Page 11 of The Love Penalty

I can’t even lie, it stung to hear her say that. In my mind, I thought we were on our way to becoming friends. I thought I would impress her tonight with my charming personality and some light banter, and then I would ask her out for a drink afterwards. I have so many questions for her.

Why did she choose to become a referee? Does she play hockey? Who’s her favorite player? Favorite team?

That conversation we just had was the bucket of ice water I needed dumped on my head to bring me back to reality. She’s right, too. She doesn’t need me intervening in any conflicts, andI don’t need to be thinking about her when I’m out on the ice. I need my head in the game.

“Hey man, are you good?” Elias asks as we get on the ice and prepare for the third period.

“Yeah, just got distracted for a moment.” I shake myself out and give him a smile right before he skates away to get to the net. I see Ashton and Jordan skating up to me.

“Got any plans after the game?” I ask them.

“Bedtime,” Jordan says at the same time Ashton replies, “Going out.”

I shake my head, but before I can chastise him, he says, “In my defense, I’ve cut way back on the drinking. And I’m only going out to see some old friends in town.” Since he used to play for the Vermont team, he knows a lot of people in the area. Even some of the Vortices players are old friends of his. Not the nicest guys in the world, but they’re not the scum of the earth like Mitchell, so I guess there’s that.

“Alright man, just be safe,” I say.

“Thanks, Grandpa,” Ashton says as we get in position to start the period.

The last periodhas been shit, but we are almost done with only 2 minutes left on the clock. The linesmen call so many offsides and icings that we barely have time to gain momentum on the play. Ashton gets another 2 minutes in the penalty box for holding Mitchell, and Jordan gets checked so hard he has to go down the tunnel and effectively sit out the rest of the game. Hopefully he’s just rattled and it’s not a concussion or anything worse.

Vortices player #15 got a minor penalty for verbally abusing Olivia, and after he continued to do it, he got ejected from the game. While I understand her frustration with him, I think that was a bad call. Now the rest of his team is angry and fueled up.

Since we iced the puck, the play starts in our defensive zone. At the face-off, the Vortices get control of the puck and they pass it to Mitchell who is close to the net. He catches it and shoots at Elias, but the rebound bounces off. As Elias dives for it, Mitchell slashes at his stick and knocks it out of his hand, then shoots the puck in the net.

Olivia immediately blows the whistle and all hell breaks loose. She calls out goalie interference and announces no goal, but Mitchell is not having it. He’s yelling out that the goal was valid and pushes Elias. That’s all we need for us to jump on him. No one touches our goalie.

Elias falls into the net and we take Mitchell down almost immediately, but more Vortices players join the scuffle. The linesmen are there to break us up, but this fight has been brewing all night and we are not stopping. Mitchell and another guy drop their gloves and start fighting with two of our Manticores, one of them being Ashton.

Ash and Mitchell are both circling each other and taking cheap shots, but when Mitchell’s fist makes contact with Ashton’s jaw, he gains the advantage and takes him down, getting a few more punches in. Olivia and the other ref start to lead both of them to the penalty box. She has a firm hand on Ash and he’s clutching his nose, which may be bleeding.

I’m skating behind them so I can clearly hear Ashton and Mitchell swearing and yelling at each other but I don’t hear what Olivia says to Mitchell. Whatever it is, it makes him rip out of the other ref’s grip and turn, fist raised up as if he’s about to hit. I can’t tell if he means to hit Ashton or Olivia. Regardless, I can’t allow either of them to be hurt any more by this asshole, so I stepin. Right as I do, I feel his fist collide with my face and my head snaps to the side. I can taste the blood in my mouth, but as much as I want to retaliate, I decide to take the high road. There are so many penalties being handed out after this fight, there’s no reason for me to get one too.

Before he can take another shot at me, the two linesmen and the ref escort him to the tunnel. He’s out. Olivia takes Ashton to our tunnel as well, then returns to discuss the penalties being handed out.

We get two penalties courtesy of Ashton for fighting and unsportsmanlike conduct. The Vortices get three penalties on account of Mitchell for goaltender interference, fighting, and unsportsmanlike conduct.

A minute and a half left in the game and we are 3 vs 2 on the ice. In this scenario I usually have Ashton and Jordan here with me, but with them out of the game, I have another forward and defenseman assist me in the play. The Vortices pull their goalie to get an extra player and make it even, but thankfully, we keep the pressure off of our net. I score an empty net goal and we manage to run out the clock for the remaining thirty seconds. When the buzzer goes off, the victory, if we can even call it that, is ours.

TEN

Olivia

Tonight’s gamehad more penalties and fights than usual. The other officials and I discuss this in the locker room as we take off our equipment and get ready to leave. I wait until the guys have finished with their showers and then take mine. There is so much adrenaline still coursing through me, I feel like my whole body is buzzing.

While I shower, I can’t stop thinking about the interaction with Mitchell. One second, I was telling them both to stop talking and to just leave the game, and the next I saw Mitchell whirling around, ready to hit. I can’t know for certain if he was going to hit me or Ashton, but from his angle and position so close to me, I can only assume that hit was meant for me. Except Robbie was there. Why would he jump in like that?

I can’t imagine he’d do it to protect me. Not after I told him I could handle myself and that he could basically fuck off. But he did protect me, whether it was intentional or not. For that, at least, he deserves a proper thank you and maybe an apology. I kept thinking the worst of him, but the truth is, he’s a reallydecent guy. I’ve noticed that he always has his teammates’ backs, and if anyone runs into the refs or linesmen, he’s there to make sure they are okay. Maybe having someone like that as a friend would not be the worst thing in the world.

By the time I am all packed up and trying to leave the arena, my mind is made up. I need to talk to Robbie.

I don’t have any way to contact him so I decide to wait outside the arena by the player’s entrance. The players usually take longer to finish up as they sometimes have a team dinner inside the arena, but that’s not always the case. I’m hoping I didn’t miss him.

After twenty minutesand lots of odd looks from players and coaches exiting the arena, I finally see Robbie come out.

“Robbie!” I say, loud enough he should hear me. But he doesn’t. He also doesn’t look around, he just takes off at a fast pace. I follow him and call out once again, “Robbie, can we talk?”

He’s looking at his phone and shaking his head, and with that motion I see he has headphones in. Well, so much for hearing me, I guess. I pick up the pace, but the man has long legs. I almost have to jog to catch up.

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