Goalie Interference (NHL Scorpions) (4 page)

Brandon gave him a hearty laugh and a congratulatory slap of his stick on Vlad’s pads. “Good man, take that attitude into the game, and they’re toast!”

Vlad did indeed take that attitude into the game. At the end of the third period, the score was tied at one a piece with a minute left to go on the clock. The buzzer went off with the game still tied. No one scored in the five minute overtime either, so they were going to a shootout. It was one-on-one time—shooter versus goalie. Vlad loved shootouts. Shootouts were the reason he had one of the best poke check records in the league, but he had to remember that the shooters coming at him knew that.

The Sharks started with their best shooter. Johansson was a winger with a wicked shot. Vlad would not be going for a poke check on him. He couldn’t go too far out of the net with that guy. He also knew that Johansson usually shot high, and he focused on his body language. Vlad waited to see if he dropped his shoulder, usually indicating a high shot. As he got closer, there was no shoulder drop.
Shit, what’s he doing?
Just as Vlad slammed his knees together to go down and protect his five-hole, he saw the shoulder drop.
Fucker!
He scrambled quickly to his feet, but missed the puck as it sailed in high over his right shoulder.

The Scorpions’ first shooter was their captain. Keith didn’t waste any time with fancy skating. Grabbing the puck from the red center line, he charged ahead and went head on with Price to try and sneak the puck in low just past his right pad. It looked like a perfect shot until the puck hit his pad and bounced out in front of him, never crossing the goal line. Keith skated back to the bench, banging his stick in frustration as he left the ice.

The next shooter was the Sharks’ captain, Tommy Xavier. Vlad hadn’t faced him before in a shootout and wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. Xavier took his time and skated the puck back and forth before taking his shot. He went high and the puck, once again, sailed in over Vlad’s right shoulder.
Goddammit!

Next up was Spicer, a fairly new guy to the Scorpions with mad puck handling skills. When he tried to finesse his puck into Price’s net, and Price blocked the shot, things really got desperate.

Since Vlad had let the first two pucks in and the Sharks had denied the Scorpions’ first two shots, the next puck had to go in. Marcoux was up for the Scorpions. If he missed, it was over. His shot went high, hitting the post, and that was that. The Sharks had won in a shootout.

The team was understandably subdued as the players filed back into the locker room. Vlad pushed off his net to follow them and went down on the ice. He quickly looked around and got back up, but it wasn’t easy. His hip was becoming more of a problem. He didn’t want the team to suffer for any of his inadequacies, but he wasn’t ready to tell the team doctor about what he’d found out. He wasn’t even supposed to have been seen by any other doctors, so he was hoping to never have to say anything.

Back in the locker room, Coach DeLeon was addressing the team. “You guys showed a great effort out there. I’m not going to point out the things that went wrong. It was the first game, and you know what went wrong. Practice is at nine tomorrow morning. Be ready to sweat.” With a sadistic smile, the coach walked out.

Keith clapped his hands to get the room’s attention. “Okay. We all know what that smile means. Tomorrow’s practice is gonna suck.” Keith laughed. “We looked okay out there, but we have better in us, don’t we?” When all he got was some half-hearted, mumbled acquiescence, he threw his glove at a locker. “Don’t be careless just because it was the first game, guys. Don’t do that! We have more to give, and we’ll give it!” Keith got the response he wanted from that and left the room.

“Gotta admit, Lambert can get his point across, can’t he?” Looking at Vlad, Cage continued, “Hey old man, you feelin’ okay? I saw you take a spill on your way off the ice. Need some Ben Gay? I’m ready to fill in at anytime.”

“Booker, you really need to learn to keep your trap shut. Bring your attitude to practice and earn my spot. Until then, fuck off.” Vlad was seriously getting tired of listening to Cage’s ramblings. The guys teased each other all the time, and Vlad could take it as well as he could dish it out, but with Cage, he had a hard time letting it go. If he were being honest with himself, he could admit that it might be because Cage was hitting too close to home.

A couple of days later, Vlad was sitting on his patio watching the sun set. Seeing the bright red, yellow and orange streaks the sun left in the sky reminded him of how inconsequential his problems were in the grand scheme of things. He knew he should man up and talk to someone about what he’d been going through. It was time. His head knew it. The problem was that his heart and his pride were a bit slow to catch up.

He hadn’t talked to Jody for a couple of days, so he gave him a call.

“Hey Vlad, how’s it goin?”

“All right.”

Vlad knew from Jody’s pause that he wasn’t buying it. Jody tried again.
“
So, what’s up? You okay?”

There it was again. The ‘
you okay?’
.

“Yeah. Just checking in with you, is that a problem now too?” He just wanted to shoot the shit with someone without them asking if he was okay. Was that too much to ask?

“No, of course not. Should it be? Forget it. How was practice?”

Vlad sighed. “It was okay. To tell you the truth Chief, that Cage kid is killing me. I want to ring his oh-so-perfect neck. Christ! He just doesn’t let up, you know?”

“Yeah, I do know. I don’t care for the kid much myself, but you gotta let it slide off your back.”

“He’s just trying to get me to fuck up so he can take my place, I know it. That little prick will do anything to be the starting goalie. Well, screw him; I’m not going to just hand it over to him.”

“No one’s asking you to, Vlad. I agree that he’s a little prick, but we all were at that age. I don’t think he’s trying to cheat you out of your spot. I think he’d rather earn it honestly. I think his mouth just gets away from him. I couldn’t tell you how many times he’s called me old or ancient or decrepit. He’s just cocky.”

