Strawberry | Hockey Rivalry 1 [Completed]

One | Reilly

I took in a big inhale of air walking back into the rink for the first time since last season. We ended up just shy of the Frozen Four last year. That revenge has a fire burning in my body this year. I want to make it so fucking bad. Wren placed both hands on my shoulders and gave me a squeeze. We've been in the school mode for the first few weeks of the semester, and now it's gametime. The boys have had their time to party, get drunk and get girls. But now, we're serious. Well, some of us.

The younger boys will have to figure out a balance, but for us juniors and seniors, we are hungry for a championship this year. "I love this place. I cannot wait for our year to begin."

"It's begun." I replied smugly as we walked into the dressing room. A few of our roommates are already here, they had to come from class while Wren and I drove over from the apartment house. Ben is our goalie and roommate. He's going to be graduating this year along with our other senior teammates, Lucas and Billy. We don't have many seniors, but we do have a good group of juniors.

"Wow, glad you two could join us," our roommate Adrian said as Wren and I made our way to our spaces on either side of him. "It feels good to be back in action."

"Coach is going to fucking crucify us today isn't he?" Ben said, lacing up his skates before he puts the rest of his gear on. A few of the freshman looked up in concern to Ben. Ben's always been a leader in the locker room and during practice and games. I looked up to him my freshman year, even though he only played one season before me. He had it all figured out. He had our coach all figured out.

"Mhm. I bet you he's going to whip us into shape in the matter of 30 minutes." Wren said, yanking on his protective layer. I began to switch into my gear and sighed.

"I bet he's starting with cardio." The whole room groaned in dissatisfaction at my bet.

"Want to put money on it Reilly?" I looked over to Trevor who was smirking at me. A fifty waving in the air. "Come on goldy locks, you know you want to."

I flipped him off but pulled out my own fifty bucks. "You're on." We finished getting ready and headed onto the ice. I roamed our rink and took in a deep breath. It feels right to be on the ice. I've loved hockey my entire life. Coming to M State was one of my better decisions in life. I'm the only one from my high school team that landed in division one. Well, Brock was at U of M, but he doesn't count.

"Ayo, goldy locks. You seeing what I'm seeing?" I looked over to Adrian and saw where he was looking. Coach was late, but beyond that, Coach was walking in with Brock. Who is in minor practice gear. But he has his skates on. My body went hot with rage. I clenched my fists and watched as Brock and Coach talked. There was a lot of head nodding from Brock. I haven't seen him on campus or been told he's part of the team.

"What's a rival doing here?" Ben skated up to me and I shrugged, watching the situation. Ben has always noticed how in our games against U of M, Brock and I go at it more than I do with anyone else. I have more penalty minutes against Brock in one game than I do all year. Coach blew the whistle and we all skated towards the bench. Brock stepped onto the ice and joined us from the side. The opposite side from me.

"Welcome back, boys. This season I know there are a lot of hopes and dreams for this year, but we've got to take it one game at a time. We have lost some players from last year, but we've got some up and comers." Coach nodded to the left where the freshman were fully ready to go. I snickered at that. They've got almost all of their gear on. Including their helmet. "I also want to take this time to let you know Whitlock will be joining our team this year. He transferred from University of Michigan to us in the summer. He's set to go. I'm sure you all know his skills from competing against him." It was quiet amongst us all and I rolled my eyes. This cannot be happening. Brock and I on the same team again is going to be the bane of my existence. I was finally getting back into my swing of things and he has to come back and ruin it all.