Back Check Part 17

"And starting in goal tonight for your Chicago Aces...Brent Stoooooyko!"

The crowd starting chanting, "Stoy-kers! Stoy-kers!"

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, please remain standing, remove your hats, and welcome your Chicago Aces' own Amos Gallo for the singing of tonight's national anthem."

Tanner took his helmet off. He kept his head up, feet moving, focusing on how he wanted to play tonight, what they had to do to beat the Stars. He ignored the guy skating by with the video camera. He also tried not to think about the fact that Katelyn was there watching tonight.

As the anthem ended, the crowd erupted again. The refs gathered at center ice and he skated in an easy circle, while Stoykers went through a series of fast moves in the crease, side to side, back and forth, tapping each goalpost with his stick.

Duper skated to center ice, bent over and ready to take the face-off. Tanner put his stick on the ice near the blue line. The ref dropped the puck, Duper won the face-off, getting the puck to Rupper, skated at his center opponent and gave him a shove, and they were off.

The game was fast and physical. They were playing with a good sense of urgency after the win, but the Stars were a physical team. The Aces' style was to use their speed to create things off the rush, get the puck to the forwards and to the net, but they were getting frustrated by all the b.u.mps and hits.

"Feel like I'm skating in f.u.c.king quicksand," Rupper said in the dressing room between the first and second, as he sat breathing hard. The game was still scoreless. "Can't get going out there, for f.u.c.k's sake."

Rupper was a guy who liked to skate with the puck, who liked to join the rush, as did Tanner, though he played defense.

"They're f.u.c.king dirty," Rico said.

"They're not dirty." Tanner stretched his legs out in front of him, water bottle in hand. "They're undisciplined, but they're not dirty."

"f.u.c.king Landry," Rico said bitterly. "He's a monster."

The dude was six-five and probably over two hundred fifty pounds. Tanner couldn't argue with that. "He's an agitator," he said. "But he usually doesn't go over the line."

- "How does it feel to be back at a hockey game?" Rachel asked Katelyn as they watched from their seats near one of the corners.

Katelyn had spotted Lovey and Amber as they came in and took seats in the section next to them, but they hadn't seen her. "Weird." She dipped her hand into her box of popcorn. "I've only ever been here for a concert. This is bigger than Munn." The arena at Michigan State.

"Oh yeah. Check out the Stanley Cup banners." Rachel nodded her head to where they hung from the rafters.

"Impressive."

She had no idea why, but she felt nervous. Her stomach was all fluttery and she couldn't sit still. Of course she kept looking for Tanner every time he was on the ice. Oh h.e.l.l, she watched him when he wasn't on the ice. It was different seeing him in an Aces uniform, and yet it was familiar.

She tried to pay attention to the game, wincing at the hard hits into the boards, following the puck as each team tried to score. The Aces seemed to be outplaying the Stars and were definitely outshooting them, but there was no score at the end of the first period. She sensed the team's frustration with that.

It didn't take long for her to pick up on things and get invested in the game, her heart leaping with every Aces chance and every Stars shot on net.

As she and Rachel rose to go to the concourse between periods, Lovey saw her. Lovey's face lit up with a smile and she gave a huge wave. Katelyn waved back and Lovey pointed to the concourse. Katelyn nodded, smiling, and in the crowd they found each other.

"Hey!" Lovey said, giving her a hug. "So nice to see you here!"

"Yes, you too." She introduced Rachel and Lovey to each other.

"Are you a hockey fan, Katelyn?" Lovey asked. "It's so funny, I've never asked you that."

"I used to be."

"Right...when you were in college, I'm guessing."

"Yes. Michigan State." She sighed. "I used to go to all Tanner's games. I've never been to an Aces game, though."

"Never?" Lovey's eyes widened. Then she laughed. "Sometimes I forget not everyone lives and breathes hockey."

"That's understandable."

"You know I'm crazy curious about you and Tanner, right?"

Katelyn caught Rachel's amused look. "What do you want to know?"

"Look, there's obviously something between you. You're single. He's single. There's nothing wrong with that. And there's nothing unprofessional about it."

Katelyn bit her lip. "Thank you." She paused. "You sat us beside each other on purpose on Friday night, didn't you?"

Lovey laughed. "I confess. And it was so fun watching you two."

