Falling Fast (Loving the Sound Book 1)

by Kat Obie

  Alice stayed still with Jenna and Allison at center ice, showing off the ring.

  Seeing Jenna at the rink explained why she hadn’t been available earlier. She had to have been traveling.

  Allison noted, “He’s good with her. What do you think they are talking about?”

  “Probably asking her not to call him ‘My Scotty’ anymore. The other option is to invite her to be in the wedding. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was both.”

  They did a couple of laps around the rink. Alice couldn’t help but keep an eye on Scotty. It was clear that Noelle was having fun. They rested for a moment by the boards.

  Scotty skated to the boards and set Noelle down next to her mom. The little one giggled so hard that she was having a hard time saying, “Mommy, Aunt Alice, he skates really fast.”

  Alice laughed. “He sure does.” But her niece had no idea how fast Scotty could go. He had only gone at about 30% of his full speed since he was being careful holding the little one.

  Scotty took Alice’s hand. “Ready to play?” He had pleading eyes. It was worse than puppy dog eyes. She couldn't deny him.

  “I guess, but I suck.”

  He immediately kissed her and whispered, “Stop that. You don’t suck. Just gotta keep moving.”

  Alice was surprised to see Crestie in net. She asked, “Wait, didn’t you say Crestie tweaked a hip in the last game? Won’t Berman kill everyone if he can’t play tomorrow?”

  Scotty laughed. “Berman will. Fortunately, Crestie is over there.”

  Alice turned to where Scotty was pointing. She saw Crestie with a woman about his age, laughing. Alice was confused since it was definitely his gear in net. You didn’t usually share your gear.

  Scotty filled in the blanks by saying, “His son came in for the game. I convinced him to play tonight since we needed a goalie. But he had to use his dad’s stuff since he sent his stuff to their home in Canada.”

  “He’s doing juniors in Western Canada, right?” asked Alice. He nodded, and Alice continued to marvel at the likeness between father and son. “Damn, he’s huge. He’s, what, 16? He’s going to end up bigger than Crestie.”

  “Yeah. They are talking about having him on the Canada U-18 team for Worlds.”

  “I can see why. Especially if he can play anything like his dad.”

  “We are going to get a taste of it soon.” Scotty was clearly excited about the idea of playing against the kid. Alice wasn't as giddy.

  Scott

  Scotty was on cloud nine. Alice had the largest smile on her face since he put the engagement ring on her finger. He felt bad that he’d stressed her out with all the secrets, but the look on her face made everything completely worth it.

  As soon as Scotty and Alice skated towards the pick-up area, Lager immediately said, “We should split up the Wheiland brain trust.”

  Alice’s eyes went wide. He knew he couldn’t play against her. She needed his support. Tonight more so than any other, that wasn’t going to happen. “Not a chance in hell.”

  Lager said with a smile, “Fine. I get Dykstman then.”

  Scotty knew that was going to happen. He looked towards his fiancée. Damn, he loved that she was his fiancée.

  He didn’t think Alice had noticed that the jersey she was wearing had his last name on it. Her last name once they got married. He wanted to keep it secret until he popped the question.

  “Okay. So we are doing this, then,” Scotty said as he cocked his head to the side, knowing that even with Alice’s lack of skill, they would easily beat his best friend.

  The two of them could make a 1000% better team than Lager. Lager would make picks just to fuck with them. He was impulsive, while the two of them would use strategy to form their team.

  He looked towards Alice, and she whispered, “We will need solid defense. Get Petey.”

  That surprised him. Not the need for defense. He expected that her Philly roots would have her favoring Wheels on the forecheck. Petey’s speed and ability to move on the ice was an asset that he favored. He easily said, “Petey.”

  Lager’s pick was unsurprising, Wheels. He hoped to rattle Alice.

  Scotty turned to Alice. “I want a two-way guy next.” Alice nodded in agreement but didn’t supply a name. They both knew who he wanted. He said, “Corey.”

