Meant For You

eleven.

Miles Dempsey

Adrenaline pumps through my veins as I skate over to the penalty box, sitting down on the bench. I pull my helmet off, throwing it by my feet. Fans behind me shout as the game goes underway again. Grabbing a Gatorade bottle, I spray some water on my face, letting it fall down my neck. I'm getting my ass chewed on for this later on.

I turn my head towards the adjacent bench where my teammates sit. Coach Murphy glares at me shortly with a shake of his head. Ah, fuck it. He should've expected it. I think everyone did. My eyes flick from him to JT who sits on the bench, already staring at me. He lifts his helmet, smirks and gives me a thumbs-up. I shake my head. Damn, kid.

It shouldn't come as a shocker to anyone that if I'm on the ice at the same time as Jalen Williams, a fight is bound to break out. Every year, we play the Oilers at least once. I never had a problem with Jalen until he started shit-talking at me one year on the ice. To this day, I don't know what his problem with me started as.

I know what it might be now but our rivalry started about four years ago.

When I first met and started talking to Allie, I had no idea she used to hook up with Williams. It wasn't until about a year ago when we played them in the playoffs and he gave me a hard time the whole game because of her. Talking shit in my ear about a girl I'm seeing isn't the smartest thing to do. It takes a good amount of bullshit to get me mad but he managed to make it happen.

Just like today, I sat in a penalty box for a good ten minutes after our little kerfuffle. Allie and I ended things a couple of weeks ago and it seems like she already ran back to the prick on the ice. Him mocking me about how she came back to him wouldn't have bothered me. I mentally prepared myself to keep my fucking cool around him this time.

But Williams didn't stop at bragging about how he had Allie on his hip again. He bragged but he also called her names. The type of names that'll get you worse than a barely, light swing to the face. Who knows what I would have done if Tate and Kelz weren't there to stop me?

"Allie get bored of you already, Dempsey? I knew it'd happen she can't stay with one man too long."
"I missed her, thanks for keeping her so tight."
"Little slut didn't even hesitate to come crawling back."
"I'll keep her warm for you, buddy."
"She's a whore, Miles. She's mine though."

I don't know who he thought he was talking about but I know damn well it wasn't my Allie. Stupid fucking prick. Out of everything he could have said to me, he had to use her against me. Of course, I was going to kick his ass. I just wish I was actually able to do it before I was stopped.

Leaning back against the bench, my leg bounces up and down anxiously as I wait for the time to pass. We're up 2-1 but I can't let them score when there are only ten minutes left in the game. I scan the stadium in Edmonton, something I don't let myself do much. Most of the time, I'm too focused on the game or just simply don't care.

There are a lot of black jerseys in here tonight despite the fact that we're playing in Canada. Being home is nice even though we are in Alberta, not British Columbia where I'm from. The fan chants fade into the background whenever my eyes somehow land on her. With over a thousand people here tonight, I still managed to find her in the crowd.

I straighten up, staring at her for a long moment. But she's not looking at me. Her eyes are focused on the ice, watching him. My eyes roll so hard that I swear they might get stuck in the back of my head. Shaking my head, I grab my helmet from the floor and put it back on. My time in the penalty box ends and I'm back on the ice immediately.

***

We kept our winning streak as we beat the Oilers 3-1. I managed to score a goal at the last minute, securing us the win. It also happened to be a total coincidence that I scored on Williams. That was just the cherry on top of the night.