I went to my ass as Greeley and I tangled up. He said something. Not sure what. Whatever it was it was snarky so I punched him in the head while we were kissing the in-net camera. He punched me back. Vlad arrived and pulled Greeley out of the net by a leg and then hit him in the face with a massive fist. Then shit went all kinds of sideways. I managed to get to my skates and find the referee while he was smashed between Alex and a Winnipeg winger tugging each other’s helmets off.
“He knocked me off my skates! That’s interference!” I shouted at anyone in black and white. None of them were listening. All four of the officials were too busy breaking up the massive scrum taking place in my crease. “Hey! That shit-face fuck ran my net. He totally inhibited my chance to make the save by cramming his ugly self into my net. No way that is a legit goal!”
“Penn, back the fuck up!” Mike Gallo, one of the linesmen barked then fell to his ass when Ryker tried to knock the smirk off a big Winnipeg D-man.
“But this is horseshit! That was interference! What are you looking at, Cookie?” I glowered at the Winnipeg captain, Brandon Cooke.
“Some lame ass Michael Bublé,” he tossed back.
I threw my helmet at him and we went at it. Winnipeg had pissed me off since the first puck drop and that Bublé crack was below the fucking belt. It was kind of fun, actually, beating on Cooke’s back. Then he whipped me to the ice and hit me in the face a few dozen times. Everything got kind of blurry and not fun then, but someone pulled him off of me. Not sure who. I rolled to avoid another fist and got a glimpse of our head coach and the Waves head coach throwing Gatorade bottles at each other.
When it was all said and done the penalty boxes were full and both head coaches had been ejected from the game. Which left an unhappy Coach Anderson running the lines, and she was not being kind. I’d been sent to the locker room for medical attention and was now getting my cheek taped up as the final minutes of the first period trickled down. When it ended we were down 3-0, which sucked hairy rhino balls. Winnipeg was not a team to fall behind to but there we were. I heard the guys thundering past the trainer’s office. My face hurt really bad, and the knot on the back of my head was thumping a steady metal beat.
“… out of your asses and focus on why we’re here!” Coach Anderson was bellowing as they filed into the away dressing room. She stuck her head around the door to glare at me. “Can he play?”
“He didn’t pass concussion protocol, so no,” Craig replied, calm as you please.
“I can play! It was one stupid question!” I said around the trainer who hissed at me to sit still.
“I asked you what your name was and you said Joe Perry. Now sit still. I really think this should have stitches.”
“Okay, thanks Craig.” Off Coach Anderson went.
“Wait! I can play! I can! I know who I am, I was just a little fuzzy but I’m fine. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!”
The rest of the game kind of turned into a shit fest of the highest caliber. We ended up being spanked royally by the Waves with a final score of 7-1. It was humiliating. I slogged my way to my hotel room, feeling as low as a man could feel, and called home. They’d be a few hours behind us so everyone should be up still. I needed to see Maddie Boo and talk to Joe for a bit. When he answered the call he asked for a video call. His gasp upon seeing me made me wince, which then caused me to growl in pain.
“Pro tip coming at you, never fight a dude who’s tied with Rick Tocchet in PIM,” I groaned as I crawled over my bed then gently eased myself down into the mattress.
“I don’t know who that is or what you’re even talking about but your face looks like you ran into a wall.”
“I kind of did. How’s everyone? Is Nat doing better? Are she and Emma settling in?”
“She’s okay. Her sugar has been good. She’s just so sad. I… I can’t stop staring at your face.”
“Bet you say that to all the boys.” I smiled. Ouch. God I ached. All over. Would I even be able to kiss Joe when we got home?
“Are you sure you’re okay with them coming here?” He moved to the right to tend to something, and then there was my reason for living in his arms. Maddie was sleepy, her little bow mouth was pursed as if she were sucking but there was no bottle. My arms felt empty, so did my heart. I was hurting inside and out. I wanted to be held like she was, and by the same person.
“Yeah, I want them there. Man, for such a smart dude you’re awfully slow.”
His lips flattened. “I’ll let that go because you’re obviously in great pain.”
“Yeah Winnipeg is bestial.”
That was not a lie. The Waves took