Katelyn groaned. "Please tell me not everyone knew what was happening."

"No. Just me. Well, maybe Marc. Who also told me to b.u.t.t out and mind my own business." She grimaced. "Sometimes I interfere just a teensy bit in people's lives. But I have good intentions." Her smile faded and a little notch appeared between her eyebrows. "If you want to avoid him, just tell me and it won't happen again. I don't want to make you two uncomfortable."

Katelyn bit her lip. "Well, um, I guess I wouldn't be here if I were trying to avoid him."

Lovey's face brightened. "He knows you're here?"

"Yeah. He got us the tickets. He and I are, uh, going to see how things go...it's been a long time, but..." Her voice trailed off.

Lovey understood exactly what she was saying, though. "Yay!"

"I wasn't sure if I should tell you."

"Why not?"

"I just want you to know this has nothing to do with my work for you. Whatever happens with Tanner and me, I will be completely professional."

"Of course you will."

"Thanks for being so understanding."

"I'm happy for you! Tanner's a bit of a player, but I've always thought that's only because he hasn't found the right woman. You can thank me at your wedding. Kidding. Just kidding." She held up her hands and Katelyn couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, I better go. Enjoy the rest of the game! Let's hope for some goals!"

- Late in the second period, Tanner saw that Stars center Andreyev was late getting back to his defensive zone and joined the rush across the blue line. "Rupper!" he shouted to his teammate, who had the puck. Rupper pa.s.sed it to him through traffic. Tanner snagged the puck with a Stars D-man bearing down on him, slipped it forward between his own legs to keep it away from him, and picked it up again, then went to the net and snapped it right through the Stars goalie's five hole.

"Yeah!" He had to do a little leap to avoid running into the goalie as he skated to the gla.s.s to slam against it in celebration. The crowd leaped to their feet, cheering, the horn blasted, and his teammates jumped him.

"Nice!" Rupper yelled at him. "Way to find open s.p.a.ce, man."

"What the h.e.l.l was that move?" Army demanded, slapping his back. "And then the snipe!"

The Aces' goal song "Master of Puppets" by Metallica blasted through the arena, the crowd still cheering. Wearing a huge grin, Tanner went to the bench.

He watched the next s.h.i.+ft, yelling, "That's it, Hughie, drive him, kid!" when Hughie took another player into the boards hard; then "Nice block, Ronner!"

He was back on the ice, in the Stars' end, when Kirby took the puck behind the net. The big Stars player Landry skated in on him. Landry's skates left the ice as he drove Kirby into the boards hard, catching him on his blind side and hitting his head. The puck actually came to Tanner's stick, but he wasn't even focusing on that, his blood surging hot as he watched his teammate crumple to the ice, motionless. A sharp whistle blew. As if in slow motion, Tanner looked at Landry skating toward him, seeming oblivious to the carnage he'd left lying on the ice.

Tanner charged at him.

"You f.u.c.king a.s.shole!" He grabbed Landry's jersey and started swinging.

He wasn't alone. Every player on the ice converged around them, pairing off, most of them just dancing, some fighting. "That was such a f.u.c.king dirty hit!" he shouted.

Gloves and helmets flew off. Tanner took a hard shot on the cheekbone, then delivered one right back, fury heating his veins. When he wrestled Landry to the ice, the linesmen stepped in and worked to separate them.

"Okay, okay, guys," one said. "You're done."

Tanner relented, panting, sweat stinging his eyes, his hand throbbing. Please, sweet Jesus, don't let it be broken again. He looked over to where the trainers were attending to Kirby. He despised the guy, but he was a teammate. Although if Tanner's hand was f.u.c.king broken again because of him, he was gonna be p.i.s.sed.

Kirby was moving. He was conscious, but he'd been out. Which meant he was gone. f.u.c.k.

Tanner glowered at Landry as he skated to the penalty box. He threw himself down onto the bench and flexed his hand. Just a stinger. He'd be okay.

It took a while for the officials to get all the penalties sorted, and Tanner relaxed only slightly when Landry was given a game misconduct. He nodded to his teammates, hoping Kirby was okay.

