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"Is that your fucking varsity jacket?" Danny asked.
"Swear Jar," Cooper and I said in sync.
"I just put Mila to bed. I can swear as much as I want," Danny said.
"Do you want your daughter to go to college?" Cooper asked as if he was offended.
"Do you want her to become a stripper?" I tacked on.
"You guys suck," Danny said as he put some money in the swear jar.
It had become a running joke between us. Danny needed to start saving money for Mila's college while he was still in college, ironic. So he decided on the Swear Jar. Now if one of us tries to refuse to put money in the jar we joke about Mila's future. This method is especially effective on Danny who hates the image of his daughter turning into a stripper.
"But really you gave her your varsity jacket?" Danny asked as he sat on the couch with Cooper and I.
"Yeah," I said with a shrug. "Guys, it's not that big of a deal."
"Yeah it is," Cooper said. "It's basically like... claiming her."
"Yeah," Danny agreed. "Nobody just gives out their varsity jacket to anyone."
"I'm not claiming her," I insisted.
"But you want to," Cooper said in a sing-song voice.
I shook my head. Did I want to claim her? No. No, I barely knew her. But her figure was to die for. I would be lying if I said that I hadn't thought about her. I thought about her every free second. Even my coach noticed, at practice yesterday he told me to get my head out of my ass.
Her bright green eyes and fit body were burned in my mind. I wanted to touch every inch of her skin. Her lips always looked so kissable, and that was all I wanted to do.
"Well, she's coming to the first game on Wednesday," Cooper said as he opened a can of soda.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said with a knowing smirk. "She has to write an article about it for the paper, speaking of which I need to get Coach to let me take my camera on the ice."
"Why do you need a camera?" Danny asked at the same time that I asked, "she writes for the paper?"
"She and I are partners on the school's newspaper. Some best friends you are," he said sarcastically.
"Sorry man," Danny said as he clapped him on the shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah," Cooper shrugged it off.
"Miller's too preoccupied with his girl to-"
"She's not my girl yet," I said.
"Yet?" Danny and Cooper immediately inquired.
"I didn't say that," I said quickly.
"Yes you did," Coop said.
"Fuck off," I told him.
"Swear jar," he and Danny said at the same time.
"I don't-" I tried to say.
"Do you not want Mila to go to college?" Cooper accused me.
"Do you want my daughter to become a prostitute?" Danny said as if he was insulted.
I silently gave them the middle finger, and put five dollars in the swear jar.
***
"Okay team!" Coach Walsh yelled. The hockey team's attention instantly snapped to our coach. "I know that we are playing against Union tonight, but that is no excuse to slack off! This is our first game and I want us all coming out of the gate fast and hard!"
"That's what she said!" Cooper yelled.
I tried to cover my snort with a cough. "Thank you for that insight Johnson! I'm sure that your teammates will find that comment especially funny when you have to sprint ten more laps tomorrow!"
The entire team groaned and shoved Cooper, who just laughed as if he hadn't condemned us to more sprints at tomorrow morning's practice.
"I want you to get out there and show them what Yale is made of!" Coach yelled. "Miller, start the chant for your team!"
"Huddle in!" I yelled.
Everyone gathered closer so we made a tight circle.
"Union won't know what hit them!" I yell. A rally of cheers filled the locker room. "Hands in!" I demanded. Everyone put their hands in. "Bulldogs on three! One! Two! Three!"
"Bulldogs!" we all shouted in unison.
"Get out there!" My coach yelled.
We skated out onto the ice and we were met by cheering from our section of the bleachers. Who was I kidding it was a home game, basically the entire stands were Yale supporters.
The cold air hit my face and my brain sharpened its focus. The cold air always helped me. We skated a few lazy laps around the rink while we were showered with cheers and applause.
I spotted my family immediately. My mother and my sister were in the stands yelling and cheering for me. They wore Yale apparel like almost everyone else, but they were the only ones yelling in Spanish. It wasn't because they couldn't speak English, my sister and I could speak perfect English and my mother was almost as good, it being her second language. It was a trick that they picked up. Our last name is fairly common and my first name was also common, so if people were yelling for Josh it could be me or someone else. So my mom started cheering in Spanish. My ears started tuning to it and now I could pinpoint where they were in any crowd. I used to be embarrassed about it in middle school and in high school, but now I love it. It was their way of showing that they loved me. They came out to most of my home games because they lived so close, only twenty minutes away.
I didn't, however, expect to see Lili sitting next to them. I also saw Lili's friend on the other side of Lili.
We finished the laps and we were waiting for a moment for the pause to end. I took this time to watch Lili. She was talking to my mother and my twin sister. They were all smiling and I assumed that it was going well. Then I looked at what Lili was wearing, just a pair of black leggings and a Yale hoodie as well as a navy beanie. It wasn't anything much, but I found myself thinking about the curves that the hoodie was hiding.
The buzzer sounded and my attention snapped away from Lili and to the ice in front of me. I played right forward, Cooper played center forward and Danny played goalie. A whistle blew and everyone tensed, all eyes on the puck. The whistle blew again and the game was in play.