Vlad would probably have agreed with Jody if he wasn’t currently battling his own demons, but he was in a piss-poor mood lately and hated everyone. “He’s not just cocky. I’m telling you man, he’s gunning for me, and he’s gonna get a stick up his ass if he doesn’t back off.”

Vlad was so angry. So much for his peaceful sunset. His behavior was far from his norm. Vlad was the guy everyone wanted to be around. He didn’t get mad. Girls loved him, guys wanted to be him. Nothing was ever too much for him to handle.

“It sounds like you had a shit day, Vlad. How about we go out and grab a couple of beers? It’s not too late and Lacey’s not feeling so well tonight. The baby keeps kicking her in the bladder, and she wants me off her back. Seriously man, I try to help and she tells me to leave her alone. I feel helpless.”

Vlad finally gave up a laugh. “Yeah, okay. But give her some slack, man. She’s the best thing that ever happened to you. Don’t fuck it up.” Vlad was certainly happy for Jody, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t jealous. He’d do anything to have his girl demanding that he leave her alone because she was pregnant with his kid. Well, at least he had the part down where she demanded he leave her alone.

When Vlad and Jody got to the pub, they settled at the bar with a couple of beers.

“You guys want something to eat tonight?” Dan, the bartender, was used to having the NHLers in his place. He even had a private room in the back he let them use if the public attention got to be too much.

“I’m starving, Dan. Got any specials today?” Vlad was always starving. He was lucky he had a great metabolism. The way he ate, he should be as big as a house.

“Tony made up some of that crab bisque that everyone loves just this afternoon. He also made some cheddar biscuits. Want to start with that?”

“Yeah, that sounds great. How about you?” Vlad turned to see if Jody wanted the soup and spotted Zoe walking in. “Crap.” He rubbed the back of his neck in agitation.

“What?” Jody turned in the direction Vlad was looking to see her walking right toward them. “Hey Zoe, you want to have a seat? Lace isn’t here. Our little angel is into sparring mode again, and she’s sick of me at the moment.”

Zoe smiled, and put her arm around him in a show of support. She really did feel bad for Jody. He tried to do everything for Lacey, and it was driving her nuts. Zoe patted his cheek with true affection. “No thank you, sweets. I’m actually here to pick up some of that crab bisque for Lacey.”

“What? No way! I asked her if she wanted anything before I left.” He looked so forlorn. “I just want to help her.”

Zoe explained for what seemed like the thousandth time. “Jody. Honey. Listen to me. She loves you more than chocolate, remember? She does, but you’re just a bit, well, smothering. She needs some girl time, okay?”

“Okay, but make sure you get extra cheddar biscuits. She loves them.”

“Oh, you poor deluded man. She
used
to love them. She hates cheddar cheese now. You bring them in the house and she’ll puke all over you. As a matter of fact, you may not even want to eat them. She’ll smell them on you.” Zoe thought Lacey was a bit on the crazy side, too, but who was she to say? She’d never been pregnant.

Vlad smiled at Zoe. He honestly couldn’t help it. Seeing how much she cared about Lacey warmed his heart. Zoe was such an amazing human being. She was loving, but crass and sarcastic. She was perfect. Okay, maybe she wasn’t perfect, but she was to him. “Hey Zoe, you look especially pretty tonight.”
Shut up, shut up, shut up,
Vlad told himself.
Go back to being agitated.

Zoe looked down at her ripped jeans, red tank top, and half a dozen bangle bracelets. “Yeah, I guess I do, thanks.”

“And so humble. What a great combination.”

“Life’s too short to be humble. I know I look good, but I don’t flaunt it.” Zoe smiled, but then looked away. “Well, I have to get this soup and run. I’m spending a bit of time with Lacey before I go on my date.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew she made a mistake.

Vlad’s hand clenched his beer bottle. “Really. A date, huh? Who’s the lucky guy this time? Tim? Kyle? Steve? John? Pete?”

Jody cut him off. “Vlad, don’t do that, man. You know Zoe’s like a sister to me. Don’t disrespect her.” Zoe knew Vlad was putting Jody in a tough spot over whose side to take. That wasn’t fair of him.

Zoe patted Jody on the back. “Thanks Jody, but it’s okay. I understand him. He can’t accept a situation that’s beyond his control so he lashes out with insults. It’s a coping mechanism.”
Take that, Vlad.
“Since you asked, I’m going out with Sebastian. You know, that hot Spanish guy I met at that speed dating thing?” Why was she egging him on? She was as bad as he was sometimes.

That did it. Vlad was furious now. “You have got to be fucking kidding me! Jody told me you didn’t have any ‘sparks’ with that guy. Shit, I can’t do this anymore. Maybe I’ll ask for a trade.” Vlad got up and started walking out of the bar. Zoe followed after him, cheeks burning in shame.

“Vlad, wait.” She grabbed his arm and turned him around. “I’m sorry. That was very insensitive of me, but you had it coming after that comment. You know the deal. We’ve been over and over this. We can’t be together. Sebastian’s a nice guy, and I enjoy his company. I don’t know if anything will come of our dating, but I’m willing to try. I’m sick of being alone.” Dropping her voice to a tone not much above a whisper, she said, “We can’t keep having this same discussion, Vlad. We just can’t.” Zoe had tears in her eyes when she looked up at him. Zoe
never
cried. Never.

“Okay, Zoe. You win. Yet again, I’m sorry. Have a great date.” Vlad walked back into the bar just as Jody was walking out. Jody handed Zoe the soup she came for and walked back in with Vlad.

“Sorry about that. I know I need to get it together around her. I’m really going to try. There’s been this girl that comes to practice all the time. She might be a puck bunny, but she seems better than that. Maybe I’ll ask her out and see how it goes. She’s given me her number a dozen times. I have it in my locker. What do you think?”