Page 52 of One Shot

“Dude,” Liam hits me on the back, “What’s up?”

“Nothing.” I run both hands through my sweaty hair, but I know they see through my laidback façade.

“We all know Mitchell is a fuck up and deserves much worse than what you said,” Tyler speaks up, “but that’s unlike you. What’s going on?”

“Stay out of it, Tyler. You’re the reason she’s going on a date and my head’s all over the place.”

“Is this about Laur? Really? Dude, come on. I didn’t think you were really interested. She’s one of my best friends. I—” Tyler starts.

I cut him off. “Save it. I need to care about this game and not her—not right now. Liam, do you have Nick’s notebook? Let’s give it another look.”

I gave Liam the notebook to look through a day after I got it. I knew he would want the intel on teams and scouts.

#13 Monroe can’t shoot from the left side. Push him there and keep him away from the right side of the net

#27 Callihan can’t pass for shit, his accuracy is less than 50%

Should be an easy win

I groan. The first game we are down by more than one . . . and this is the one-time Nick writes it should be an easy win. Standing at the sink, I look at my sweat-stained face in the mirror and splash water over my face in an attempt to ease my tension.

“Hey, man, we got this game,” Tyler says to me as I walk back toward the rest of the team, holding out a fist to bump. He’s showing me he really didn’t mean any harm with Laur. I nod and meet his fist bump before we head back out on the ice.

We come back hot, scoring twice in the first five minutes of the third period. We have two minutes left to win the game. Tyler and I lock eyes. He shifts his head to number thirteen for the Jaws and mouths “to the left.” Tyler quickly goes to cover Callihan, number twenty-seven. We are banking on Nick’s notes being accurate. Tyler gains control of the puck off a weak pass from Callihan. Nick was right about his shitty passing ability. That’s a shame for him but incredible for us.

Tyler comes up the ice and passes to Rizzo, who is quickly met by an opponent and passes it off to me to shoot with less than a minute left. There’s only one defenseman near the goal. I take a chance and go for a slapshot angle left of the goal.

The shot goes in.

Tyler, Liam, and the guys come rushing toward me, pushing me to the boards in celebration.

“Hey, Luc,” Tyler says. “One shot, you took it. Nice job.” He hits my helmet and skates away.

They don’t score in the seconds remaining of the game. Our winning streak continues.

The team is hyped in the locker room, but my mind is back on Laur instead of the win we pulled off. Celebrating at a bar won’t do me any good. Tonight, I don’t care if it looks bad that I blow it off and head home. I need a night off from being captain. Bren, Laur, and another girl in their marketing posse are waiting outside the locker room.

“Amazing shot, Captain,” Laur congratulates me. Her voice makes my heart ache. I want to forget our argument and just pull her into me.

Before I can even say anything, Liam pipes in, “No drinks tonight. Sorry, ladies, it’s boy’s night.”

He turns to Tyler and me. Tyler looks at me for confirmation, and I nod. I hate to admit it, but I do need to talk to him about Laur before I go insane over this date and over her.

“Babe? Seriously?” Bren says, clearly trying to persuade Liam to spend time with her.

“Sorry, Bren, he’s ours tonight.” Tyler throws an arm around Liam and kisses him on the cheek. I can’t help but chuckle, looking at the expression on the girls' faces. It’s priceless.

I drive myself over to Liam, Tyler, and Connor’s place. I won’t be having more than one drink anyways, so I can easily drive home or crash in their guest bedroom if I’m too tired. I grab a pack of Bud Light at the gas station around the corner from their house. I don’t botherknocking and walk right into their house. The three guys are already on the couch with drinks.

“Bud Light? Really, dude? You used to be a Jack and Coke kind of guy. She’s really gotten to you,” Connor teases.

He’s not wrong. I rarely used to drink this stuff before I met Lauren, not that I’ve drank with her often, but I want to make sure if someone buys a drink for her, it’s me. I’ve gotten used to ordering them, I guess.

“It’s bad, bro. I don’t want to talk about it.” I twist off the cap and take a long swig of my beer.

“Well, you’re going to. So that you don’t lose it on the ice or in the locker room. It’s your turn this year,” Tyler declares, looking at me sternly.

We never talk about shit like this. Maybe once a year, if that. We’ve talked about Connor and Tyler’s random flings. We’ve talked about Liam’s rare occasional problem with Bren, but mostly he talks about how he’s going to marry her one day. I never talk about girls or anyone. I haven’t had a serious relationship since freshman year, and I don’t do flings or hookups often.

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