Totally Pucked

Being traded to the Seattle Vipers has left me with mixed feelings. On the one hand, they’re my team, the team I’ve loved and supported since I was a kid, but on the other hand, he’s here. Him. Ant Decker. Infamous NHL bad boy. Right wing to my left. A man who’s made it his sole purpose in life to be better than me.

My new neighbor, Ben Stirling, is a beautiful, famous ex-player. A living NHL legend. A single dad with sad eyes and a smile I feel in my knees. I’ve never met anyone like him. He’s what would you’d get if you squeezed masculinity through a sieve. He’s the grit. The pulp. The hard stuff that leaves a sweet taste in your mouth. On top of that, he’s kind and funny, and did I mention he’s the most beautiful man I’ve ever laid eyes on?

He’s my brother’s best friend. I’m the annoying kid who followed him everywhere. Now we’re playing for the same team. Sev Delorean is an NHL D-man with an excess of swagger and stickhandling techniques that made him world famous. He’s the bane of my existence and my reason for living. He's strictly off limits though. My brother has made that perfectly clear. I can't have him, but I can obsess over him.