by Jennie Marts
Suddenly the lights dimmed and several spotlights flashed around the arena. An announcer’s came on and asked the crowd to please welcome the other team.
An entire team of men wearing green and white jerseys came pouring out, skating around the ice, then lined up at the back of the rink. The announcer named the starting players, and they skated to the center of the ice amidst some cheers and a few random boos.
Then the lights went crazy again, and the announcer’s voice boomed, “Let’s get ready to rumble,” and the crowd went wild. “Please welcome your Colorado Summit.”
A circular message board flashed the words, “Make some noise.” And they did.
Gabby and Justin were on their feet, cheering and yelling with the crowd as the Summit skaters circled the ice. They lined up as well and the announcer named the starting players. They yelled and clapped when Owen’s name was called.
After singing the national anthem and more cheering, the players finally took the ice and the game began.
It was fast-paced and thrilling, and Gabby loved it. She loved watching Owen skate and the sounds of the puck whizzing across the ice. Justin had explained the position of the players, and she knew that Owen was a defenseman and protected the goal.
From her perspective, the players seemed huge, the pads and the skates adding height and bulk to their already muscled bodies. Sitting so close to the glass made her feel like she was practically in the game.
They were sitting behind the opposing net, and Owen seemed to be on the ice a lot. Every time he skated near, her heart doubled in speed.
Justin explained a few of the key hockey terms like one-timers, the blue line, and what ‘icing the puck’ meant. Now she understood Owen’s comment at the bakery about her icing skills. It would seem her kind of icing was much more fun.
Suddenly, Owen and another player slammed into the glass right in front of her, and she cringed at the impact as the referees blew their whistles. The crowd booed and screamed angrily at the other player.
“What happened?” she asked her brother.
“That guy just cross-checked Owen, which earned him a two-minute penalty. So, they’ll put him in that little box and their team will be down a player. They call this a power play, and it’s a great opportunity for the other team to score.”
Her heart pounded against her chest as the team took the ice and the crowd went wild. Owen was on the ice, and the puck cracked as it flew between the sticks of the players. Clustered around the net, the Summit passed the puck between the players, like a giant game of keep-away.
Then suddenly the puck flew at Owen, and with a burst of speed, he skated forward and took a shot at the goal. The puck left the ice, sailed neatly over the shoulder of the goalie, and slammed into the net.
The crowd went wild, and the team hugged and high-fived each other. Owen broke off, skating behind the net to smack the glass in celebration in front of Gabby. His mouth-guard hung from his helmet, and he flashed her a wide grin.
A wide toothless grin.
What the heck?
Well, not entirely toothless. But a wide empty space sat between his two front teeth and his right canine. A huge picture of Owen flashed on the jumbo-tron as a camera caught him with the grin on his face.
After her initial surprise, she decided she kind of liked it. It gave his smile a boyish charm. And gave her a little comfort that maybe the guy wasn’t so perfect after all.
It figured her Prince Charming would show up with a dark side and missing a tooth.
The crowd didn’t care how many teeth he had, they went crazy cheering for him. The goal set the tone for the game, but was the only score for the next two periods. As the teams failed to score, the play got more heated and a few fights broke out.
The excitement of the team turned to distress as Gabby realized the prevalence of violence in the game. Owen took part in two of the fights, and the arena went crazy chanting “Bannister Brawlers” when he dropped his gloves on the ice and went after another player.
Gabby covered her eyes, cringing as she watched the fights ensue. Especially when Owen was involved. She’d seen too much violence and anger from her step-father growing up and a feeling of claustrophobia overtook her as another fight broke out.
She stood and pushed her way down the row. She had to get out of there. If only to catch her breath and escape the intense noise of the crowd. Hurrying up the stairs, she slipped out of the arena and into the women’s restroom to splash cool water on her flushed face.
Five minutes later, she plopped back into her seat.
Justin gave her a concerned look. “You okay?”
