Queen II Barzal

Chapter Thirty-Three: Tyler

"Fuller," I said to Asshole after practice. "Can we talk?"

"Speak to me," He said, taking off his helmet.

"You were right about Nick," I said. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you,"

"He's an asshole for doing that to you," Fuller said. "You don't deserve that,"

Wow, Asshole calling out my ex for being an asshole, that's a first.

"Thanks," I said.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"You actually care?" I retorted.

"You're my teammate, Barzal," He said. "I was an asshole in the past, but we're chill now,"

Ugh, I still hate him.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm good,"

"So you're out of Seattle for good now?" He asked me.

"Yup," I said. "I'm gonna miss the Thunderbirds, but I guess Buffalo isn't too bad,"

"It's gonna be home for a few years for me," Fuller said. "I'm on a five-year contract,"

"Mine's only a year," I said.

"You think you're gonna stay?" He asked.

"Depends on how the season goes," I said. "And if I leave, you can get a chance to get that first line spot,"

"Too bad we're both put on the third," Fuller said.

Coach went through the new lineups for the first game of the season next week. We were playing against the Islanders, which I was super pumped about. I was going to play against my dad on national television. Holy hell, I'm so excited.

"Yeah, but Dylan is a good wing for our line, it looks good so far," I said.

Dylan Tekin is in his late twenties, he's been on the Sabres for three years now and he's pretty good.

"You think we'll do well against the Isles next week?" Fuller asked.

"We're going to get crushed," I laughed. "But I'm going to work my hardest to beat the crap out of my dad,"

The next week, we went to Long Island in Belmont for our first game. The barn rocked like crazy, just like I remembered. I was intimidated by how many fans there were. A lot of them I saw had my dad's jersey. Mine was identical with the same name and number except for the fact that I had different colors and a different logo.

I scanned the crowd to find my mom and Riley along with Aunt Shreya. Uncle Beau was here too, in the game rather than the stands. Uncle Ethan couldn't make it because of his games, but he told me that he would watch it on TV. My mom was wearing my jersey to cheer me on, even though her husband was on the opposing team. Riley wore mine as well and Aunt Shreya wore her Anthony Beauvillier jersey. I knew she was cheering me on, though. She brought a smile to my face as I skated on the ice.

Coach wanted the third line to start the game. I don't know why, but we were. My heart raced as I set up for the faceoff against my dad. Holy hell. Holy fucking shit.

"Get ready for me to kick your ass, old man!" I smirked, looking up at my dad.

"Who the hell are you calling old?" He smiled back at me.

I won the faceoff, bringing the puck back to our defense. We were being physical, but so were the Isles. I actually had a few hits in the first period, one of them on Uncle Beau. He stayed on his skates and so did I. The crowd roared as we kept skating.