The buzzer had sounded ending the game. After shooting the puck along the ice off the side board I followed my team mates off the ice and toward the locker room. Fred Watts, the talented left wing on my line wearing number 28, came up beside me.
The game had gone well for me. My short wrist shot at 14:13 of the third period had tied the score. It had beaten a fair goal keeper on his glove side to the upper corner.
The locker room was quiet at 11:45 pm owing partially to the fact that the game had slipped away in the final minute. The 6 to 5 loss to the Dolphins was felt acutely by all of us on the team.
My love of the game and desire to find a boyfriend in a venue other than the bar scene had enticed me to join the league. By now, 7 games into my first season, Fred and I had become quite friendly.
In the shower beside me Fred Watts lathered his five foot ten muscular body while I gazed at him. Players walked into the multiple shower stall and back to their lockers but none held my attention except Fred. He exuded sex appeal.
Dressed, I headed for the exit. My next stop might be my apartment where I could crash for the night. I was tired from a day at the office, an hour at the gym, then the game.
"Todd wait up," he called.
I stopped and turned. He was three steps from me carrying his equipment bag over his left shoulder.
He had been observing behavior since the evening began. Not much that went on escaped my attention either. The league had spawned a few romances since I joined it just a few weeks ago. Players walked out together holding hands.
Halfway to our cars we began to engage each other in some gossip.
"Billy and Joe will probably get it on tonight."
I nodded in agreement. "It would not surprise me."
Billy Stuart, the second line left wing, stood five foot eight. A full lipped blond with gray eyes, he dressed in black denim jeans, blue sweat shirt under blue plaid flannel, and leather bombardier jacket.
Joe West, a defense man, stood perhaps an inch shorter. His dark brown hair, parted on the left, flattered his triangular face. His deep brown eyes fixed on Billy.
Fred and I reached our cars parked near but not next to each other. My yawn signaled that it was too late to do anything other than go to sleep. He said he felt the same way but his brief gaze into my eyes suggested otherwise.
Scoping out each other in the shower was something we all did.
"Which one of those two would you fuck?"