She nodded and spoke loudly near his ear. “I’m enjoying the game, just not a huge fan of the fighting.”
Her brother nodded in agreement. “I understand.”
A buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the second period and Justin stood. “Let’s take advantage of these VIP passes and go check out the Summit Room.”
They made their way down the row and flashed their lanyard passes at a security guy who directed them to the VIP lounge.
The Summit Room was elegant, with dark paneled walls and red leather booths. Framed posters and hockey paraphernalia decorated the walls. It was blessedly quiet after the noise of the arena.
Gabby sank into a booth as Justin offered to get them drinks at the bar. “I’m driving, so just grab a Diet Coke for me.”
Her brother headed for the bar as two blonde women approached her, uncertain looks on their faces.
One of them pointed a perfectly manicured nail toward her, a huge diamond ring sparkling on her finger. “Aren’t you the cupcake lady? The one who is dating Owen Bannister?”
Gabby shifted nervously in her seat and dropped her hands into her lap, embarrassed of her own shabby nails that were unpainted and dry from spending so much time in the kitchen and washing dishes. “I don’t know if you’d call it dating. Owen and I are just friends.”
The woman slid into the booth across from her. “I don’t have a lot of friends that kiss me the way Owen kisses you. I saw your pictures on Twitter, and he seems totally into you.”
“So how did you nab one of the Bannister brothers?” The other woman looked her up and down, as if analyzing her outfit and her figure.
Was this woman asking a legitimate question or just making a snide remark? It was hard to tell, but Gabby guessed it was the latter.
A warm flush crept up Gabby’s neck. She wasn’t used to being in the spotlight or under the scrutiny of jealous women. She didn’t know how to respond, especially because she felt like an ugly duckling next to these perfectly coiffed swans. “I didn’t nab him. I guess he just likes my cupcakes.”
Her blush deepened at the innuendo behind the words, especially when one of the women looked skeptically at her breasts. Hockey jerseys did not flatter anyone’s figure.
“You must make some pretty great cupcakes.” The first woman gestured to herself and her friend. “I’m Tiffany, and this is Ashley.”
“I’m Gabby.”
“We know,” the one named Ashley said. She narrowed her eyes at Gabby’s forehead. “You should get rid of the person who did your eyebrows. I have a really great woman that I could recommend to do something to fix the poor job they did.”
Ouch. Geez, this woman was out for blood. Gabby could almost feel the scratch of her catty nails down her back. Especially because she’d never had anyone do her eyebrows. And if she had someone, she wouldn’t even know what to tell them to do. “Thanks, I’m good.”
“Hello, ladies.” Justin slid into the booth next to Gabby as he plunked the cups on the table. A swell of foam tipped over the side of his beer and slid down the frosty glass.
Gabby took a sip of her Diet Coke before introducing her new ‘friends’. “Justin, this is Tiffany and Abby.”
“Ashley,” the woman corrected with a snide sneer before turning to smile seductively at Justin. “So, Gabby was just telling us about her amazing cupcakes. The
y must really be something to lure so many good-looking men around her.”
“Yep, she’s pretty amazing, all right.” Justin smiled sweetly and dropped his arm around Gabby’s shoulder. “You do know the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Do you bake?”
Ashley laughed sardonically and with a hint of disdain, as if baking were beneath her. “Not hardly.”
“Maybe you should try it.” He turned to face Gabby, drawing her attention and completely ignoring the catty women. “So, what did you think of the game? Are you enjoying it?”
She kept her eyes focused on her brother, who had so skillfully dismissed the two other women. Dang, he was good at this.
Even though they had insulted almost everything about her, it wasn’t in her nature to be mean, and she hated to hurt anyone’s feelings. If she just didn’t look at them, then that wouldn’t exactly be considered mean, it would be more like intentional directional eye contact. And that didn’t sound mean at all.
“I think it’s exciting. But I hate all the fighting.”
