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“I’m staying neutral… until we’re on the ice.” I appreciated how everyone was keeping things light, perfect for a game with teens. Teaching good sportsmanship was crucial. “Bellamy, glad you could join us for the game and to coach this season too.”
“I’m excited to do it. I’ve heard a lot about this from these two.” He gestured to Jason and Ry.
“I’m so sorry I haven’t had a minute to see you guys.” The brothers and I traded quick hugs. “Once the festival’s done, we’ve got to do a proper catch-up.”
“Looking forward to it,” Ry said.
“Alright, we all need to finish getting ready so we can open the doors. It looks like it’s going to be standing room in here.”
Fist bumps went all around as everyone scattered to prepare. In the locker room, Liam looked up from his phone as I came in. “Hey! We’ve got a slight change. Travis is out sick.”
“Oh no, what happened?” Not only did this affect the goalie lineup, but Travis had been excited to go against the NHL players.
“A stomach bug of some kind.” Liam’s expression brightened. “The good news is Daniel June’s still in town. He has gear at his parents’ place, so he’s subbing in.”
“Oh, that’s outstanding.” I stripped off my shirt and shorts. “From waltzing to being in net in less than twenty-four hours.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool.”
The locker room gradually filled with players from both teams. The mix of experienced pros and eager campers created an infectious energy.
Once everyone dressed, we headed out to the ice together and got into warm-ups as thumping dance music played over the sound system. The special jerseys looked spectacular on the players and some members of the crowd too. The Maplewood Pride Exhibition Game logo in the colors of the Progress Pride flag on the front created a striking contrast on my team’s dark blue sweaters and Dix’s team’s white ones.
After a few minutes, I retrieved a microphone from the scorekeeper booth. The packed stands hummed with excitement. There was a row filled with the pros’ boyfriends and husbands—Oscar, Aaron, Jason, and Shawn among them. I was happy to see that Kyle’s boyfriend Austin had made it after some flight delays.
Then Andre caught my eye. He was sitting with my moms near center ice and up a couple of rows. His small wave sent flutters through my chest, and I smiled and nodded in his direction.
“Good afternoon, everyone.” No nerves surfaced this afternoon as I spoke. After being so far outside my comfort zone the past few days, it was possible that nothing could faze me now.
“Thank you all for coming out to support our fourth Pride exhibition game. Because of your generosity, we’ve already raised over seventy-five hundred dollars for the You Can Play Project and GLSEN.” I paused for the applause. “And just a reminder that you can help us raise more. The merchandise and silent auction bidding will be open for thirty minutes after the game.”
I took a breath and moved on to thanking all the professional players who’d joined us and announcing that we were each matching the total raised, along with additional donations from our teams and the league. My shout out to Daniel for stepping in as goalie after his performance last night earned enthusiastic applause from the crowd. He raised his goalie stick in acknowledgement.
“Alright, we’re getting started. First up, we’ve got two skills competitions with fastest skater and accuracy shooting. That’ll be followed by two periods of play. And yes, the rumors are true—whichever team loses, that captain will take a shift in the dunk tank at six. Make sure you head over right after the game to take your shot at Dix in the park.”
The crowd laughed exactly as I’d hoped.
“Hey, no fair!” Dix shouted from across the ice before rapidly skating over to me. He snatched the mic from my hand. “He really means you all should stop by and dunk him after the game. My team will prevail.”
“Gimme that.” Liam skated over and grabbed the mic. “Excuse these two.” He smiled and shook his head at us. “Let’s just see what happens over the next couple of hours, shall we?”
He returned the mic to the scorekeeper as the audience cheered again.
Andre’s amused smile from the stands beckoned me to come kiss him. I forced myself to go to the bench instead. We’d get to hang out tonight, and then there would be kisses.
The skills competition kicked off with the fastest skater challenge. Tommy edged out Kyle by a fraction of a second in an epic finish. Kyle, who’d lost the faster skater by a similar margin at the All Star Game a couple of years ago, took it graciously. He grabbed Tommy’s hand and raised it in victory, encouraging the crowd to continue cheering.
During accuracy shooting, Andre’s presence kept drawing my attention because I wanted to see what he thought of all this. His intense concentration on me shattered my focus. I missed two targets. His expression had gone straight to my heart.
“Getting distracted, lover boy?” Nick teased as he came out to shoot next.
“Shut up and shoot,” I replied good-naturedly.
Ultimately, Miles won, prompting Cole, his ultra-competitive boyfriend, to demand another round.
The game blazed with intensity from the start. My team’s first line—which included Caleb and Mimi—connected well early, creating several scoring chances, but Dix and Milo proved to be a formidable defensive wall.
While I was defending against a rush, Andre caught my attention again as he leaned forward in his seat, completely focused on the play. That momentary distraction gave Tommy the opening to slip past and feed a perfect pass to Cole for the game’s first goal.
