough, it should rocket into the net with no Demon being the wiser.
But that’s not what happens. One of the Demons defensemen, Lars Nilsson—who is actually a good buddy of mine as we played three years together—rushes Tacker and starts a shoving match with him. He cross-checks Tacker in the chest. Tacker gives it right back to him. It disrupts the play, causing us to shift over to the left side until Tacker can sort that shit out.
The puck goes from Bishop to Dax, who considers a shot then reconsiders, passing it across the ice to me. I glance to Tacker, and he’s all tied up with Nilsson. I glance back to Dax and that’s when all hell breaks loose.
Somehow, Tacker and Nilsson end up on the ice with Tacker on top. Nilsson is facedown, pinned under Tacker’s weight and I get a glimpse of my teammate’s face. It’s full of rage.
Tacker’s stick is across Nilsson’s lower back, pinning him down. I grimace when Tacker brings up a leg and presses his shin against the back of the dude’s neck. The refs and even the linesmen rush in to pull the players apart, whistles blowing the stoppage in play, but before they can reach them, Tacker cocks his leg back and viciously knees Nilsson in the head.
He then does it again and I see Nilsson’s eyes roll up into the back of his head.
Tacker is torn off the top of Nilsson, not by the refs, but by two other Demons who I know are going to beat the shit out of our captain and best player. None of us waste any time, skating at top speed to join the fray.
There’s several moments of flying fists, F-bombs, and new threats being made. Understanding that Tacker is the catalyst to this brawl, the refs zero in on him and manage to pull him free. He’s pushed by one official right toward the door that leads off the ice to the locker room, indicating that he’s being ejected for a game misconduct penalty.