Page 67 of Power Play

“One man would,” I say, and we both know I’m talking about fucking Eric Leray. He shakes his head.

“Who gives a rat’s ass what that tool thinks?” he says. I laugh.

“Nah, it’s not really for him. It’s for me. I just want one last game, and then I’ll hang up the skates,” I tell him. He stands up and puts a hand on my shoulder.

“One last game it is, then.”

A few more hours pass before we’re in the locker room, suiting up. Each of my teammates has come up to me at some point to give me words of wisdom, well wishes, and pump-up speeches, but other than that, I’ve kept to myself. I requested with the PR team to do press after the game and none before. I know I’ll be approached for some retirement segments, but I just want to keep my head in the game.

I lace up my skates, and before I know it, we’re lining up at the entrance to the ice. Coach gives us his speech, and then we’re skating out on the ice for warm-ups. The arena is full. I can’t spot an empty seat in the whole damn place.

I’m skating and stretching, and the crowd is roaring. And as we’re approaching our bench to line up for the anthem, that’s when I see them.

Lo and Harper.

Her dad, and Tyson, and Demi. Even Tate came.

Myfamily.

I skate over to them and knock on the glass. Harper sees me first, and she smiles. She climbs out of Tyson’s lap and rushes to the glass. She presses her hands up against it and smiles. I put mine against hers.

“Thank goodness you’re here,” I tell her. “I can’t play without my good luck charm.”

She smiles, and if it wasn’t so cold, I’d melt.

“I love you, Levi!” she calls, and my heart stops in my chest. I look up at Lo, who looks as astonished as I feel.

“I love you, too, little girl,” I tell her. I wink at her. “I’ll see ya after?”

She nods and scurries back up to the stands, and then Lo looks at me. She stands up, making her way down to me and pressing her hand up against the glass. I press my glove up to it and look at her.

“You got this,” she mouths. I smile.

Maybe not,I think,but I have you.I wink at her and skate away.

As we’re all moving across the ice to get in line, I hear my name being called over the loudspeakers.

“And in his last-ever NHL game, Storm Captain, Levi Buck,” the announcer says, and the crowd goes absolutely apeshit—which is nice, considering it’s not a home crowd. “There he is,” they say, and I look up to see myself on the jumbotron. I wave to the crowd, and the cheering gets louder. “He’s got his family here tonight,” the announcer says, and then a quick shot of the Calways flashes across the screen. And I can’t help but smile.

Yes, I do.

Finally, I’m at center ice, facing none other than Leray him-fucking-self. And then I don’t hear the crowd. I don’t hear the music. I don’t see the lights. I just see him. I hear his breathing. I feel my own heart beating. The ref blows the whistle and drop the puck to the ice, and then everything zaps back to normal. I hear the roaring again. I feel my breath quickening. And I hear the slapping of our sticks. I hit the puck, but as I go for it, Leray takes possession, passing it out to one of his wings.

Fuck.

I race down the ice, catching up with my teammates. Roy defends the goal like a madman, but Tommy Chance, the Drifters' leading scorer, has the puck. And he’s centered right at the goal. Before either of our defensemen can reach him, it’s too late. He raises his stick, slaps the puck, and scores before they even get to him.

Roy slams his fist into the ice as he gets back up.

“Come on, Roy!” I shout. “We got this!”

He nods as we all skate back for the next face-off.

It’s an intense first period, but when the buzzer sounds, the Drifters are up by one goal.

The second period goes off in the same manner. Back and forth, back and forth, but no goals scored on either side. As we’re skating off the ice for intermission, I lock eyes with Harper.

“You can do it, Levi!” she screams at the top of her little lungs. I smile through my panting, grabbing a water bottle as I skate off the ice.

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