  They continued to pick players. Scotty loved how easy it was for them to pick a team together. They were both picking out fast defensive guys. There were a couple of wild cards with some of the kids. Lager’s team didn’t have nearly as much cohesion as it could have had.

  When they went for the opening faceoff, Alice tried to exit the playing surface. Scotty wouldn’t let her hide. He grabbed her wrist to keep her at his side. He gave her a look of reassurance. “Come on, Al. You and me together.”

  She stayed. She could do solid passing almost to the point of threading a needle. “I just need you pass it.”

  At least she seemed like she was going to play with him and that was all he wanted. She lined up to his right and Corey was on his left. Petey was out on defense for the first play.

  Lager immediately said, “Really, starting with Al? You think she can keep up with us?” He laughed.

  Scotty wanted to punch him for trying to intimidate her. Alice shot daggers at Lager. It was good to see her toughness come out in spades.

  “Shut up and drop the puck already,” said Alice.

  Lager dropped the puck. Scotty easily won the puck and gave it to Corey as Scotty bypassed Dkystman.

  Alice struggled to get by Lager. He kept boxing her out with his speed. It wasn’t until she threw an elbow that perfectly hit one of his bruised patches that she got open. Corey passed the puck towards Alice. Scotty knew he had to be ready for the puck sooner rather than later. Unsurprisingly, the moment he was halfway open, Alice passed it towards him. It went to his sweet spot and the kid in the net had no chance. Crestie's kid shook his head over the goal.

  “Don’t beat yourself up over it. That’s probably one of my best shots,” said Scotty, trying to reassure the kid.

  “Ugh. But I had it tracked and I still missed it. It just tipped up.”

  Scotty smiled knowingly. “Yeah. It’s evil. How do you think I get so many points? Oh, watch out for Lager’s wrister—it will shank a bit at the last minute.”

  “Left or right?” asked the kid.

  “It depends,” which was true.

  The kid behind the mask smiled again. It was only a matter of time before the kid had an NHL contract.

  As he got to the faceoff circle, he noticed Alice had slipped off the ice. It wasn’t surprising, but it was still disappointing. He liked playing with her. So he planned to do a short shift so he could talk with Alice to make sure she was okay.

  When Scotty got off the ice, he noticed that Alice was real quiet. He just hoped he hadn’t overwhelmed her. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and asked, “Doing okay?”

  “Yeah,” she said with strained breath. While it was easy going for him, she busted her ass to keep up with them. Scotty couldn’t ask for more. She then said, “I might only do a few more shifts.”

  “Kay,” said a disappointed Scotty. He loved playing with her, but he understood that she would be exhausted. “Sit out the next shift; you don’t need to kill yourself. None of us are.”

  Alice nodded, and Scotty wrapped an arm around her waist until it was time for him to go back out on the ice. It was getting competitive.

  Of course, it was him against Lager. As soon as he got close to Lager, Lager whined about Alice’s hitting him and asked if Scotty was going to resort to the same trick. Scotty smiled as he stripped the puck. “Yeah, I don’t need to.” He skated cleanly past Lager.

  He did another quick shot on net; it was much softer but still went in. As he went to retrieve the puck, the kid said, “You’re right about Lager’s shot. Any other advice?”

  “Don’t get starstruck.”

  That got the kid laughing. The kid got into hi
s head, and he didn’t want to bust the kid’s balls too much.

  As Alice pulled back from a kiss for their latest goal celly, she said, “Sorry babe, I’m going to skate some. My legs are dead trying to keep up.”

  Scotty made a face, but he understood. “Okay, I might join you soon.”

  Alice shook her head. “You don’t have to. Just make sure you kick Lager’s ass. We’ll never hear the end of it if his team manages a comeback.”

  Scotty grabbed her stick, helmet, and gloves so he could stash them on the bench. Then the two of them parted ways.

  He watched her as he rested. She looked so relaxed as she caught up with her friends. She was within arm distance of her niece and Klaus. It was clear that two little ones were playing a form of tag and using Alice as a sort of base.

