After Hours [H.S.]

Cool Down

I love the sound of my blades slicing through the ice.

I could listen to that sound for hours, the way my skates glide and the chiseling sound it makes as I push my feet off the ice — it brings me so much fucking joy. Whenever I'm stressed, upset, angry, confused, or even just in need of a break, I just lace up my skates and come down to the rink and skate it all away.

The zamboni guy, Rick, gave me my own key to the place when he saw me trying to break in one night. He knows how much I love the sport, he watches all of our games. He surprised me with a key one day after practice as long as I swore to never tell a soul.

I've kept that promise.

I've been playing hockey for as long as I can remember, I learned to skate before I could read. I just feel so free when I'm on the ice, almost invincible. The speed at which I push myself around the rink, weaving through players, scoring goals....it gives me such a fucking rush.

There's just something about having that control when I'm alone in the rink. Being the only one there and being able to do things the way I want to do them. I feel a sense of adrenaline rush through me when I close my eyes and glide on the ice — as if it was made for me.

The games that I play give me another rush. Seeing the faces of people scattered around watching our every move so intensely, comforts me in a way because they're just like me, people who find home in the ice. The last few minutes of the game, that intensity that flows through the rink and courses in my veins, I live for it all.

Tick tock.

And then when the time ticks closer to zero and there's only a few seconds left of the game, that's a completely different joy. Especially when I'm the one in control of the puck. When my hockey stick glides against the ice while I breeze past everyone and shoot the puck straight into the net....that's victory.

Today, I'm doing what I do best, skating without a care in the world, getting lost in my own little paradise. Just the cold, empty ice rink, a hockey stick, a puck and me.

I flick my eyes up to the clock above the bench, noticing that it's already nearing 10pm. I didn't even realize I'd been here for two hours already. I skate around the rink a few more times, handling the puck and shooting it a bit before I decide to call it quits. I know my mum is waiting for me to call her, I never miss our nightly chats.

I miss her a lot, she raised me all by herself and I admire her so much for that. I don't know how she did it, but she always made sure we had a roof over our head and food on the table. She sacrificed so much to get me where I am today, buying my equipment, taking me to tournaments, watching as many of my games as possible....she did all of that while working two sometimes even three jobs to get us by, and I'll never be able to thank her enough for that.

I'm a momma's boy, and my teammates love to fucking tease me for it but it doesn't bother me. I'll happily admit to anyone asking that my mother is the most important person in my life, she's the only reason I kept up with hockey in the first place.

I worked my ass off to get a scholarship into university because I didn't want her worrying about paying for my education, she's already done more than enough for me. My hard work paid off and it got me a full ride. I don't think I've ever seen my mum cry so hard in her entire life, she was so proud of me.

As I skate off the ice I head into the dressing room, and with my helmet in my hands I enter the room. I shove the door open and to my surprise, I'm not the only one in here. Ash is in here too, the team's physical therapist's assistant. She's a student like me, and we have a couple classes together.

She's hot, I have no shame in admitting that. I've always found her attractive but she's pretty quiet. She keeps to herself most games and just stands on the bench quietly, only really talking when she needs to.