“Ha.” Ashley interrupted them with a loud phony laugh. “If you don’t like fighting, you’re with the wrong guy. You know Owen is one of the Bannister Brawlers. Those guys get in fights all the time. I heard Owen punched a waiter last week for bringing him white wine instead of red.”
What? That was crazy. And didn’t sound like the Owen she knew.
But Gabby had only really known him for a few days now. Maybe there was another layer to his dark side than she’d hadn’t seen yet.
“Well, that’s understandable. You can’t be expected to drink white with steak,” Justin said, deflating the impact of Ashley’s comment by making a joke of it. He took a last swallow of his beer and nodded at the two women as he slid out of the booth. “If you’ll excuse us, ladies. We need to get back to the game.”
Gabby scooted out after him. “Nice to meet you.” But it hadn’t been. It hadn’t been nice at all. In fact, all of their comments settled on Gabby like a cloud as she sunk into her seat, and the players took the ice.
The Summit was still ahead, but as the clock ticked closer to the final minutes, the play became more aggressive. Gabby’s heart raced with the intensity of the game, and she wiped her sweating hands on her thighs.
Suddenly, the opposing team got a breakaway, skating down the ice and charging toward the net. Owen hunkered down in front of the goal, his large frame serving as a shield to protect the goalie.
Gabby held her breath as she watched the opposing player fake right, then take a shot around Owen’s side, right before he crashed into him. The puck flew at the goal, pinging off the post and soaring into the net.
The crowd was on its feet, booing and screaming words like ‘interference’ and ‘roughing’.
Seconds after the shot, Owen and the other player crashed into the goalie—all of them going down in a heap. The player shot a fist out at Owen’s head, and he retaliated by shoving the player across the ice. They clumsily stood and threw their gloves to the ground before attacking each other. The look on Owen’s face was menacing as he gritted his teeth in fierce anger.
The referees raced to the two men, blowing their whistles and trying to pull them apart as their fists flew at each other. Owen had the tail of the other man’s shirt and was pulling it over his head as he punched his fist into the side of his face. A spray of blood flew from the man’s mouth and landed in a bright red streak on the ice.
Gabby covered her face with her hands. This was too much. Too real. Too much like the violence she’d grown up with. But she’d escaped that violence. Gotten away from a man who thought he could solve problems and control people with intimidation and his fists.
She felt nauseated as the people in the stands stood and yelled for blood. How could the guy on the ice beating someone to a bloody pulp be the same man who grinningly teased her as he sprinkled chocolate dust on cupcakes? She couldn’t equate the two sides of this man.
Peering between her fingers, she saw the refs finally pull the two men apart and drag them to the penalty boxes. Fans booed and yelled at the opposing player as the glass door swung shut, and he slumped onto the bench.
Owen sat on the bench in the other box, now laughing but still hurling insults at the opposing player as he drew in the frenzied response of the crowd.
He actually liked this. He was enjoying himself.
Justin touched her leg. “It’s not as bad as it seems. It’s all part of the game.”
She nodded, reaching for her bottle of soda and taking a sip to settle her nerves. “I know. It just reminds me of—” She didn’t have to say the words. Her brother had been on the receiving end of her stepdad’s fists too many times and knew all too well what it reminded her of.
“It’s not like that. It’s not one guy who is stronger picking on someone weaker just to prove he’s a man. These are all big tough guys. They get paid for this. And they’re wearing pads.” He rubbed her shoulder in a show of comfort. “They’re not the same. It’s not like that. Plus, I’ve spent some time with Owen. He’s a good guy.”
He was a good guy. But was he good for her?
The opposing team took advantage of the Summit’s best defenseman being in the box, and within a few minutes scored another goal.
The announcer gave a synopsis of what needed to happen in the last minute of the game, talking through the strengths and weaknesses of the team. “After that first goal, Bannister can’t seem to recover his momentum. He’s got to be missing his brother. I know the rest of the team sure is.”
