Astrid
I skated to the face-off, my breath coming in shorts bursts. My throat ached and I was more tired than usual but I wasn't about to slow down for anything.
"You're a speedy fucking thing," the winger to my left complimented me.
"Or maybe you're just slow," I shrugged and glanced at the scoreboard. It was the third period with one minute remaining. We were for sure winning this game - the score reading 4-1 thanks to some of the best teamwork I've seen all year.
The winger chuckled. "Rude, I was trying to be nice," he sounded only slightly offended as his tone was mostly lighthearted.
"You'd be the first," I scoffed.
The referee finally got to the face-off. "Good luck," I told the winger in good-spirit right as the puck dropped.
Then all was forgotten. Ryder got control of the puck and passed it back to defense. Bentley stepped up and collected the pass. I tapped my stick, waiting for the pass as a solid weight crashed into me.
Not again. I groaned as my body slammed into the boards. By some miracle I hadn't fallen to the ice, though it took me a minute to collect myself. My vision spun but quickly cleared. The defender who checked me grinned as I glared at him.
"Sorry princess," he sneered at me.
I felt anger bubble in my chest at the cheap-shot he had taken. "Fuck off, I've seen cleaner shots at a brothel," I decided to chirp back. After all, it seems all I do is allow these guys to take advantage of my smaller build on the ice. I frankly, was fed up.
His sneer fell as he realized I was mouthing back. "You wanna fucking go? You play a man's sport, you best be ready to handle a man's punch," he dropped his stick and started shaking his gloves off.
I quickly sized him up. He was smaller than my men, around 6 feet or shorter. He was built well and could probably throw a decent punch.
Fuck it.
My stick was on the ice and my gloves followed immediately after. His hand grabbed my jersey and I did the same. Then the punching ensued. I got the first punch in, it landing satisfyingly on his cheek. His fist returned the favor soon after.
My head spun as pain radiated from the side of my face. I quickly recovered and delivered another punch. I managed to see his fist coming and ducked the incoming blow. My fist then crushed his nose and I was satisfied to see blood run down his face.
Suddenly hands pulled on my jersey, trying to separate us as another hand removed our grips on each other.
"Good fight, let's separate now," the ref struggled to say as another pulled the defender from my reach.
Ryder hovered nearby, death in his eyes as he watched the defender who was still mouthing off.
"Bitch!" The defender called out as I stopped fighting whoever was holding me.
They let me go and I turned to the referee. His hands made the motion of interference and then roughing. My teammates shouted their protest at me also getting called but they were waved off as the ref skated the defender to the penalty box.
Another ref started escorting me to the box and Ryder came skating over. He, technically, was one of the only people who could directly question the refs. Though that never stopped other players from "questioning".
"Why the fuck is she getting called?" Ryder questioned the ref. "She got fucking blindsided and defended herself."
The ref who was trying to escort me to the box was very respectful, he guided me to the box instead of taking the opportunity to manhandle me like other refs have in the past.
"I didn't make the call," the ref shrugged from over my shoulder. "Ask the main ref," he suggested while motioning for someone to open the penalty box for me.
Ryder skated off, grumbling something about useless linesmen, which was technically what two out of the three "refs" were.
I didn't bother fighting the call, after all I was pretty tired from one fight already. So even though there was thirty seconds left, I decided to make the most out of the downtime in the penalty box.
I managed to take deep breathes and get my wheezing under control. Just in time too as the game horn blew, signaling the end of the game.
We had won the first game of state in great fashion. I was very proud of our time, but also extremely tired.
I met with my team, who were currently celebrating at our net with Sarcom -who had played an amazing game.
Henrik watched me and grabbed my chin as I got closer, he examined my face with a disapproving look. "Doll, you can't stress me out so much," he tsked before letting go and dragging me into the team huddle.
Once the team was done with the little celebration, we turned and got in a line. Slowly, we skated towards the other team and started shaking hands. The main goalie always led the handshake line, Ryder behind them with me third and Tucker forth.
I automatically shook hands and said "good game," but was taken out of my process as someone tugged on my hand. I zoned in to see who had grabbed for my attention.
