Page 2 of Rise Above

Davis laughed and so did I. “Dre, I’m going to need

you to calm down.” He paused briefly before adding, “Also don’t call me sweaty.” Davis put in his only rebuttal.

“Absolutely not to both requests! Girl, this sport has

been my life since I was three. By the time we leave the Chaos Coliseum, you’re going to know everything about my beloved Hammers.” Dre adjusted her puffs and pointed a finger at me. “I will make a hockey lover out of you.”

I fought the urge to sigh, taking in the arena around

me. It was truly chaos in a way the Texas stadiums were not which was saying something, as Texans were a special brand of crazy. A high school stadium in Houston had cost $84 million.

“Is it a requirement for me to continue living here?

I’ve got so many other teams to watch and cheer for, Dre.”

Her eyes never left the body-less ice. “It might be.

Just watch. If you like football, I promise you’ll love hockey.”

Davis just sent her a cocked eyebrow as he pursed

his lips at me. “The sport and the team will grow on you.”

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Rise Above

My mouth dropped as yet another body hit the

boards. Throughout the game, Dre and Davis had been teaching me a few of the basics. It was fast paced in a way football and baseball weren’t, and it was also aggressive and crazy and totally enthralling. My eyes hadn’t left the rink once. However, any time a player hit the boards, I winced. It always looked extremely painful, but they seemingly always shook off being hit and then chased after the puck. And I also quickly learned why it was called the Chaos Coliseum after the Warhammers had scored in the first period. A large piece of me thought my eardrums would never recover.

I bit down on my lip hard to stop a scream as a fight

broke out on the ice. Gloves and sticks were thrown shortly before the punches were. The refs waited a few beats before blowing their whistles and awarding penalties. I looked over at Dre in confusion. No one got ejected? In any other sport, someone would be tossed on their ass and be getting reamed by their coach later.

“Fights are basically encouraged in hockey, Aife.”

Dre wore a proud smile. “Especially after that little bitch, Gregor, hooked Walker like that.”

11

Rise Above

“Yeah, that was a dick move.” Davis grumbled.

“Hooking is like face-masking a player.”

Raking a hand through my hair, I could only nod.

Watching sports injuries sky-rocketed my anxiety. Any time a player got hurt, it felt like I could feel it too. Hockey would surely make my anxiety and PTSD worse, and yet, Dre, was right—it pulled me in. The skating was unbelievable. These guys had to have such amazing coordination to skate and handle the puck like they did. It boggled my mind a little, and I came from a family filled with athletes.

The buzzer sounded signaling the end of the second

period. The Hammers—as Dre lovingly called them—were up 2-1 but still had another twenty minutes to go. I turned to Dre; my brain filled with questions.

“Can you tell me names and positions?” She smirked. “Only if I can quiz you later.” She

took sports just as seriously as my dad did.