Was Owen’s life always like this? Like he was on exhibit—his every move being dissected and judged. How did he handle it?
She was typically a private person. All of the attention from Twitter and the press this week had exhausted her. She figured most of it would die down pretty soon. Another story would take its place. Something more interesting than her and Owen selling a few cupcakes.
For now, she’d just make the best of it. And be thankful for the increased exposure it was bringing to her business.
Justin nudged her and pointed at the Jumbo-Tron in the center of the rink. A huge picture of them was on the screen. Speaking of being on display. What the heck was she supposed to do now? Wave? Smile? Make a goofy face?
Luckily, she wasn’t the only one on the screen, and the kid sitting next to her saved her by standing up and breaking into a frenzied dance.
Whew. All she could do was laugh and cheer on the kid’s crazy moves then the camera switched to another group of fans.
No. She didn’t know how Owen did this all the time.
The Jumbo-Tron switched to a caption that read “Make Some Noise” and the crowd roared in response. The buzzer sounded, signaling his two minute penalty was up, and Owen shot from the box and onto the ice.
Determination on his face, he raced for the puck, slamming another player into the boards as he jammed his stick at his feet. Freeing the puck, he shot it down the ice toward his fellow player, who skated it toward the net.
The fans surged to their feet, yelling and screaming as the clock wound down on this last chance to score. The loud crack of impact sounded as the player’s stick connected to the puck and it shot through the air, flying toward the goal.
Gabby held her breath, gripping Justin’s hand, as she watched the puck sail through the air and right into the goalie’s glove.
A huge groan of defeat rose from the crowd as the final buzzer sounded, indicating the end of the game and a 2-1 loss for the Colorado Summit.
“Well, that sucks.” Justin picked up their coats.
Her thoughts exactly. “It sucks more for Owen than it does for us.”
“What do we do now?”
“Owen said it would be a couple of hours before he gets out of here, so we should just go on to the club without him, and he’ll grab a cab and meet us there later.”
“It’ll probably take us an hour to get out of here anyway. Where are we going again?”
“The Tap. It’s downtown so it shouldn’t take us too long to get there. I don’t know. I’ve never been there.”
“I have. It’s a cool club, kinda retro. Owen was telling me about his brother’s band. I’m excited to hear them.”
“Me, too. Have you heard of them before?”
“Yeah, totally. They’re the hot ticket right now. Their shows usually sell out the first day, and they’re rumored to be on the verge of breaking out.”
Gabby didn’t know exactly what ‘breaking out’ meant, but from the look of reverence and awe on her brother’s face, she assumed it was a good thing.
It didn’t surprise her. It seemed like these Bannister boys were quite the talented bunch.
Chapter Eleven
Owen handed the cabbie a twenty as he pulled up in front of the club. Stepping onto the sidewalk, he slammed the door of the cab and rubbed his hands together against the cold.
The cold air was fitting for his chilly mood. They’d had that game in the bag. The Summit had played better and had more shots on goal. They should have won—would have won—if only they’d had Bane playing with them tonight.
The burden of the loss—and his brother’s eminent trade—weighed heavily on his shoulders as he stepped in to the club. The pulse of the music and the crowded atmosphere did nothing to improve his mood or the headache pounding against his skull.
The bouncer must have recognized him, or he passed his test to enter the club, because he nodded and let down the rope for him to pass.
Owen moved through the masses, scanning the room for Gabby and her brother. Being tall had its advantages as he looked over the heads of most of the crowd. Justin was tall as well, and should be easy to spot. Owen headed for the bar, keeping an eye out for Gabby’s lanky, bearded brother.
He could feel the dark mood settling on him, and he knew his face was set in an annoyed scowl. Which probably worked in his favor as it hopefully kept zealous fans from approaching him to pour over the details of the game.
The game was over. He couldn’t change it. Couldn’t go back and replay it. All he could do now was move on and play better in the next game.