The winger from earlier grinned down at me. "Great job ma'am," he said politely before moving on.
My heart warmed at the thoughtfulness. He was one of the first guys I've played against that complimented me and didn't appear to have ulterior motives. I almost felt bad for giving him a hard time earlier... almost.
When the handshake line was done, we all marched off into the locker room. Through the tunnel and into the locker room, it was evident that excited energy was buzzing everywhere.
Coach followed behind and entered the locker room soon after the team did. He was beaming and just as excited as everyone else.
"What a hell of a way to start off the weekend gentlemen!" He cheered when the others did. "Get some good rest and I look forward to seeing you back here at the same time tomorrow."
He kept his speech short and simple - the biggest sign that he was beyond excited. When the coaches left, Ryder cranked the music and the celebrations continued.
I smiled at the wildness of my team but didn't feel like celebrating with them. My body hurt, my throat and face mostly, so I got undressed quickly. In fact, quicker than I have all year.
My bag was packed and I just kept my sweaty clothes on then I left the locker room and went to the training room.
I was not surprised to immediately find a blue gaze glaring at me.
"Do you think it's fun to giving me grey hairs at the age of 23?" Luka scolded with his arms crossed.
I kept quiet as I set my bag down and slid onto a table. "What were you thinking? Getting into a fight with somebody twice your size? Really?" Luka lectured me as his deft hands looked over my face.
He pressed down on a sensitive spot and I winced. "I can't believe you just dropped gloves without a second thought." He shook his head as he grabbed some cloth and cleaned some blood off my cheek that I hadn't realized was there.
"And you threw the first punch!" He exclaimed as he pulled back and looked at me. "What's wrong?"
I shrugged. "Just tired, I guess fighting really takes it out of you."
Luka huffed. "Yeah, that's your body crashing from the adrenaline high that you were riding," he explained before sighing.
His hands rested on my shoulders as he spoke. "I'm glad you're okay, but please refrain from giving me a heart attack at such a young age? For me, please?" He begged.
"I'll consider it," I rolled my eyes as I slid off the table.
"That's all I can ask for, I guess," he said more to himself than me.
Luckily no one came to visit Luka, so him and I walked out to the bus together with the team a few steps ahead.
The celebrating continued all the way to the hotel and then some. But eventually it quieted down and it seemed that everybody was getting ready for another day of hockey.
I knew I was. After a warm shower, I dug around in my bag for some painkillers in hopes of relieving some of my aches and pains. I was just about to curl up under my blankets when a knock sounded on my door.
I groaned as I suddenly remembered the game I had started with my guys.
Fuck.
In my mind, I had guessed who would be the first two to stay the night. However, it seems my guess was wrong as I suddenly stared at identical twins.
"Astrid," they both greeted me at the same time. I was pleasantly surprised that they were the first two.
I sighed as I felt bad for what I was about to say. "Hey, guys, I need a raincheck. I really just wanna sleep cause I'm really tired. I'm sorry for letting you two down," I apologized.
They shared confused looks before Colten stepped forward.
"Cutie, you have nothing to apologize for. We're just happy to be the only ones that know where you're at. It means we get to spend time with you - even if we just sleep or watch TV together we're happy," Colten explained.
"You're not disappointed that I-"
"Doll, we love you for who you are. Not what you do for us. Yes it's a bonus, but we all just like to be around you," Corey reassured me and I felt the tension leave my body.
They weren't upset with me.
"I must be doing something right to have such amazing men that support me," I mumbled as I motioned for them to step in to my room.
They did just that, before tossing their bags on the ground and pillows on the bed.
Sleep started to blur my mind as I stumbled to the bed and finally slid under the covers. I slipped into the middle and vaguely registered as the twins moved around a bit more before they joined me.
I was aware when warmth suddenly encompassed me on both sides and I wasn't able to fight sleep much longer. Especially when warms arms and legs wrapped around me.
This was heaven.
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Thank you for reading Chapter 47. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and hope y'all have a great weekend!
~Until Next Chapter