How You Get The Girl - Lukas Dostal

four

LUKAS DOSTAL was a people pleaser. He always had been. He grew up disciplined - his parents always kept him in line, and he never liked to draw attention to himself. Lots of things got on his nerves, sure, but he wasn't going to start making a scene while plastered out of his mind, so he didn't say anything and watched as the girl he really wanted to talk to made out with his teammate.

It had been a week, and he didn't know why he felt strangely connected to Madeline, he just did, and he didn't know what to do about it. Especially since Jamie was bragging about his escapades with her in the locker room right now, as Trevor wasn't there yet.

"Her body was banging, I'll tell you guys that," Jamie remarked, grinning as he slid his jersey on. "Never thought I'd actually end up in bed with her, but I'm glad it fuckin' happened."

Lukas clenched his jaw, trying to keep his composure as Jamie continued boasting about Maddie. He focused on tying his skates, doing his best to drown out the comments and laughter around him. Trevor, unaware of the situation, wasn't here yet, and Lukas debated whether he should confront Jamie or just let it go.

Jamie started getting more explicit with the details he was telling, and it made Lukas feel sick to his stomach. He got up abruptly, and everyone's eyes drifted to him. "You good, Dosty?" Leo says, slapping Lukas' goalie pad.

Lukas took a deep breath, picking up his stick. "Yeah, I'm gonna get a head start on the ice." He mumbled, not making eye contact with anyone. He quickly exited the locker room, leaving behind the loud banter and laughter of his teammates.

When he stepped out onto the ice, he felt alive. Warmups hadn't started yet, and people were still filling the arena, but Lukas didn't waste a second with his goalie stick, slapshotting a puck into the net and earning a cheer from the crowd. It was the most emotion he'd shown infront of a crowd before, and when the announcer came on and said, "Looks like the Ducks are adding Lukas Dostal to their first line!" He immediately regretted it and went to sit in the net.

Lukas always wondered what it would be like being out of the net, being part of the action, but goaltending was his thing. He was passionate about it, and he weirdly liked being the king of his own castle, in a way. If anyone tried to get past him, he would channel all of his bottled-up emotion into keeping them out.

***

Maddie had shown up to the game, alone, this time, wearing her Zegras jersey. She was the only one in the family suite today, which was unusual, but she took the quiet as a blessing. She had read Jamie's text over and over again since that night, drafting about a hundred responses before deciding to not respond to him at all.

She wouldn't tell it to anyone, but she was there for Lukas Dostal. Guilt had crept up on her since the night at the bar, remembering his sad blue eyes looking at her across the bar while she was all over Jamie. Maddie didn't really know Lukas, but she wanted to, and she wanted him to know that.

Right before the puck drop, an employee she recognized came into the suite, holding a nicely folded-up purple edition Mighty Ducks jersey with a note on top. "Sorry to interrupt, Madeline, but Mr. Drysdale wanted me to bring this here?"

Maddie winced at the mention of Jamie's name, but she smiled and thanked the employee, taking the jersey. She read the note first, which in a boyish scrawl, read "Thought this would look better on you, doll. - J.D."

The use of the pet name made her heart skip a beat, but as she unfolded the jersey and saw the name "DRYSDALE" and the number 6 stitched on the back, the lump in her throat formed again. Maddie didn't know exactly what happened that night - she'd gained a few memories back, sure, but most of them included Lukas staring at her longingly. She threw the jersey on the couch, deciding to ignore it and watch the game, her eyes focused on the goaltender.