Page 155 of Desperate Pucker
Maddy looks at me. “That’s why you push yourself so hard, isn’t it? For them.”
I ease to a stop at a stop sign and look at her. “Yeah. I push myself for me too. I want to be the best I can be. I want to play hockey as long as I can. But I want to make my family proud too. I want to make their sacrifices worth it.”
“They’re so proud of you, Ryker. Your parents talk about you like you hang the moon.”
“I’m lucky to have them.” I swallow back the emotion in my throat. “That’s why I want to play in the Stanley Cup finals—and win. I mean, I want to win for myself too. Every hockey player’s dream is to hoist that trophy up. But I want it for my family. Iwant them to hold it. I want to tell them that it belongs to them for all they did for me.”
“You will, Ryker,” she says.
Doubt flashes through me. The soreness in my ankle and knee flares up, as if on cue, reminding me how little time I have left in the league. How, with every day that passes, I get older and farther and farther away from that dream.
But then, Maddy grabs my hand. “You absolutely will.”
I take in the intensity in her stare and the conviction in her tone. She believes in me. More than I believe in myself.
That tight feeling hits my chest again. I lean over and kiss her.
Then I turn back to the road and keep driving, feeling a comfort I’ve never felt before.
I don’t know if I can make my dream happen. But Maddy thinks I can. And even though I’m still having a hard time believing in myself, it means the world that she does.
I skid to a halt on the ice, just barely avoiding tripping over the Nashville defenseman who just cut me off.
I shove him, then move around him and skate after the puck.
Before I can get to it, Del takes possession and races toward the Nashville net.
It’s the first round of playoffs, and we’ve won three games against the Nashville Wolves. They’ve beaten us twice, so they need to win this game to stay in the running.
We’re determined to make this the last game we play against them, though.
It’s almost the end of the first period, and both teams are scoreless. We’ve all been playing hard as hell, though.
We’re running our asses off every second we’re on the ice. Nashville is too. They’re going after us hard. They’re all over us, chasing us down, checking us every chance they get, and trash-talking us every time there’s a face-off.
They want to win bad. So do we.
I watch as Del weaves around a Wolves defenseman to get to their net, but another player covers him, making it impossible for him to shoot.
My legs are on fire as I sprint to get closer to him. When he looks back and sees me, he hits the puck behind him. I grab it and take off. I’m about to shoot it, but there’s a Wolves player headed right for me, and I don’t have a clean shot. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Theo. He’s open.
I pass the puck over to him a split second before the Wolves player checks me. I barely feel the sting of the hit. That’s how hard my adrenaline is pumping while I watch Theo wind up to take a shot.
When the puck hits the back of the net, I run over to him.
“Fuck yeah!” I holler
“We’re on the board, baby!” Theo hollers.
I smack his helmet while our teammates surround him to celebrate his goal. The home crowd is going nuts. We still have a long way to go in this game, but it feels good to finally be on the board.
When I turn around, I see Maddy on her feet in the stands cheering. When she sees me, she beams.
“Nice assist,” she mouths to me.
My heart leaps in my chest. It feels incredible having her here, cheering me on.
My ex used to come to my games sometimes, but I could tell she wasn’t all that interested in watching. She would often be on her phone or taking selfies with her friends. I wasn’t a superstar, so she didn’t care all that much about how I played.
