Fire & Ice

eighteen

After our trip to visit Cassie's home town last weekend Cassie seemed lighter. It was like the last few walls she had up around herself have come down. Just watching her full of life put a smile on my face. While I was at the rink at practice I asked the owner if he knew about any sled hockey teams in the area or leagues even. When he came back with a list of a few leagues and teams and a place to get a new sled I thanked him so much.

            I didn't tell Cassie about the information I got because this week went by so quickly and before I knew it I was suiting up to get ready for our first home game against Ohio State. I knew today would be a rough game as Tatiana has been running her mouth online. The Ohio State social media team has been eating up our rivalry and I had a bad feeling about the game tonight. Not only was it Halloween, the guys team is hosting a party tonight and most of our team is going. I don't know if everyone is as dialed into this game as I am. I know one person out of sorts could lead to the downfall of our unbeaten season.

            As I pulled on my home reds and grabbed my helmet I was ready to go all out for this game. I made sure my eye black was on before walking down the tunnel to take warmups with my team. I tried to pay no attention to the team on the other side of the red line and go through my warmups. For the first time this season our game was a sell out and I could hear the gentle roar of the crowd as we skated around for practice.

            Practice went by without issue and before I went back down the tunnel I was able to find Cassie in the stands cheering me on. I pointed to her and gave her a wave before hopping off the ice and walking down the tunnel.

            After my initial freak out about my love confession, Becca and Stacey have been peppering me with more questions about my relationship with Cassie. Even though I usually kept my relationships private, I opened up a bit more about it to them. After a really long phone call with my mom and an even longer conversation about my feelings with Dr. Ellis, they both thought that being more open about my relationship will be helpful for me to try and shake the long lasting effects of my father.

            As we got together in the locker room I pulled my helmet off my head and looked around the room. Most of the other women here were talking about the party tonight and the nagging feeling in my chest continued to grow. I clenched my jaw and took a few deep breaths as coach Decker came into the locker room and went over a few last minute things before the game started. When he was finished we all got ready and walked down the tunnel into the arena to be greeted by the sellout crowd.

            Coach Decker called out my line to take the opening faceoff and we all hopped over the boards. I skated over to the faceoff circle and was meet with Tatiana. She smirked at me as I got close.

            "Ready to get embarrassed?" Tatiana asked and bent down.

            "Speak for yourself Tat." I said as the referee dropped the puck and I won the faceoff from her. I passed it up to Toni and she took it up into the offensive zone while I pushed myself away from Tatiana.

            Our game plan is going to be for me to just be glued to Tatiana's side at all times. It's going to be rough but I'm up for the challenge. With all the shared history we have, I know that I know all of her tricks and I wasn't going to let her score today, not in my house.

            The first shift on the ice was uneventful as we were just trying to get a feel for how physical this game was going to be between our teams. So far things weren't too bad but I know that can change at a moment's notice, and it did as I tried to get off the ice. Tatiana gave me a good shove that sent me flying into our bench and it almost caused a fight right out of the gate. I gave her glare as I took my seat on the bench.