Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82163 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82163 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
It takes a split second before the rest of the team surrounds Xavier as we celebrate with each other. “We did it!” somebody says over and over again, the whole team in a circle jumping up and down.
“Who’s got your back?” Cooper yells.
We chant back to him, “I’ve got your back.”
It was a little thing we started at the beginning of this year when Xavier signed with the team. He came from a team that didn’t have his back and the team banded together to make sure he knew he wasn’t in this alone. “Who’s got your back?”
“I’ve got your back,” we all yell.
The crowd's roar is even more deafening when they know we are doing our chant, something the audience has also come to enjoy. Winning the games in the playoffs is always amazing, but when you get to win in your arena, with the same people who cheer you on all year long, it is beyond words. I’m not even thinking about the thirty thousand fans outside now celebrating.
We stand together as a group, as we did all year long, before breaking and skating to the middle of the ice to shake hands. Gloves are scattered over the ice, helmets thrown off, sticks tossed to the side. I take a second to finally look up where I know my girl is. Penelope. With her hair in a ponytail, wearing my jersey as she jumps up and down clapping her hands. The fullness in my chest is off the charts as the tears start to sting at the back of my eyes. The emotions are all over the place. I hold up my hand to her, hoping she sees me.
I see my mother from the side lean down and whisper something in her ear. Then her eyes find mine, as she holds up her hand like mine, right before she blows me a kiss. I pretend to grab it and place it at my heart. This little girl, who is eight years old, weighs about fifty pounds, and is almost four feet tall owns me right down to my bones. She smiles so big at me, and then I see her walk over to Abigail, and my heart stops beating in my chest as I watch the two of them together.
Abigail stops what she is doing right away to lean down and listen to what she is saying. Penelope points at me, and I just stand there and hold up my hand again. Abigail smiles and waves as she puts her arm around Penelope and kisses her head. I shake my head away from the thought that I’m jealous of the kiss my daughter just got.
Instead, I skate to the middle of the ice, getting in line, and shaking the other players' hands. I look over to the side, seeing them opening the Zamboni door, where they are rolling out the red carpet and setting up the tables for the MVP of the playoffs, as well as the Stanley Cup.
I finally get to the end of the line and skate over to the bench, grabbing a Stanley Cup hat. I look over and see Chase, the team doctor and one of my best friends, leaning against the side with a matching hat on his head. He comes over to me with a smirk on his face. “Well, would you look at that.” He takes his hat off his head and points at it. “Stanley Cup Champions.”
I can’t help but chuckle. “Is that what it says, Doc?” I joke with him, putting the hat on top of my head
“Great freaking game.”
“It was a Xavier,” I tell him, and he comes over and taps my shoulder.
“It’s like you are all grown up now,” he teases me like he always does.
When he joined the team, I had just turned twenty, and then I got hurt. He really stood by my side through it all. He worked right alongside me, and then I found out about Penelope, and to be honest, he was the big brother I never had. I knew if I ever needed him, he would be right there beside me and vice versa.
I hear chatter beside me when Cooper, Chase’s brother, teases Xavier. “The hero of the game. I still don’t like you kissing my sister.” That makes me laugh even harder.
“Who is going to tell him that I’m sure he does more than kiss her?” I say loudly, and Xavier looks at me and smiles.
“Yeah, I do,” he confirms, putting on his own cap. Having Xavier on the team has been one of the best experiences I’ve had. He is one hundred percent so open about everything that it makes you be open as well. It was hard to come in sometimes and not be okay but pretend to be okay because you never really want to burden people. Once he was here, it was so refreshing to come in and be like ‘I’m so fucking tired,’ and you also found that a lot of other players were feeling the same.