ICE SKATES // ADAM BANKS

CHAPTER TWENTY

'iceland on the attack again, uberjavik fires the puck in the corner connie moreau over to get it, sanderson has her lined up!'

"connie get out of there!" i yell towards the girl, now behind the bench with the rest of the team.

"yee-haw!" dwayne cheers from beside me, grabbing his lasso before skating towards connie and sanderson, "i'm coming, connie!"

he managed to rope sanderson just in time, dragging the player across the ground, the team and i all cheering as dwayne grins at connie.

"where i come from, we treat ladies with respect!" dwayne tells sanderson before connie interrupts.

"thank you dwayne, but i'm no lady, i'm a duck!" connie shoves sanderson to the ice, "cmon!"

'referee taking robertson over to the penalty box, what are they gonna call this penalty? it's two minutes for roping? that's a new one on me, we're at the end of the second period iceland has a commanding four to one lead'

"this isn't a hockey game, it's a circus" bombay scoffs, looking up as the buzzer sounds signalling the end of the second period.

we all gather in the locker room and i finally take my helmet off, and slumping into the bench sighing.

"you've got a little something.." goldberg tells me, rubbing his own chin signalling for me to do the same to my own.

i raise my hand only to wince, inhaling sharply as i look at the back of my hand, a crimson colour smeared onto my skin.

"oh, it's blood" goldberg states, wincing slightly.

"probably from when i smacked my chin on the ice" i shrug, watching as bombay enters the room, i stand up and go over to the first aid kit.

"did you all enjoy that?" bombay asks the team, all of them saying yes as i grab a medical wipe, "so did they, because they're still free points up and we're one period away from defeat"

his little comment makes everyone sit down on their benches whilst i just sit on the counter, adam scooting over and sneaking his way beside me.

"you're doing it wrong" he whispers, sitting on my right as we look at coach and the team.

"i'm getting deja vu, what about you?"

"haha, very funny" the boy sarcastically replies before snatching the wipe from my hands.

"if we can't beat them we might as well keep our pride" jesse shrugs, standing up amongst the group, the rest of the team agreeing.

"jesse, that's not pride, sure when dwayne roped that big oaf, part of me cheered, but guys i've been there, i know how you feel, i wanted to cream that jerk that busted my knee when i played in the minors, and i really wanted to go after stansson for that cheap shot but you know what? my knee will heal and if i become someone im not, if i sink to their level then i lost more than my knee, you understand?"

"yeah" the team replies, adam was dabbing at my injury whilst i bit the inside of my cheek trying my best not to make a reaction.

"we're not goons, we're not bullies, no matter what people say or do, we have to be ourselves" bombay says before pointing at dean, "you, who are you?"

dean looks a little taken back by his coach's question and straightens up in his seat, glancing at fulton, clearly thinking he doesn't know his name.

"dean portman"

"from where?"

"chicago, illinois"

"you"

"guy germaine, from st paul's, minnesota"