a small ‘I’ in the middle. We took things slowly, worked our line, got pucks past a posturing Colorado, and caught him on the ass with the last one.
I just wanted him to know we were there.
Then we were off the ice, and I was gratified at least that the arena had filled some more. It could be the draw was seeing Ryker the upcoming bright star of the NHL, or Vlad the icy D-man with his flawless hockey, or maybe it was to support Henry. Hell, but maybe, they were here to see me as well. They might not care about the lies on the television show, or the implication I’d cheated on Lacey, or physically hurt her, maybe they just wanted to watch hockey.
Then I saw the one sign that I wished I hadn’t spotted. A huge one of me and Lacey. And a huge jagged line down the middle, and the words were simple. Tate sucks!
Great.
We headed to the locker room for the short time before the game, I was between Sam and Henry, and somehow I was deflated, and I couldn’t help seeing some of the glances sent my way. No one had come up to me at any point since I arrived in Arizona and asked if what Lacey was saying was true, no one wanted to know specifics why Dallas had traded me. No one cared enough to ask, but I was sure they were judging me in their silence.
“Guys…” I began, but Ryker stick tapped my leg.
“Fuck that shit, Tate, let’s take the Suns down.”
The tension was high, but when Colorado began singing ‘Don’t let the sun go down on me’, with accompanying lewd hands movements, everyone laughed.
I hovered near the back of the line. I’d always been one of the first on the ice back at Dallas, but here, I was making a new path for myself, and I didn’t believe in the luck thing as much as some of the others here.
“I go last,” Vlad said, in that soft accented, yet stern way of his.
“I’ll take second last,” I suggested, and no one else jumped up and demanded they wanted that space because it was their lucky space. A muscle twitched in Vlad’s temple, and I wasn’t stupid; I could see he had something to say about that, but the line moved as each player hit the ice and whatever he was going to say was lost in the cheers of the crowd.
Hitting the cold stuff for real was like being home, the speed, the life I felt when I was skating was my happy place. Ryker’s line peeled off, along with Vlad and Eli, plus Colorado standing in net, the rest of us headed for the bench and remained standing while Mitzy J, a local mall singer, took us through the national anthem. I bowed my head in respect and my heart swelled as the six thousand or so fans sang along.
In Dallas, I would’ve been the one out there on the ice for the anthem, first line, standing and representing the team. Here, it was all about me on the benches, waiting for my turn. I was integral to the penalty kill, then I would be playing alongside Ryker, but for now I was waiting with Henry and Sam.
The horn sounded and it was game on.
Ryker was fast, the whole JAR line in sync from the first moment, but the Suns had a D pair all over them, and that was the way it worked. They put the best defense out for the hottest players, but maybe with me in the second line, that would split their D. I was better than Ryker, I knew that, everyone knew that, faster, I could see things that others missed, and maybe that would work in our favor.
I wanted that first line, I wanted an A on my chest, I wanted the Raptors to get to the cup finals, and I was going to help take them there.
I will prove that I’m a good player.
And a good man.
As soon as Henry, Sam and I were over the boards we were hassled and hustled, and I got the sense Henry was nervous, while on the other hand, Sam was like an exuberant puppy. The sync wasn’t there yet, but we managed a shot on goal and, but for a slight deflection off a Suns defenseman’s stick, that would have been our first goal.
The next time we went over, Henry was all about the