Nikki Worrell - The Enforcer (NHL Scorpions)

The coach slapped Jody on the back and left to go back to the locker room. Jody took one last look at the arena that would be loud as hell in just about an hour and followed him.

Zoe told Lacey that she would meet them all at the arena.

“Why? We can all go in Gary’s SUV. And then Jody can drive you and me home.”

Zoe looked at Lacey with a huge grin. “I’m bringing a date.”

Lacey was shocked. Not that Zoe got a date, but that she didn’t say anything to her about it. “What? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Don’t be mad. I just didn’t want you to say anything that might get back to Vlad. I mean, it’s not a secret or anything. I just kind of don’t want to mess up his first game, you know?” Maybe Zoe was giving herself too much credit, but it seemed like Vlad was seriously interested in her, and not just for sex. Even though she’d been honest with him from the start, she still felt guilty.

“I guess I can understand that, but you can’t let Vlad’s feelings for you guilt you into hiding a date. He’s just going to have to learn to accept it.” Everyone deserved to be happy, Zoe included. She shouldn’t have to hide anything from anyone. Vlad was going to have to suck it up and move on. “Okay, so who’s the mystery guy? Is it Sebastian? ‘Cause he was kinda yummy.”

“Yup. We actually had lunch last week. He’s nice.” Zoe hadn’t told Lacey about that either, and now that she was she felt guilty for keeping secrets from her.

“Holy shit, Zoe! You went out with him already, and I didn’t know about it? Who are you? You can never keep your mouth shut about anything if it’s not client related. Wow, you really feel bad about Vlad, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do, but I’ve got to stop. I can’t help our situation, and I’m not going to stop dating until he retires, you know? Zoe Millis is a hot chick, and I need a little something-something, if you know what I mean.” What Zoe meant was that she was horny. That was a word Zoe had no trouble with. “Lace, I feel guilty, I do, but the bottom line is that I need to get laid.”

“Well, hey, I’m not stopping you. Did you kiss him? I want details.”

“Yeah, he kissed me when he dropped me off after lunch. It was nice.” It was nice, but Zoe wanted toe curling. Maybe it was just because it was a first kiss, or that is was a daytime date, but there was just no heat.

“Nice? Oh Zoe, that doesn’t sound like a great first kiss. Maybe you were just feeling guilty, so you weren’t into it. See how tonight goes and roll with it.” Lacey knew Zoe wanted a guy around, but she shouldn’t settle if she didn’t feel it.

As soon as the boys took the ice for warm ups, the crowd started cheering. Vlad was the first to come out. Feeling nervous, but excited, he immediately went over to his crease and skated side to side to shave off some ice. Goaltenders didn’t like their crease to be too smooth.

Directly behind the goal, a fan was holding up a sign that read, “The Impaler’s gonna getcha!” Some of the fans had taken to calling Vlad ‘The Implaler’ since he shared his name with Dracula. Vlad preferred to think it was because he had a mean poke check – one of the best in the NHL.

Jody purposefully waited to take the ice until he heard the crowd booing Grayson. He knew they would-it was a sure thing. It was just something extra he wanted to do for the team by getting the fans even more riled up. Most fans loved the thought of their players getting in some scraps, and that was one of the reasons Jody was there.

When Jody stepped on the ice, Grayson pointed his stick right at him. The crowd booed Grayson again, but when Jody waved his stick in the air, acknowledging the fans, the crowd went wild. Oh, we’re going to be dropping gloves tonight, Dick.

It wasn’t Jody’s habit to actively seek out an opponent to fight. He mostly saved his fists for defending the guys when it was necessary, but he’d make an exception for Grayson. Could be a hell of a way to start the game.

The players didn’t often notice the individual fans standing at the glass when they were on the ice, but they did try to throw some pucks over the glass during warm ups. Jody looked around for a worthy kid and caught his number on a sign right at center ice. Signs were typically made for the captain or some other player the girls drooled over, not him. The sign read, “Can I take you for a test drive, 45?” His eyes widened in surprise. He looked at the sign holder. When he saw how cute she was, he gave her the sweetest smile and mouthed, “ anytime .”

Lacey decided to have some fun with Jody. On the way to the arena, she asked Gary to stop at the drug store, where she bought a piece of poster board and a black marker. She made her sign in the parking lot at the arena.

She often went down to the glass to watch warm ups before a game. Most people weren’t in their seats yet, so it was rarely a problem to stand there.

While she waited for Jody to notice her, not entirely sure if he would, she gave Grayson dirty looks. She knew those two were going to drop gloves sometime during the game. Lacey loved to see the tough guys throw punches, but she wasn’t quite as blood thirsty now that she was dating one of the guys who could be on the receiving end of those punches. She didn’t know if she could watch someone hit her Jody.

Grayson had seen Jody and Lacey’s interaction and decided to use LaGrange’s chick as bait. Grayson was weak when it came to smack talk, and he knew it. He let it get to him too much. He’d faced LaGrange several times over his ten years of switching from team to team. They were about even in fighting wins and losses, LaGrange maybe having the upper hand. Jody wasn’t affected by smack talk. He just told Grayson to ‘shut it’ or ‘piss off’ and followed up with a haymaker. Not tonight. Tonight, Grayson was going to push Jody’s buttons.

Jody saw Dick skate over to try and flirt with Lacey. He didn’t cross the center line (which they were not supposed to do during warm ups), but he came damn close. Jody saw red, but when he looked back at Lacey, he was gratified to see her flipping Grayson off. Oh, he loved his girl! Jody shot a puck up at the glass in front of her, smiling when she jumped, and then went back to warming up.

Grayson is such a prick , Lacey thought, I hope Jody beats the tar out of him.

With nachos and beer in hand (extra jalapenos, thank you), Lacey was ready to teach Gary all about the excitement that was hockey. Gary was an apt student. To be totally honest, Lacey thought he was only excited because Aidan loved the game, but he was still a great listener.

“Okay. I understand what a faceoff is, and I’m pretty sure I understand forechecking and backchecking, but how is boarding different than checking?” It was a common question. Boarding was sometimes questionable, and sometimes very blatant, and of course, sometimes the ref would call a boarding penalty, and sometimes not.

“Okay Gar, boarding is basically a player checking someone against the boards, but the player being hit is in a dangerous position, which usually results in their head hitting the glass or boards. A boarding call can carry a major or minor penalty, depending on the aggressiveness and any resulting injury. If a boarding call is viewed as intentional, it can be reviewed by the War Room in Toronto and result in a one or multi-game suspension, depending on the hitting player’s history.”