Dirty Pucker (Denver Bashers #2)

52. Del

Chapter 52

Del

I sit at my spot in the locker room while Coach Porter stands in the middle, giving his remarks before our playoff game against the Devils.

He aims a focused frown at us. “I won’t lie, gentlemen. I’m still not over losing to Los Angeles the other night.”

We all nod in quiet agreement. Our last game was in Los Angeles. The Devils beat us, three to two.

Guilt throttles me. Part of me feels responsible for our loss. We had just come off the publicity of my arrest. Everything felt chaotic and unsettled, and as hard as we played, we couldn’t beat the Devils.

Everyone was pissed, of course. Every single one of us hates losing, especially during the playoffs when so much is at stake.

But none of my teammates blamed me. Coach Porter didn’t either.

They treated it just like any other loss. They were disappointed and upset, but they didn’t point fingers. They were ready to move on and focus on doing better for the next game.

Still though. I can’t help but think that if I hadn’t brought on all this extra scrutiny and publicity to the team, we would have been more focused and we could have beaten LA. We’d be celebrating winning the first round of playoffs and resting up for the next round.

I push aside those feelings of guilt and regret. Now’s not the time to dwell on that. I need to focus.

Porter looks around the room. “I know you feel the same way. And I know that you’re all going to use that frustration and anger from our loss to fuel you tonight.”

A chorus of “hell yeah!” echoes around the room.

“We knew that fourth game would be tough. And it was,” Porter says. “But so are you. Every single one of you is tough as hell. And I know you won’t go down without a fight.”

We grunt and holler in agreement.

“We’re on home ice tonight. Those are our fans out there, ready to cheer us on. No one plays like us when we’re at home,” he says, his voice a hair below a shout.

Adrenaline pumps through me. It’s awesome to see Coach Porter this worked up, this passionate. And I know the rest of the guys feel the same way.

We’re all staring at him, hanging on his every word.

“Now go out there, play your hearts out, and fight like hell!”

With Coach’s rallying cry, we’re on our feet, hollering and smacking each other.

We head out of the locker room and through the tunnel toward the ice. Blomdahl moves past me, taking his position at the front of the team like he always does when we go out as a team.

I pat his helmet. “Give ‘em hell tonight, dude,” I say to him.

“Fuck yeah,” he says. His focused gaze stays straight ahead. He’s in the zone, and I can tell he’s gonna be on fire tonight.

Xander bumps my shoulder with his. “You good?” he asks.

I nod.

“Kill it out there, okay? I wanna see Dirty Del make an appearance tonight.”

I chuckle.

Theo smacks my shoulder. “Hell yeah, Dirty Del.”

“You sure? If I get too wild, I’ll get a penalty called on me,” I say, half-joking, half-serious.

“Don’t worry. We got your back,” Theo says. Xander nods.

“Thanks, guys. I know things have been crazy ever since my arrest and all the publicity that followed.” I huff out a breath. “And I know it was probably part of the reason why we lost our last game.”

Xander shakes his head. “No way. Do you know how hard it is to win four games in a row in the playoffs?”

“It’s almost impossible, man,” Theo says. “Don’t sweat it. We’re gonna kick their ass tonight.”

Blomdahl, who’s at the entrance of the tunnel, turns around to me. “They’re right. It wasn’t you. I forgot to lick my stick last game. That’s probably why we lost.”

We all laugh. I’m grateful for the impromptu pep talk my teammates are giving me. And grateful that I can count them as friends now too.

The lights in the arena dim and the entrance music blasts through the speakers.

Grinning, Blomdahl runs his tongue along the bottom of his stick. “Let’s fucking go, boys!” he hollers before hitting the ice. The crowd is on their feet, screaming and cheering on Blomdahl and our other teammates as they skate off.

“That guy’s a psycho. Fuck, I love it.” Xander laughs and heads out. Theo follows him.

Just then I spot Ingrid standing off to the side, filming the action on the ice with her phone for the Bashers’ social media accounts.

My heart races as I stare at the woman I love. The woman who’s stood by my side through all this craziness. The woman who, five minutes after meeting me, refused to believe I was the asshole everyone said I was.

She saw through all the bullshit, the facade. She saw me for me. All the raw, ugly parts of me. And the most amazing part? She liked what she saw. She liked me .

She loves me. And I love her. So much.

My heartbeat kicks up, thrumming in my chest. I still can’t believe this goddess is my girlfriend.

I head over to her. She turns around and flashes a gorgeous smile. She puts down her phone and runs her hand up my chest.

Those stunning blue eyes sparkle as she gazes up at me. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

“I’m not messing up your pre-game routine if I give you a kiss, am I?” she asks in a teasing voice.

I shake my head. “Nope. Getting a kiss from you is the most important part of my routine, actually.”

She laughs before kissing me. Around us, fans cheer and whistle.

“Holy shit! Did you see that? Dirty Del and the social media girl!”

“I knew it! I knew they were together!”

“I thought that was a rumor. They really are a couple!”

When we break apart, Ingrid is chuckling. She waves at the fans around us. I raise my stick at them.

She turns to me. “Our kiss is going to end up on social media. Hope that’s okay.”

“Hell yeah, it’s okay. I want the whole world to know you’re mine, sweetheart.”

Emotion flashes in her soft blue eyes. She cups her hands around my face and kisses me again. “How are you feeling?” she asks, her tone soft.

“Good. A little nervous. It’s the first home game since…you know.”

She nods. She knows just how anxious I’ve been about playing ever since my arrest and the sports media circus that followed—that’s still going on. Coverage of me and my family has dialed back a bit since our loss to LA, but it’s still trending on social media and sports news.

A second later, Ingrid looks past my shoulder. The softest, sweetest smile appears on her beautiful face.

“Turn around,” she says.

When I turn around, I see some young fans nearby holding a sign that says, “We’ve got your back, Del!”

Warmth pools in the center of my chest and my nerves begin to fade.

I smile at the kids holding the sign. Then I grab a couple of pucks from the ledge along with a pen, sign them, and toss them to the kids. They squeal and jump up and down in excitement.

Ingrid motions for me to pose with them. I lean toward the glass and she takes a photo. She tells the kids that she’ll post the photo to the Bashers social media accounts. They look like they’re about to explode with excitement.

I turn back to Ingrid.

“You’ve got nothing to worry about. The fans love you,” she says.

I rest my hand on her hip and pull her close. I kiss her.

“You’d better get out there,” she says.

I hit the ice, feeling energized. Adrenaline buzzes through me like it always does before a game.

A few months ago, that riled-up feeling would lead to dirty hits and nonstop fighting on the ice.

But it’s different now. I’m not going to do that tonight.

I look over at Ingrid as she works. She sees me and smiles.

My heart feels like it’s about to burst. I’ve never been this happy before.

I’m not the guy I was just a couple of months ago. And it’s all because of her.

As I go through warmups, I glance around the arena. At my teammates. At the fans.

The energy in this place is crazy. Already the fans are going nuts, cheering and screaming for us.

I stretch out my neck and roll out my shoulders. I’m ready to play my heart out for my team, for the fans.

A warm feeling courses through me. Even if we lose, I’ll remember this moment forever, when my team and the fans in the stands felt like home.

As I skate to center ice and get ready for the puck drop, a sense of calm hits me. No matter what happens, no matter if we win or lose, I’ll be okay.

I look off to the side and lock eyes with Ingrid. She blows me a kiss. Emotion soars through me. I still can’t believe I’m the lucky bastard who gets to wake up every day next to this goddess.

She’s my home. Forever.