She's sick.
He's heartbroken.
They put a ring on it.
The line between deals and promises is beginning to blur.
*
What starts out as a deal between two friends, becomes more than either of them could've ever have imagined. Between the fake kisses t...
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Five years later Montreal, Quebec, Canada
"How ya feeling?" Jason asks as I jump over the boards.
"Pretty good." I nod, watching the next shift jump into the game.
"Does it feel real?"
I shake my head. "Not at all."
I scoot down the bench as we go over a play with Coach Sheldon.
"See that right there, that was executed poorly. Yes, you made the shot, but you got lucky. Goalie was distracted."
"We'll clean it up, sir," Vinny says and I nod in agreement.
"I heard your old coach is here."
"Yeah. We were really close back in Miami. He kinda took me in as his own. I was so young when I got drafted, and I needed guidance. He was the father I never had." I explain and they nod.
"That's awesome man." Jason was on the team when I arrived and Vinny was their other trade.
The entire team took Vinny and me in and made us feel like family. Jason and a few of the other guys gave me some tips on where to live and where not to. Katherine and I ended up buying a house in one of the same exclusive neighborhoods as some of my teammates.
Coach Jacobs was the first person I called and told I was retiring. He countered that by saying he was also retiring.
Greyson has a shoulder injury that keeps bugging him, so he's in and out. Chris has been floating the idea of retirement in the air. And Evan is in his prime goalie time down in Tampa. He's ranked the number-one goalie in the league and I couldn't be prouder.
I had my 1,000th NHL game at the beginning of the season, and it just felt like the right time. The season is coming to an end, with only a few playoff games left, and I'm ready to flip over a page and start a new chapter in my life.
"Alright, you're up." A staff member pats my back and I throw my leg over the board, waiting for Alec to get off the ice.
The scores have been close the entire night, and tension is through the roof. The stands are filled with our team colors, and Toronto jerseys mixed in. The entire crowd is buzzing, and I'm on a high I'm not ready to come down from just yet.
I pass the puck through a defensemen's legs and Jason takes possession of it.
He slapshots it and it goes flying right past the pole.
Vinny goes racing back to our zone to keep the puck away from the goal.
We only get the puck back into the offensive zone once more before our shift ends and I hop back on the bench.
My eyes meet Katherine's watchful gaze, who is sitting a few rows back, next to the railing above the tunnel. I flash her a smile before sitting down on the bench. She's sitting beside Vinny's wife. Like she does at every game. They became quick friends after not knowing anyone else here and bonded over missing their friends and family. Just like Vinny and I did. Vinny's a few years older than me. At the age of thirty-five, he's married to his high school sweetheart, and they have two sons together. He got drafted right out of high school and went straight to the league.
