Game Winner (Penalty Kill 3)

“Good. I wasn’t planning on letting you get away that easily anyway.”

She laughs. “You couldn’t get rid of me even if you wanted.”

I reach over to take her hand and hold it in mine. “So you want to get married one day?” I ask softly.

Presley nods. “One day.”

Gulping, I look down at our hands. “And kids? You want kids, Smarty? Way, way, way down the line.”

She laughs, oblivious to my inner turmoil. “Yes, eventually. I would like two at least, so they can have a sibling like I did.”

Her words are like a punch in the gut. Not that I’ve thought about this kind of thing before, but I’ve never envisioned myself as a father. Just the thought that one day I might be, makes me want to say, “Poor kid.” I don’t see myself in that scary role. Not now or further down the road. It isn’t that I wouldn’t want them one day, but I’m not sure that I would be any good at raising a child.

“What do you want, Levi?” Presley asks, squeezing my hand as I bring my gaze back to her.

“Honestly?” She nods, so I tell her the surest, most honest thing I’ve ever said. “I want whatever you want to the very last detail. That’s what will make me happy.”

Presley smiles before moving to snuggle against me. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Smarty.”

We fall asleep in the most perfect way, with Presley in my arms.

~

It’s taken some time, but the day is finally here. I’ve been working myself up to playing again and haven’t had any problems, thank God. Tonight, I’m back on the ice for a game. Jayson and Landon have been relentless with their jokes. I’m just glad none of them mention my injury directly. There’s no way I can handle a joke about that. Nerves are twisting and turning in my stomach. I’m almost pissed off about this.

But it’s my first game since “playing” with the Penguins, and I’m nervous. Presley nor Pops is here tonight, which is fine. In a way, I’m grateful. The locker room is buzzing with pre-game anticipation, and I quickly grab my phone, dialing the number I know by heart.

“Levi?” She answers after four rings. “Is everything okay? The game is about to start, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, in a few minutes. I wanted to talk to you for a minute.”

Presley is quiet for a second before she says, “Go play hockey, Levi. Don’t worry about anything else.”

She’s right. I need to play and not worry about anything other than that. “Thanks, Smarty. I should get going.”

“Call me later. Love you.”

“I love you too,” I tell her and then hang up.

“Aw, Levi needed a pep talk from his girl,” Jayson mocks from behind me, and I hear Landon chuckling.

“Shut the hell up.” I even laugh too because now, I’m ready to play.

I feel good during warm ups. Skating onto the ice before the game feels like coming home. The cool air and my skates slicing into the ice makes my blood pump faster, filling me with adrenaline. Time seems to be in slow motion as I stretch, warm up, and then wait for the minutes to countdown for the game. I can practically hear the ticking as the seconds pass until the puck drops.

The first hit I took didn’t phase me much, but I would be lying if a worried thought didn’t cross my mind. One thing is for sure. I’m not invincible. I keep pace with the game, focusing on my task, and that is to finish this with a win. After about halfway through the first period, my mind has surrendered itself to hockey completely, keeping tabs on where guys are and where the puck is. Jayson battles for the puck in the corner before passing it to Landon, who passes it to me. I slap it hard and it fumbles its way through the goalie’s five hole.

Score!

My grin is huge as my teammates slap me on the back. Presley can probably see it from back home. We’ve been doing great so far this season as it is and we’re up 2-0 at the end of the first. I’m energized and pumped. God, it’s fucking awesome to be back.

Early in the second, I score again and within a few minutes, so does the other team. 3-1. But it’s like a scoring frenzy zone for a while because soon after their goal, I have another. Fuck yes! A hat trick, baby! 4-1. I’m rolling even higher than cloud nine. When I prepare for a faceoff, I sneer at the opposing player. Might as well mess with his head a little.

We hold our own throughout the rest of the second and through the third as well.

Our goalie doesn’t let another puck move past him either. My goal is met when the buzzer sounds loudly, allowing us to walk away with a 4-1 win. This is better than what I was hoping for, by a long shot. The guys want to go celebrate and I’m in a celebrating mood, so I don’t say no. We’re on our way to a bar when my phone starts to vibrate in my pocket.