Only One Regret (Only One 5)

"We need to get back faster and support Mika," Manning says of the goalie. "Those two goals were our fault and not his." Everyone nods and stays silent.

We walk back down to the ice, all of us silent, and when we take our place on the ice, we are ready for war. We push harder, skate harder, and fight harder, and with two minutes to go, we tie the score.

"Grant." He calls my name, and I jump over the board, skating into the neutral zone. Manning skates up the side and passes it to Miller. He gets the puck and skates into the zone, going to the corner and passing it to me. I let it sit on my stick for a second before looking over to see Manning in his sweet spot. I pass the puck over to him, and he raises his stick, bringing it back. The puck flies through the bodies, and the goalie has no time to even react. Manning has the hardest shot in the whole league, and it’s times like this that it works in our favor.

The crowd is going crazy, and I can even feel the floor vibrate. Fuck, it’s times like these I love what I do.

He skates over to me. "Good play," he says, smiling.

"Good shot.” I point at him as we skate to the bench, high-fiving everyone, and with a minute to go, they pull their goalie.

Miller gets it on his stick and sends it down the ice to score the empty netter. The horn whistles, and we get off the bench and skate to Mika. We congratulate him and then skate to the middle, holding up our sticks to thank the fans.

Going back to the dressing room with a win is always a good time. The press is there, and one of them comes straight for me as I take off my gloves.

"Hey, Cooper," he says, the camera behind him. "Good play out there to tie up the game," he starts, and all I want is to take off my things and jump in the shower. "You are on a seven-game point streak."

I look at him and smirk. "I didn’t know that."

"Your game is only growing stronger and stronger. What do you think the chances are of you guys getting the Cup?"

I put my hands on my hips. "I’m sure everyone wants the same thing. We have a good bunch of guys. Only time will tell, I guess."

"Thanks for your time," he says and heads off to interview Manning.

Fifteen minutes later, they are ushered out so we can shower and get moving. I grab my towel going to the shower, and when I come back, half the room is already gone. "Where the fuck did everyone go?" I ask Manning, who slips on his pants.

"It’s Saturday night. People want to party.” He laughs, shaking his head. "Why don’t you have big plans?"

I laugh. "I usually have the girls when I’m home, but Julianne's mom is in town, and they wanted to spend time with her." I shrug, missing them. "Why aren’t you going out?"

"As a matter of fact," he says, grabbing his white shirt while I slip on my black dress pants. "We are going out to dinner."

I look at him, shocked. He never goes out, and if he does, no one knows about it. "You, Mr. I Don’t Go Out And Talk To People?" I point at him, and he laughs.

"Yeah, aren’t you coming with us?" he says, and I tilt my head to the side, confused by his question.

"Why would I come to dinner with you? Um, I’m not going to be the third wheel.” I slip on my own white shirt and buttoning it all the way up. "That’s fucking sad."

"You won’t be the third wheel. It’s a team thing. The invites were sent out to everyone." I look over at him and vaguely remember the team dinner that Nico was putting on. I also remember saying no before even reading the details. It’s not that I didn’t want to. It was just when it came in, I wasn’t even in the right mind to want to go out with everyone.

"Shit, I said no because I thought I had the girls." I shrug. "Next time," I say, grabbing my Rolex and putting it on. I grab my belt and put it on and then grab my suit jacket. I tuck my tie in my pocket, opting to leave the two top buttons open.

"Doubt anyone will care," he says. "It’ll do you good to get out."

I sit down and think about it. "Yeah, why not. I was going to go home and watch television," I agree, slipping my phone into my inside jacket pocket. I think about texting Erika, but I know she’s forty minutes away, and I would feel guilty about her driving so late. Manning and I walk out together, and I follow him to the restaurant.