- Katelyn watched in horror as the fight unfolded nearly right in front of them. When everyone jumped to their feet, she did too, so she could see what was happening. She had a clear view of Tanner right against the gla.s.s, punching the other guy, yanking at his s.h.i.+rt, swinging him around.

"Oh my G.o.d, that guy is huge!" she cried to Rachel. "He's crazy!"

She was shaking, fear clawing inside her as she watched Tanner fight, knowing he could be hurt. They watched with dismay and fascination as Tanner took the guy down, then the refs pulled them apart.

Still trembling, Katelyn turned her attention back to the player who'd been hit, lying on the ice. She covered her mouth with her hands. "I hate it when they get hurt. It's such an exciting game, but I always hated this part."

"He's okay," Rachel said. "He's moving."

It took a while but eventually the team staff got him up. He definitely looked dazed as they helped him skate off.

"That's not good."

"Do you know him?"

"No. Number fifty-five..." She checked her game-day program. "Ryan Kirby. I haven't met him."

"Tanner's getting a penalty."

"Of course he is." She rolled her eyes. "And he just told me he doesn't fight anymore."

"I remember a few fights in college."

"Oh yeah. But in college, you get kicked out of the game if you fight, so he stopped that pretty quickly." She swallowed. "He was standing up for the guy who got hit." She watched Tanner in the penalty box, scowling, shaking his hand. "G.o.d, I hope he's okay."

"Tanner? Or Ryan Kirby?"

"Well, um, both." But she'd been talking about Tanner.

"Tanner's fine. He looks p.i.s.sed."

"Um, yeah." She paused. "Is it bad that I find it kind of hot that he's in the sin bin?"

Rachel laughed. "He's definitely got that bad-boy vibe going on."

Katelyn bit her lip.

- Late in the third period, Tanner fed the puck to Army for a sweet goal, which gave the Aces a two-nothing win over the Stars. The mood in the dressing room was slightly subdued elation, with the word that Kirby did in fact have a concussion and was going to be out for a while. Concussions were something everyone worried about these days.

On the up side, Stoykers had a shutout, and Tanner had a Gordie Howe hat trick...a goal, an a.s.sist, and a fight. He accepted the fist-b.u.mps from his teammates with a wry smile.

He drank his usual protein shake and headed to the bike to cool down for a bit. They'd checked his hand and nothing was broken, thank f.u.c.k, but he had an ice pack on it to keep the swelling down. He'd have to keep icing it for the next day or so, but he could handle that.

His thoughts turned to Katelyn and what they would do tomorrow. He had no idea what her schedule was like. He had a feeling her job wasn't a nine-to-five kind of gig, which was okay because neither was his. He'd like to take her out on a date. Maybe a nice dinner. Then take her back to his place and f.u.c.k her into the middle of next week.

Ugh. He was such a pig. This was Katelyn.

Although it seemed Katelyn was still pretty much DTF.

Nope, had to stop thinking about f.u.c.king Katelyn. Not here. Not now. He just needed to get home and he could jerk off thinking about her and how G.o.dd.a.m.n hot she'd been Friday night and how sweet her p.u.s.s.y was.

Maybe the anger and frustration he felt at what had happened to them eight years ago had added a little extra adrenaline to the fury he'd felt when Landry had knocked out Kirby. It made him p.i.s.sed as h.e.l.l that Katelyn had gone through all that alone and he'd never even had a f.u.c.king clue. He didn't know a lot about Alzheimer's, but it sounded like she'd been through h.e.l.l. He hated that. And the fact that her dad had pa.s.sed away and there'd been no reason they couldn't be together, but she'd thought he was still f.u.c.king married...that made him want to punch someone.

They'd wasted all these years...he'd been f.u.c.king around since Presley, not even sure what he was looking for. And now he remembered Katelyn had been engaged three times...Jesus. Apparently she'd been looking for something too.

Neither of them had ever found it.

He'd been convinced that love wasn't for him. Every time he started to care about someone, they left. And even though he'd been the one who left Katelyn, he'd still felt like he'd been abandoned because she wouldn't come with him and he hadn't understood why...other than the fact that he wasn't good enough to follow to New York. Now that he knew the truth...did it make any difference?

Chapter 14.

"You got in a fight."

"Yep."

Katelyn eyed the bruise coloring Tanner's cheekbone and the hand he was rubbing. "Are you okay?"