17. Kiley #3
“Yup, he will sit right on that bench. Just look for the number twenty-three in the same color jersey you are wearing.” Brayden fist bumps Zander and then turns to us. “I need to go. Text me if you need anything, but Chloe and Jax’s parents know how to get downstairs after the game.”
I nod. “Thanks for everything, Brayden.” He says goodbye to everyone and leaves the suite.
We go to the bar area to get some food and drinks and settle into our seats.
My dad sits next to Jax’s father, and I end up sitting next to Jax’s mom, with his sister on her other side.
Zander stands right in front of me so he can have the best view of the ice.
He nibbles on chicken fingers from my plate, but he’s barely eating.
The main arena lights go off, and the Phoenixes signature entrance song plays. We all laugh at Zander’s dancing. We stand up once we see the players skate onto the ice.
“There’s my dad!” Chloe shouts and points to Jax. We can see that Jax is looking at the suites, so we all wave. He points to us in acknowledgement.
I glance over at his parents and can see the love and pride shining in their eyes as they watch their son. We continue standing for the national anthem and sit back down once the puck drops. It’s amazing how much faster the players seem to fly across the ice versus watching the game on television.
The first period breezes by, and before we know it, it’s intermission with the score remaining 0-0.
“What a great defensive game this is,” Dan comments. “Hopefully, the boys can put the biscuit in the basket next period.”
Zander gives him a confused look. “They’re playing with biscuits?”
Dan laughs. “No, they’re playing with pucks. It is just a funny way to call a puck a biscuit and the goal a basket.”
I still have zero clue why you would refer to scoring a goal as a biscuit in a basket, but it seems hockey has its own unique language.
Chloe takes Zander to get a drink, and Dan continues explaining things to my father while I converse with Jackie and Marcie.
“How did you and Jax actually meet?” Marcie asks. “Was it at your dad’s bar?”
“Yes, I occasionally bartend during the weekdays to make some extra money, so that is how I met him and most of the team.” I don’t know how much Jax has shared with his parents that I used to despise him, so I keep that tidbit to myself.
“Did he ever bring his ex in?” Jackie inquires.
I shake my head. “No, I never met her, and it was obvious that year that he was dating someone because he wasn’t at the bar much.”
“He was also back and forth from Rockford.” Jackie shakes her head.
“That was a tough year for him. He wasn’t playing his best and was sent down a lot.
” She sighs. “I hate to say it because I never want my children to go through any kind of pain, but that breakup was the best thing for him. It made him focus more on the game, and after he signed his last contract, he doesn’t get sent down anymore. ”
“Did you guys not like Jenna?” I ask, looking between the two of them.
Jackie ponders her answer before responding. “We only got to meet her once and that was when we came to Chicago for a game. She never came to Kelowna. She was very nice, but I felt she played games with Jax’s heart.”
“I don’t necessarily think so,” Marcie interjects.
“Jax sent me all the emails she sent him afterwards, apologizing. I think her heart was so guarded from her previous breakups that she wasn’t willing to open up to Jax.
I also think she couldn’t help but fall in love with Cal.
I mean, no offense to my brother. I know he’s a good guy, and handsome and all, but Cal Harrington is on a whole other level.
” Marcie wiggles her eyebrows, and I giggle.
“Never say those things in front of your brother,” Jackie warns her daughter.
“I’m not stupid, Mom.”
“I didn’t say you were.” Jackie gives her daughter a knowing look.
“Is Jax dating anyone?” Marcie changes the subject. “He never tells us anything anymore.”
“I don’t think so,” I tell them while my brain is screaming I hope he isn’t. “But it isn’t something he would tell me, anyway.”
“Yes, but you would see if he was, wouldn’t you?”
“Not necessarily.” I don’t want to remind them that he could be seeing lots of women while he’s on the road.
“That’s true,” Marcie answers. “What about you? Jax told us you were single. Are you dating anyone?”
“Marcie, that’s none of your business,” Jackie warns and then looks at me. “Kiley, feel free to not answer her.”
“What?” Marcie questions her mother. “I was just curious from one single woman to the other. Dating sucks and I hate it.”
I chuckle. “No, it’s fine, and I agree. Dating is the worst, and much to my parents’ chagrin, I don’t put myself out there.”
“Amen, sista’!” Marcie holds up her hand, and I high-five her.
“How am I going to get more grandbabies if you aren’t willing to go out and be social?” Jackie asks Marcie.
