The Hockey Boy

Chapter 9

TY

November 20

"WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING HERE!" I screamed at Cal.

"Sheesh, calm down. This guy must really rile you up if he can make you swear," Cal laughed.

"Okay, guys, get over here!" we heard Coach call.

"I swear, if he distracts me during the game, I will personally beat him up and make him eat his own stupid Easton hockey stick!" I growled at Calvin.

"Sheesh, someone's feeling a little violent today."

"I have my reasons," I spat back at him as I skated over to our team's bench.

"Okay, team, we're going to start out with Brady's line. That means Hampton, Harding, and Brady are out. The Hoffman twins will be our starting defensemen pair. Brady, you take the face-off. Rothwell, you're in the net, obviously," stated Coach. Jeff and Jase Hoffman are twins, and they're the starting defensive pair on our team. Kevin Rothwell is our starting goalie. He's a pretty good goalie, and he has really fast reflexes. All the guys that start are seniors, and they're my best friends, Cal being my top best friend, of course.

My teammates and I skated out to our starting positions. I saw that I would be facing none other than Brock Jenson for the opening face-off.

"Are you ready for this, princess?" Brock mocked me as we took our positions.

"I'm not a princess, princess. You're gonna regret saying that," I growled back. I don't think Brock actually knew I was a girl. I think he was just trying to rile me up.

The ref dropped the puck, and I won the face-off. Jase brought the puck down the ice, then passed it over to Jeff. Jeff skated in a little bit, then passed the puck off to Cal. Cal shot a wrist shot, but missed. I quickly got the rebound and put a wraparound shot in the back of the net. The score was 1-0, Blaine.

"Yeah, Ty!" yelled Cal as my teammates and I gathered into a hockey hug.

"Nice rebound, Ty," said Steve Harding, the left winger.

"All right, guys, we got one, but we have to keep going," I said as we all skated to the bench for a line change.

"Nice rebound, Brady," said Coach as he slapped my back.

"Thanks, Coach," I replied with a smile.

The game went on, and for the most part, it was uneventful. An Osseo defenseman almost made a long slapshot towards the end of the second period, but Kevin had a nice glove save. By the middle of the third period, the score was still 1-0, and my line was back on the ice. I had the puck near the left side of the net, and I saw that Cal was open. I passed him the puck, and he shot a right wrist shot at the net. The goalie lunged to his left, but he was too late. 2-0, Blaine.

"Yeah, Cal!" I cheered as I slapped his back.

"I couldn't have done it without your awesome pass, Ty," Cal replied. All of a sudden, I felt someone backcheck me into the boards. I fell hard onto the ice and cried out in pain. I looked up to see who had pushed me, and it was none other than Brock Jenson.

"What's your problem, man?" I yelled at him as I got up.

"Huh, you're tougher than you look, Brady. People might think you're a girl with that long hair," Brock tested.

"You want to go?" I challenged as I ripped off my gloves, not revealing that I actually was a girl.

"Why not? I could easily beat you," replied Brock as he took off his gloves and tossed them onto the ice.

"You're overestimating your abilities, Jenson," spat Cal as he pulled me back. "He's not worth it, Ty. Let the refs take care of this one."

"Thanks, Cal. I know you'll always have my back," I smiled at him as the refs ejected Brock from the game. "Now let's finish this."

We ended up winning the game 3-0. With one minute left in the game, one of our wingers from our third line scored.

"Nice game, guys," I said as we walked to our locker rooms. I turned to Cal, "Will I see you later, or are you going right on your date with Molly after you get showered up?"

"I'm going right out with Molly. How about I text you later?" he suggested.

"Sounds good. See you tomorrow," I said as I headed into the locker room. I quickly got out of my sweaty hockey gear and hopped into the shower. After I was done, I got changed into yoga pants and a Mikko Koivu jersey. I threw my hockey stuff into my duffle bag and walked out of the locker room. I headed to the lobby outside of the hockey arena to hopefully talk to my dad before I went home. When I reached the lobby, I saw Dad talking to someone, but I couldn't tell who it was since their back was to me.

"Hey, Dad," I said as I walked up to him. Then I glanced over at who he was talking to you. "What's with the baseball cap? It just doesn't work."

"I thought it looked good," Easton snapped at me.

"No, it doesn't," I replied.

"I thought it would hide my beautiful face," said Easton arrogantly.

I rolled my eyes and replied, "You're wearing it backwards, i***t. That's not going to hide anything."

"Oh, so you think my face is beautiful?" Easton smirked.

"You're still as cocky as ever," I said as I rolled my eyes. "So I see you've met my dad."

"Yeah, I have. You're pretty cool, Mr. Brady," Easton said to my dad.

"Please, call me Tom," said Dad, practically drooling over Easton.

"Earth to Dad," I said, waving my hands in front of his face. "Hey, so how did you think the team looked?"

"I think you guys looked pretty good," commented Easton.

"I didn't ask you, now did I?" I snapped back.

"Ty, don't be rude. Easton's nice," said Dad. "I thought you guys looked great. Hey, are you okay? You took a pretty nasty backcheck."

"I'm fine," I stated. "Brock Jenson just doesn't know how to control his anger."

"Sounds like someone I know," smirked Easton.

I glared at him and said, "At least I didn't get a black eye."

Easton ignored my comment and replied, "It's good that you're okay."

"Why would you care?" I asked snottily. "Oh, and did you notice how my Bauer didn't break when I fell?"

"Yes," Easton said as he took a step closer to me. "I did. So, that offer to workout with me is still available. Can I have your number so we can talk sometime?"

"Smooth," I complimented. "But no, you can't have my number."

"Come on, Ty, just give the boy your number," begged my father.

"No, it's my number and I'll give it out to the people that I want to, and Easton just isn't one of those people," I firmly stated. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm heading home." With that, I left the two men standing there and headed out to my Chevy. Ugh! Why won't he just leave me alone? I screamed to myself.

***

Easton

November 20

I watched Ty saunter away, and I almost started drooling. Dang, she was fine. I turned back to Tom and said, "Well, I should really be going, too. It was nice to meet you."

"No, it was nice to meet you. I'm a huge fan. I have your autographed photo that Ty brought home framed and on our mantle," said Tom.

"Thanks, I'm honored," I replied.

"Say, if you want Ty's number, I can give it to you. I think it would be good for her to workout with an NHL player," insisted Tom. He typed Ty's number into my phone and then handed it back to me.

"Thanks, Tom. Hopefully I'll see you later," I smiled as I walked out of the hockey arena's doors. Yes, I thought to myself as I stared at my phone. Now I'm one step closer.