  All too soon, Ed cleared them off the ice. It felt far too early, but at the same time, it was getting late.

  30

  Alice

  Alice was exhausted, but the evening had been absolutely perfect. After they left the arena, their families, Jenna, Corey, Petey, and the Lagerfields came back to their house. While Klaus and Noelle were forced to go to bed, the adults talked and ate food from one of their favorite places. They talked for a couple of hours.

  Alice laid in the crook of his arm. Her left hand was sprawled out on his chest, giving both of them a perfect view of the engagement ring. They both looked lazily at the ring, Scotty playing with the ends of her hair with his free hand.

  Alice looked at her man. Before she could say anything, he pulled her to his lips for a soft kiss and his beard tickled her lip slightly. Once he pulled back, he asked, “You good, baby?”

  “You have no idea.” She climbed on top of her chiseled red-haired man to look at him in the eyes. “Are you ready for tomorrow?”

  “You have no fucking idea. It’s the only thing that could compete with today.”

  “That’s why I was so surprised you did this today and not tomorrow.”

  Scotty chuckled and shook his head. “I couldn’t risk you becoming second fiddle to the cup. You are more special then the Lord Stanley. Besides, the planning was getting to me.” He pushed his hair out of his face slightly.

  That got Alice laughing as she asked, “So, is that why you played like shit in game 6?”

  “Hey, you said it wasn’t that bad,” he said with a laugh as he tickled her sides. Her hair fell all over her face because she was laughing so hard.

  “I might have fibbed.” She leaned in to kiss his neck. “I didn’t want you to get stuck in your head and suck tomorrow. There are no more chances.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll play my ass off tomorrow. Besides, there are no more distractions now. I have the most gorgeous fiancée ever to come home to now. But there is still one more thing coming.”

  “What’s that?” asked Alice with a kiss. She hoped it would be sex. But tonight, they were pretty much done for anything crazy.

  “You’ll see later,” Scotty said as he leaned up. He wrapped his arms around her neck and kissed her softly. He pulled her down towards the bed. “Come on, let’s go to sleep.”

  “Do we have to?” asked Alice. While she didn’t want to do anything more than cuddling and talking, she didn’t want to end the day. There was a part of her that was afraid it was a dream. “I want to keep doing this.”

  “You know we should sleep. You have work in, what, six hours? And it’s game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. Sleep is vital. Hell, Coach will kill me if I’m dead at practice, let alone at the game. Didn’t you say you wanted me to win?”

  “I did. Are you okay being alone tomorrow? I will be working up to your nap and I can’t help.”

  “I’ll be fine. It’s just our family.” Scotty propped himself onto his elbow. He stared at Alice with pure tenderness and fingered the engagement ring. “I wouldn’t have invited them to stay if it was going to be a problem.”

  “I know, but I had to ask. I feel bad. Thank you for inviting everyone. I wouldn't have wanted them to miss it,” Alice said with a laugh. She felt dumb for thinking that there was anything wrong with their relationship. She should have known he was planning something like that. “Now I know why you were always hiding your damn phone all the time.”

  “Sorry, but I figured you would have wanted them there and I didn’t want you to find out too soon.” He smothered her with some kisses.

  “Don’t worry. It was perfect. The only thing I would have changed is that I gave you the ring back when you tossed the box my way.”

  “That was my favorite part,” Scotty said with a smile. “I knew you would do that.”

  “Wait, you did?” asked Alice incredulously. “’Cause who seriously plans on someone giving back the ring?”

  “Yup. Cause I know you and love you,” said Scotty. He kissed her nose. “Hell, Lager even owes me a case of beer over it.”

  Alice rolled her eyes and said, “Of course he does.” Then Alice looked at him and asked, “Wait, only beer?”

  “A case of anything you want from anywhere you want.” Alice was processing what he was saying since it wasn't a bet for him to enjoy. He continued with, “Figured if you were going to win me the prize, you should get to enjoy it. I’m so damn lucky to have you.”

  “Me too.”

