Overtime(112)

“How’s the house coming?” Lacey asked as they settled into their seats. Mena sat in her lap, her little Assassins jersey dress on and tiny headphones covering her ears from the noise of the crowd. It was electrifying, the first game of the season, and everyone, including Kacey, was excited. She had been waiting since Jordie had gotten hurt for him to get back on the ice in full beast mode. He did well in the preseason games he played in, but tonight—tonight, he was going to rock it. He was ready, she was ready, and she just hoped the fans were ready.

Because Jordie Thomas was back.

“It’s coming,” she said, leaning back in her seat, thankful her nausea was practically gone by the time she got to the arena. “Although, Jordie and I tried to have sex in the kitchen and almost caught it on fire. I was cleaning smoke and burned shit off my brand-new stove all afternoon.”

Lacey’s face twisted in confusion and she sputtered with laughter. “Do I even want to know how this happened?”

Kacey grinned. “He threw my shirt on the stove, and I had forgotten to shut it off. Boom! Flames, fire, poor guy fell and almost broke his dick.”

She tried to hold it in, bless Lacey’s heart, she did, but soon, she was laughing so hard she was crying. Kacey was right there with her, holding her own stomach as she laughed until she couldn’t breathe. Still gasping, she said, “I’m sitting there, spraying the fire with the extinguisher as he’s moaning on the ground. It was by far the funniest thing that has ever happened to me during sex.”

“Oh my God, I’m dying,” Lacey proclaimed as Karl and Regina sat down beside her.

“Give me my baby then,” Karl said, taking Mena and cuddling her into his chest. “You watch hockey with Pawpaw.”

Wiping her face, Lacey shook her head. “Oh my, to be a fly on the wall. I’d pay, I’d seriously pay to see that.”

“It was humorous,” Kacey decided, crossing her legs. “I think I almost died from smoke inhalation though. I almost puked everywhere.”

“That happened to me when I caught the chicken on fire a couple weeks before I had Mena. Remember that?”

Kacey nodded. “I do! We were both so sick.”

“Yeah, I hate that. Thank God y’all didn’t burn the house down.”

“Right!” Kacey agreed as the lights went dark. “Give us a few weeks though. We are so hot when we do it.”

Lacey scoffed. “Jeez, get over yourself.”

Kacey grinned as the light show started before the guys hit the ice. Cheering along with the rest of the crowd that was there, Kacey got the little flutters in her stomach that she always got at the start of the game. It used to be for Karson, or even herself, but now it was for Jordie. She loved watching him play, but this was his first real game since being hurt. She was excited to see him hit the ice, to see him back to full Jordie mode. Hopefully, this will help, she thought to herself. He craved the smell of the ice, the feel of the ice beneath his skates, and the feel of his stick in his hands. So surely, those cravings would cancel out the ones of drinking. He hadn’t told her lately that he wanted to drink, but he had mentioned it in AA, and it honestly scared her. She felt like she should follow him around, make sure he wasn’t doing it, but she told herself she wouldn’t do that. She’d trust and believe in him until he proved her wrong, and he hadn’t done it yet.

He wouldn’t.

“Number Three! Jordie Thomas!” the announcer said and the crowd lost it. Smiling, she watched as he held up his stick, his grin unstoppable. He looked like her Jordie.

He looked happy.

Leaning over, Lacey said, “He looks good.”

Kacey nodded. “He’s home.”

“Yeah, Karson said they had a talk the other day and that his momma messed him up pretty bad.”

Looking over at her, she nodded. “Yeah. She’s a bitch.”

“Agreed, but Karson’s worried.”

Kacey’s heart stopped. “He is?”

“Yeah, he’s been okay though, right?”

She shook her head. “I can tell he’s hurting, but everything seems okay…”

“Yeah, that’s what Karson said. We just need to be there for him.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Kacey said and Lacey nodded.

“I know, but he really needs to cut that woman out of his life.”

“You’re right.”

As the puck dropped, Lacey looked away, her attention on the ice as Kacey looked on too. The Assassins were hosting the Panthers, and within seconds, Kacey knew it was going to be a good game. They both wanted that first win of the season, that was easy to see, and soon Kacey was on the edge of her seat. As Phillip Anderson sent the puck back to Jordie, she watched as he skated around the net, watching at his forwards got into position. Sending the puck to Karson, he skated up as Karson whizzed it up to Anderson, who passed it quickly to Erik Titov. He shot, hitting the goalie’s leg pad, which gave off one hell of a rebound. Anderson got it, sending it to the goal again, but again it was rebounded back to the corner. Brooks rushed the boards, getting the puck and sending it out to Karson, but he didn’t put his stick down in time and it went out of the zone. They changed up, and the game continued as Shea and the new kid, Sinclair, sent puck after puck at the net. The goalie was giving up huge rebounds, and when one came back, right onto the stick of Baylor Moore, Kacey held her breath as she shot top shelf, scoring the first goal. She had forgotten all about Baylor because of Jordie, and her stomach fluttered as Baylor held her arms up, everyone hugging her, and the crowd losing their shit.