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NOAH
Today was game day, so that meant we needed to prepare. I needed to get to the arena, do my rituals, and have my pre-game meal, before getting back out there on the ice. Dinah once made fun of me because my pre-game meal was a ham and cheese sandwich. One time the media asked me why I was playing better, which I thought was such a dumb fucking question, so I sarcastically said I ate two ham and cheese sandwiches, instead of the one. Fans ate that shit up though, so I couldn’t be bothered by it.
I was bummed Dinah couldn’t come to the game tonight, but I got to see her yesterday and kiss her goodbye after our lunch date. Her brother Frankie had only razzed me a little bit, and just said to not hurt her, which I never dreamed of doing.
“What did your sandwich ever do to you?” Riley asked me.
“Huh?” I asked, pulling myself out of my thoughts. I was staring intently at the sandwich in my hands. “Nothing, just thinking.”
He shared a look with TJ. “You all right, man?”
I nodded and rubbed my hand over my growing stubble. I usually liked to be clean shaven, but I knew Dinah thought beards were hot, so I was trying to see if I could do it. It was a little too scratchy for me right now.
“I’m fine,” I insisted.
“Get your head in the game!” TJ exclaimed.
I gave him the finger. “I’m good.”
“You sure, man?” TJ asked with a raised eyebrow. “You ask D to come tonight?”
“She can’t. It’s fine.”
“Ooohhhh,” they both said in unison and shared a knowing look.
“Shut up, it’s fine,” I argued.
“Man, I’ve never seen a chick twist you up like this,” Riley commented with a shake of his blonde head.
I really didn’t want to be talking to them about Dinah. She definitely did not have me twisted up in anything. She had texted me earlier and said she felt bad, but it wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t! I really respected that she worked just as hard as I did, and in two jobs. I only ever wanted to support her passion, not steal her time away from it.
I had to stop thinking about it because the guys were right, I needed to get my head on straight. We were a couple points out of the wildcard spot for the playoffs, and we needed to focus on the game. The subject changed to our special teams and what we needed to do if we honestly thought we had a shot at the playoffs. This was my third season with this team, and I had been enjoying playing in this city, but now I really wanted to buckle down and bring some pride to Philadelphia. They were desperate for The Cup, and I wanted to be on the team that brought it to them. I just wasn’t sure if this year was our year to do it.
“You gonna do your pre-game nap?” TJ asked after we cleaned up after the pre-game meal at the arena.
I nodded. “Always. We carpooling together?”
“Tradition man!”
I shook my head with a laugh and we headed home together. TJ and I went our separate ways when we got home, and I stripped down to my boxers before sliding into my bed. I checked my phone to set my alarm and saw a text from Dinah.
DINAH: Good luck with your game today, I know you’re probably taking your pre-game nap, so I don’t know when you’ll see this.
ME: Just sliding into bed actually, you caught me.
DINAH: Sorry!
ME: Don’t be. Good luck with writing tonight. Bummed you can’t make it tonight, but I understand.
DINAH: Maybe I can come to the next one?
ME: You know you can.
I fell asleep with a smile on my face and ready to take on Carolina.
***
BY THE TIME I WAS WALKING down the tunnel with the rest of my team, I had my game face on and I was ready to take on whatever the Carolina Thrashers had to throw at us. I was on the starting line-up tonight, so it was nice to skate out onto center ice with my teammates. I fist-bumped the little flag-bearer who was standing next to me for the National Anthem, and then I was ready for this game.
Girard took the face-off and he won, taking the puck up past the blue line and passing it back to me. I passed it back and he took the shot, but it went off the post. I scrambled for the rebound and passed to TJ, who whacked it in. TJ and I threw our hands up in celebration and we hugged it out.
Tonight I was feeling good, and it must have been spreading, because we ended up winning the game, 2-1. Metzy was hot in goal tonight, and everyone was hungry to win. I wished we could keep it going, but I had been studying stats with Riley lately and it wasn’t looking good.
The team walked into the dressing room with smiles on their faces. I had to do a post-game interview about the assist, probably because TJ had hopped in the shower and they were tired of waiting around for him. Things felt really good, like we could make up for a shitty first half of the season and could turn this ship around. I was working hard at this, and I wanted to bring that glory back to this city. Our young goalie Seamus Metz, who was like twenty going on forty, kept telling us we had to take this one game at a time. I think he was right.
We were on the road for a game tomorrow night in Newark, but at least that meant I could sleep in my own bed tonight. I drove TJ and I back to our place and pretty much crashed as soon as I got into bed. I checked my phone for the first time since getting to the arena and saw Dinah had texted a few times since our conversation earlier today.
DINAH: Sorry, I couldn’t be there tonight.
DINAH: These edits are killing me, I think I need to rewrite this whole thing.
DINAH: YAY! I saw your assist. GET IT!
I smiled to myself, and looked up when TJ stepped into my doorway. “You have the dumbest grin on your face right now.”
I shook my head. “That’s just my face!”
He pointed at my phone. “That who I think it is?”
I nodded.
He shook his head. “I know I warned you about falling in love with her, but you already are, aren’t you?”
I ignored him and started typing out a response to Dinah. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Bro, you’re hopeless!” He shook his head and walked away. I got up and shut my bedroom door. It was late, so I felt bad about texting her back, but I figured she wouldn’t see until the morning.
ME: NOOOOO don’t rewrite it! I’m almost done reading it, and I’m really enjoying it.
I saw three little dots appear so I knew she was typing.
DINAH:...really?
ME: Yes, really. Girl, you have to be confident in your writing!
Dinah was a mystery to me, she always came off as so sure of herself, but when you got to know her you saw that she didn’t really know what she was doing. Like the rest of us. It wasn’t until you really got to know her that you could see the cracks in her facade. Writing was her ultimate passion, so I think she was just extra hard on herself about it. I definitely understood that, as I was the same with hockey. I talked her off a ledge when she was editing her first book, and she had helped me in the past when I would think about that empty net goal I missed seven years ago in juniors. It’s always the missed goals that you remember.
It was crazy to me that she didn’t think she was good at writing. I wasn’t really her audience, but her books appealed to me because of the hockey in them. I think she thought men didn’t want to like love stories.
My phone buzzed in my hand again. I smiled at seeing her typing back.
DINAH: Your support means so much to me, I don’t think you really understand how much your opinion means to me.
ME: AW!
DINAH: SHUT UP
ME: HEY! Why are you up so late, don’t you have work tomorrow?
DINAH: Ugh, yes. ‘Night. Good luck with your games this weekend.
ME: Night!
I laid back on my bed with a sigh. I had never felt lonely before being alone in my bed, but having spent the last two nights with Dinah at my side, it felt cold. I set my alarm, we had to be down the turnpike early tomorrow for morning skate, so I had better get to sleep as soon as possible. Of course, I had a hard time sleeping and ended up finishing Dinah’s book before I could go to sleep. When I did fall asleep I just was tortured by dreams of taking Dinah in my arms and having my way with her multiple times. I had fallen deep into love with her, and I wasn’t sure I would ever come out of it.