  He pulled her into their normal sleep position with him spooning her and holding her tight. The one major change tonight was that he was holding his hands over hers, almost as if to confirm she was still wearing the engagement ring. The pure feeling of being loved washed over her. “Je t’aime et je suis fatigué.”

  Scott

  The arena was loud. He’d never heard Cleveland fans make so much noise, and it was awesome. It was making the night epic and they hadn’t even dropped the puck yet. It was only the warm ups.

  The Sound as a whole were way looser than in game six. Then again, the team would feed off his energy most of the time and he had been feeling great since Alice said yes. He was amped up.

  Their engagement hadn’t been leaked to the media. He planned to share a couple of photos tomorrow night since the last thing he wanted was for her to get blamed if things went to shit tonight.

  He was glad that Alice was at the game, but it would have been impossible to keep her away. He tended to put up big numbers when she was there. Sure, his parents and Alice’s sister and niece were there too, but he only wanted to impress Alice.

  He hadn’t been so ready in a game since coming off of IR. He didn’t want to get too cocky since a game could swing quickly. The Sharks were a pesky team and desperate for a cup.

  Scotty skated up for the first face off of the game. As he got set, he heard Lager chirping. Scotty shook his head as he got into position.

  If the Sound got puck possession first, it would keep the crowd in the game and just egg everyone on. He moved a little too much and got tossed from the circle. So he swapped with Dykstman.

  Fortunately, Dykstman didn’t have a problem controlling the puck. It was a footrace to the offensive zone. He tried to get some space, but he wasn't able to get much room. The Sharks were swarming him. It was as if they forgot that Dykst and Lager were just as much of a threat as he was. He couldn’t blame the Sharks for being up his ass the entire series. He led the Sound in points.

  The first few shifts were going nowhere. While they were in the offensive zone, they just couldn’t get set up.

  It wasn’t until the Sharks took a dumb penalty for too many men that Scotty knew he could capitalize on the power play. The Freak line was about to go out when Berman shouted, “OG PP1.”

  That surprised Scotty, but he did what he was told although they hadn’t practiced that formation in a long time. Being on the point and having Lager crash the net and Dykstman on the other point wasn’t super crazy. They would just have Wheels QBing in the high slot, and Hunt was there to push it. It shouldn’t be too hard to do as long as they talked a lot.

  Going out on the power play, they were all talking about the two
ways they wanted to get a goal. The Sharks waited for Lager to switch sides and weren’t expecting to see Hunt at all. So they had a mismatch of players to defend it which would work in their favor.

  Scotty won the puck and sent it to Dysktman. Dykst immediately fired it hard on the goal and it snuck by the netminder. The arena exploded with noise.

  He loved playing at home. Everyone was into the game and ready to see an explosion of Sound goals. There was nothing quite like it.

  Unlike the previous games in the series, the Sharks didn’t get sloppy or desperate. Instead, they controlled themselves. They finished all the hits with even more gusto, hoping to wear them out. The Sharks were holding, slashing, and elbowing him.

  The refs weren’t calling much for either team. It was fair. He liked when they didn’t call everything.

  Both teams had solid defense for the rest of the game. There were few real scoring opportunities for either team. With each passing moment, it seemed like the Sound was going to win.

  Scotty couldn’t believe how magical the last few days had been. As he jumped the boards for his last shift of the year since there was less than a minute left, he looked up towards where the families sat as he skated in the direction of the puck. He had a crazy idea.

  The next thing he knew, he had a puck coming towards him. He grabbed it midair and dropped it towards his stick. He raced towards the net and saw that both Dykst and Lager were nearby. He heard Lager say, “Behind you.”

  He passed the puck towards Dykstman. Dykst didn’t keep the puck long and sent it towards Lager. Lager took a hard shot on net, but it rebounded.

  Fortunately, it bounced onto Scotty’s stick and he just ripped his wrister, knowing the clock was almost out. Scotty heard the horn go off, indicating it went in.

  The arena exploded with noise and they knew that the cup was theirs.