Left With Liam

Chapter 44

Mel

The way this game was going, someone was going to end up hurt. I just hope it's not one of our guys. The things Tatum said to us before the game were vulgar. We tried ignoring him at first, but he just kept saying worse things to get a reaction from us.

The jerk got his wish when he asked me that vile question. He sent Tay into a frenzy after that. I honestly thought she was going to climb over the glass and deck him. I started wishing she would until Liam, T.J., and Chase got involved. They shut Tatum down fast, nearly starting an all-out brawl right there in front of us, earning themselves cheers from fans all around us.

I knew things were going to be explosive in this game after that. I just didn't realize how bad it would be.

The first period was sloppy on both sides. Our guys seemed more interested in landing hits on Tatum than moving the puck. And in return, his teammates turned their focus on returning the favor.

By the end of the first twenty minutes, neither team had scored a goal, but the Cobras managed to rack up twenty-four hits on Calgary in that time. They also broke their record for most penalties awarded in a single period.

It was brutal. For every hit on Calgary, they matched our guys with gusto. They had at least as many penalties as the Cobras, leaving many of our guys with black eyes and busted lips from high sticks and roughing. It's a miracle no one was severely injured.

Everyone could tell the coaches were pissed. All the players must have had their asses chewed during intermission because period two looked more like an organized hockey game and less like an ice brawl.

It seemed like the teams had sorted everything out and were finally ready to play the game. Chase got the first goal, which fired up the rest of the guys, leading to the second goal, scored by Drew toward the end of the second period. Calgary scored a goal of their own before the buzzer sounded.

During intermission, Tay, Lins, and I talked about how crazy the game had already been, making predictions on how period three would turn out. Lins thought the coaches' intervention during the first intermission would keep the third period looking more like the second.

Tay disagreed, saying she could feel it in the air; something big was coming in the final period. She just didn't know which of the guys would be involved or how nasty things would get.

As for me, I was torn. Part of me thought Lins was right and hoped for a clean end to the game. Another part of me felt Tay was right, and for some reason, that part of me was excited. That mischievous part of me wanted to see Tatum get laid out for what he'd said earlier. And that same piece of me wanted to see Liam do it.

When the final period started, it seemed like Lindsey was right. The guys were focused on the puck and made several good efforts to score. Less than halfway through the period, though, the mood shifted.

We watched as Tatum skated by Chase and T.J., saying something to them as he passed. Whatever it was made T.J. lunge for him. Chase held him off, pulling him away to where he wouldn't be at risk of earning a penalty. There was little question about what was said out on the ice. We had no doubt it had something to do with Tay.

It was clear that Tatum wanted to start a fight, and by the way the guys reacted, they were more than willing to give him one.

Each team scored again over the following three minutes. The Cobras were still up by one, but that could change in an instant. Just as the period rolled over the ten-minute mark, it was like a bomb went off down on the ice.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. After the faceoff, Tatum slammed T.J. into the boards and held him there for several seconds. He was saying something to him, trying to provoke him.