Page 20 of Sew Matcha in Love
“Not yet,” Xavier said. “But we should watch out for him.” At our last game against Tulsa, Leinecker said something to Xavier that made him crazy. It took three of us to pull him off the guy. I landed a good punch, if I do say so myself.
“I won’t pass up a chance to hit him for you,” I promised.
He grinned. “And I’ll do the same when McCrae comes after you.”
“Deal, deal. Knuckie seal?” I rhymed.
It was our thing.
We fist-bumped to lock it in. Creighton McCrae had been a thorn in my side for years. The right-winger knew how to hook me on the backcheck without being detected by the linesman. Three times last game. I’d earned a ten-minute misconduct for sitting on him and punching himChristmas StoryRalphie style. I was strategic where I landed the punches and careful not tohurt him—I didn’t want the team to incur the extra penalty kill time for blood—but it sure looked bad on the replay. The fans ate it up. Probably mortifying for him, especially when a Ralphie/Scut Farkus clip played side-by-side with our replay on the jumbotron. It almost got me a hearing with the department of player safety. But someone decided the intent to harm wasn’t there, so I narrowly avoided a suspension.
What could I say? It was December, and my favorite movie was on my mind.
I was ready for him tonight. And Leinecker, too. Convenient that they were playing on the same line.
A few minutes in, their forward line matched up with Xavier and me on defense.
Seattle iced the puck, and as we gathered in the defensive right circle around Dean, flanked by wingers Noel Allaire and Kingston Brewer for the faceoff, Xavier and I mimed a plan.
I pointed to McCrae and then tapped my chest, then gestured for Xavier to take Leinecker. Xavier pointed at Noel and shook his head, reminding me about his kidney issue. Noel was married to Penny’s cousin Gabby and had only one kidney. We couldn’t let him get hurt.
The ref dropped the puck, and we dropped our gloves. Dean joined the scrum, and Kingston got in front of Noel, holding his stick horizontally, challenging anyone who would come toward them.
I landed the first punch on McCrae and was rewarded with a knee to the hip. “You fight like a girl, Creighton. Your sister teach you that move?”
“No, yours did,” he retorted. “It was hot, too.”
I laughed and launched myself at him. He twisted away, so I grabbed a fistful of his jersey, and we both went down.
“Don’t talk about my sister!” I hissed. Our helmets were off now, and I rolled on top of him. His eyes widened. I grinned.“Don’t worry.” I patted his cheek. “I won’t mess up your pretty face.” It was one thing to pretend to beat the stuffing out of a helmet and a whole other thing to give the guy a concussion.
I didn’t hate him. This was just business. I blew McCrae a kiss as the linesmen wrenched me off him and dragged me to the penalty box.
Xavier was already there. But he wasn’t grinning like I was. “Why the scowl over the foul?” I asked. “Didn’t you win?”
“To be continued.” He spit blood into a towel. “Freaking Leinecker. Ireallyhate that guy.”
“Is Dani here?” I stretched my neck as I tugged on my returned gear.
He shook his head. “She’s at home in Seattle. But nowheis, too. She trains at their practice rink.”
“Dani’s a grown woman, Swanny. She can—and does—handle herself. And him.”
He shrugged. “She shouldn’t have to. I don’t know why he’s so stuck on her. She’s never given him the time of day.”
“And there’s your answer.”
He turned to glare at the guy in the box next to us. “I’m not done with him.”
“We’ve all got your back. But let’s not get ejected, okay? We have a game to win, and I promised Wynnie a hat trick.”
He grinned. “You did, huh?”
“Yeah. So?”
His stupid smile widened. “Nothin’.” He looked up at the clock. Fifteen seconds until we could bust out. “That means we need at least four tonight since I had my lucky toffee coffee. You ready?”
The door opened. “Let’s do it.”
