Page 24 of Hockey Bois
“About to murder someone?” Lexi suggested.
“Tense,” Benns said diplomatically.
“He was talking to the Douche Brothers,” Young Greg said. “Cornered him out front. He didn’t look happy to see ’em.”
“No one ever is,” GG muttered.
“The Dube Brothers?” Benns asked, all politeness.
“Yeah, that’s what I said. The Douche Brothers.”
Benns sighed. “What’d they want? They trying to poach him again?”
“I think they were looking to get their asses kicked, to be honest,” Young Greg said. How he knew as much as he did, Nick had no idea. He’dbeen there, and still Nick found himself leaning in to hear the gossip. “I’ve never seen Jens get so worked up. Dude’s usually mellow as fuck, and now he’s gonna rip someone’s head off.”
Nick stole another glance Brady’s way; thankfully, Brady didn’t seem to be listening.
“Shit,” Benns said. He put his helmet on and started to skate toward center ice for the opening faceoff. “You guys do me a favor and make sure Little Dube doesn’t get near ’im? Lexi, you and Mags make sure you’re the D pair whenever he’s out.”
Lexi looked disappointed. “Sure thing, boss.”
The game started with LittleDoucheDube as the center. Benns pointedly called Lexi and Mags onto the ice with him. Brady was about ready to ignore him and jump the boards anyway; a sharp word from Gail kept him in place.
The first period went by without an issue, calm enough that Nick was lulled into thinking everything had blown over. They kept the same lines running and effectively kept Brady and Little Dube away from each other.
There was a moment in the second where Little Dube clipped Nick in the shoulder as he blew by with the puck. Nick lost control, spun around, and fell to the ice. It was embarrassing, and normally he would’ve figured it was his own fault, but the seeds of doubt had already been planted.
The doubt grew when Little Dube repeatedly took stupid shots-on-net, always from bad angles and always into traffic. Young Greg went down hard when one hit him below his shoulder pads. Nick took one to the skate. Even with the hard plastic in the way, it hurt like a bitch.
What really pissed him off was that none of these shots were ever going to make it in. Even Nick, with his limited ability to aim, wouldn’t have tried half of them. This guy, who had already threaded the needle a dozen times on beautiful passes, who could saucer over sticks like nobody’s business, who would’ve scored top shelf if he hadn’t hit the post,couldaim. He was hockey-smart and hockey-capable, which made Nick think he was purposefully taking stupid shots that would hit people.
And then it happened. Whether by finagling on their part or because the hockey gods were at work, there was a weird line change that led to Brady and Little Dube being out on the ice together.
Nick was due for a change of his own, but he refused. He’d double shift if he had to, but he wasnotgetting off until this mess passed by without incident.
Thirty seconds later, there was, in fact, an “incident.”
Little Dube stripped the puck off GG and went on a breakaway. Or at least he would have, if Brady hadn’t caught up to him in a few strides. It took seconds to run him down, cut him off, and then Brady ducked down in front of him and launched the guy into the air as he stood back up. Little Dube went flying, legs in the air as he cartwheeled over Brady, then slammed onto the ice.
Both benches erupted: the Jagr Bombs in whoops and hollers, the Mother Puckers in protests about the non-call. For his part, Nick stood there, jaw agape and not at all turned on by the display of raw power Brady had casually pulled off for the whole crowd.
Nope. Not even a smidge.
The puck slid harmlessly toward the net, where their goalie Guy promptly dove on it.
The ref blew her whistle as soon as Guy had covered it. Nick watched her skate over to check on Little Dube, who hadn’t moved.
“You okay?” she demanded. Her voice echoed across the ice and made the crowd hush to listen.
A pause. “Uh… yeah?”
“You hurt?”
“N-no.”
“So you can move?”
He stared up at the rafters and sighed deeply. “Yeah. Just need a minute.”
