When The Whistle Blows

Chapter 37

Henrik

Coach prattled on about how wingers needed to step it up and pressure their defense. But I could barely focus as Astrid returned to the locker room. Most of our team's attention snapped to her, in fact.

My focus zeroed in on her chin. Redness surrounded her injury, irritated by the stitches probably. The sight of her wincing when she tried to smile off all the sudden attention caused some emotion to pull at me. Anger? Protectiveness? Rage?

All I could think about was the captain who had caused the injury. He may not have purposely meant to hurt her, but I still felt a dull sense of anger towards him.

Luka came over and sat by me while Astrid went to her cubby and zoned into whatever Coach was saying. I noticed Luka had a mix of a smile and frown, as if his inner emotions were fighting over which to publicly display.

"What's your deal?" I asked him in a whisper.

"I'm worried Astrid is going to do something stupid out there," Luka explained. "She's got their captain marked cause he said some stuff before the game to her and I fear she may try to start something with him."

"What did he say?" I inquired, glancing over at the redhead who had us wrapped around her finger.

Luka chuckled. "He called her a puck bunny."

I smirked. The dude was fucked. "Let's hope Ryder can step in before shit goes down," I said before sitting back in my cubby and listening back into Coach.

Before long, we were all back on the ice, waiting for the refs to call us to center ice. Coach decided to start this period with the second line, which meant I was up as center with Tucker and Zupp as my wingers.

I skated around while Coach talked in hopes of keeping my body warm. Astrid watched me, her green eyes sparkling. They always did that during games. The thrill of them literally shining in her eyes. I glanced at her chin and cringed.

"You and I are going to have matching scars," I pointed out.

She tried to smile but the stitches pulled too tight, so instead, she settled with a chuckle.

"It can be our thing." Astrid skated closer.

"I like the sound of that," I said as she stopped right in front of me. "And if there wasn't a crowd of people watching, I'd kiss you."

A tug pulled at her unhurt side of her mouth. A half-smirk. "Maybe later you can kiss it better?"

"If you promise not to get in any more trouble tonight, I'm sure something can be arranged." She rolled her eyes and softened them, managing her best innocent look.

"I would never cause or get in any trouble," she lied innocently.

"You are the embodiment of evil," I smirked at her but pulled away as the ref blew the whistle.

The crowd roared louder as both lines skated to center ice.

I was to face off with thirteen. Their captain and the asshat who cut Astrid.

I watched as he glanced over to our bench and a stupid sneer crossed his face.

"I hope I didn't fuck up her face too much," he joked, his teammates chuckling along with him. "What's a puck bunny without huge tits and a pretty face?"

What had earlier been only slight anger, flared. I doubted he knew who she was to me and the other five, so what he was saying wasn't just to anger me. He meant what he was saying. He was objectifying her and that was what angered me the most.

My wingers were too far away to hear what he was saying, and as his wingers lined up, I realized that they were too far away from stopping me.

"I should get her number afterward so I can show her a good time. She's way too pretty to be out here with the big boys," He snickered with his defensemen.

All the while, the refs had yet to come to center ice as they were talking to the dudes in the box over some technical stuff.

"I'd advise you to shut the fuck up," I gritted through clenched teeth.

His defensemen skated back to their positions and he turned towards me and slowly skated to the face-off.

"Oh shit, my bad. Are you fucking her?" He made it sound as if that was the only thing she was here for. My stomach turned and my anger boiled, turning to rage. "Is she any good? Those redheads are good fu-"

I had had it. I planted my feet, dropped my gloves, and swung. He had been too busy staring at her on the bench to notice my fist. It was satisfying when my fist crushed his nose.

He recovered quickly though, barely even stumbling, as he started swinging too. Curses, fists, and blood were exchanged for only a few seconds before the refs were on us and pulled us apart.

"What the fuck's your problem man?" He scoffed as if he had done nothing wrong.

"She's not an object for you to enjoy. She's a hockey player and she's better than you'll ever be." I spat at him. My seething rage seemed to calm at the satisfaction of his broken nose.

The refs dragged us away from each other and towards the benches.

"He's out," the ref said to Coach.

I jumped over the boards and started to walk down the tunnel.

"I hope that was worth it," Coach called to me.

Of course, it was worth it. Astrid's dealt with enough. I may not have been able to protect her on her old team, but I sure as hell could now. I'll be damned if I let any more guys treat her like she is anything less than the best. I don't care who I have to fight or how many games I get kicked out of, Astrid deserves respect.

Fuck, I really love this girl.

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Thank you for reading Chapter 37. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry for the lack of updates, my life has been so busy. Comments and feedback make me so happy!

~Until Next Chapter