“Eh, you’re not, so enjoy Chloe while you can.”
I laugh while Jackie rolls eyes at Marcie. “Can’t you meet a nice doctor at that hospital of yours?”
“Mom, I tell you this all the time,” Marcie huffs in exasperation. “The doctors are just as bad as hockey players. All they want to do is boink the fresh-meat residents. It’s gross.”
“Really?” My eyes go wide with this information. “That’s really a thing?”
“Oh yes. Just like pilots with flight attendants, it’s a thing.”
“Fascinating,” I murmur just as Zander comes back with a bottle of water and sits in my lap.
“Mom, what are those things on the ice?”
“Those are Zambonis; they make the ice smooth again.”
“I want to ride one!”
“I bet we know someone who can make that happen,” Dan answers Zander with a wink.
Zander looks up at me, and I smile. “We’ll see, buddy.” I don’t want to get his hopes up if Jax can’t get him a ride on one of them.
The second period starts and much like the first period, the defense on both teams manages to keep the puck out of the nets, but the third period proves to be the most thrilling of them all.
The enforcers on each team decide to “dance” as Dan calls it, and players are sent to the penalty boxes.
The crowd is going wild, and Zander covers his ears to block out some of the noise.
“Mommy, why were those guys hitting each other?” Zander shouts.
“They made bad decisions,” I tell him, not wanting to reveal that fighting is allowed and encouraged in hockey. “But look, they got in trouble and are in time out.” I point to where the two players are sitting.
“See Zander, fighting is a sin, so they got put in the sin bin,” Dan explains.
“That’s an interesting name for it,” my dad comments with a laugh.
The Phoenixes are on a power play, and I can barely watch with how many times they almost score but miss. My heart is pounding, and I look up to see there’s only thirty seconds left in the power play.
“This is so nerve-wrecking! I don’t know if I can watch,” I attempt to cover my eyes, but leave spaces in between my fingers so I can see through them.
Marcie and Jackie laugh at me, and we all lean forward in our seats as soon as the face-off is won.
Jax is out there, battling to stay free in front of the goal.
The puck is passed to him, but he sends it over the ice to Saint, who takes a shot.
The puck deflects off of the opposing team’s goaltender’s pad, but Jax is right in front and slaps it between the goalie’s five-hole.
“Yes!” I scream and jump up with everyone else when the goal horn blares. The whole arena is upon their feet and the atmosphere is electric. We cheer and sing along with the special song that is played when the Phoenixes score a goal.
Jax is mobbed at the boards by his teammates, but once he’s free, he points to our suite and we all wave.
The boys try to feed off of the energy of the arena and attempt to score three more times in the last five minutes.
Only when the other team pulled their goaltender for an extra player in the last minute of the game were we able to capitalize when Nolan Mercer, one of wingers, scores with an empty net goal.
The game ends with the Phoenixes winning 2-0, and Jax receives one of the three stars of the game.
“What a first game for you, eh?” Dan says as we walk to the elevators to go downstairs. “If only all games were like this one.”
“Are they not?” I ask.
“Unfortunately no. Believe it or not, some games can get kind of boring if the puck is just always being dumped into the end zones. Fortunately, those are few and far between.”
Chloe leads the way and I try to pay attention to what special elevators we need to take to get downstairs. We flash our badges and wrist bands through security and make it back to the players’ family lounge.
“I want to go to the slide room!” Zander begs with pleading puppy dog eyes.
I turn to Jax’s family and my dad. “You guys stay here and wait for Jax. Just come get us when we’re ready to go.”
Zander and I navigate through the packed hallway full of people waiting for the players before making it to the kid’s room.
“Welcome back, Zander,” Erin greets. She’s on the floor playing with another child, while a little girl plays with dolls in the play kitchen.
Zander says hello and runs straight to the slide’s stairs.
“Do you need any help cleaning up? I’m a schoolteacher, so I know you’re itching to get out of here now that the game is over.”
She laughs. “You really don’t have to help. I’m used to doing it by myself.”
“It’s no big deal,” I tell her, and before she can respond, I start putting some of the toys back in the basket.
A couple of wives come in to collect their children and soon, Zander and I are the only ones left.
“Zander, it’s time to let Miss Erin close the room.”
“But I don’t want to go,” he whines, and I know he’s tired from being up so late and the excitement of the game.
“One more time down the slide, and then we need to go find Granddad.”
He slides down, and when he reaches the bottom, he folds his little arms over his chest and pouts. “I don’t want to go.”