Free Alex by Sawyer Bennett

freakin’ hooked.
    I sit on the edge of my seat the entire time, my eyes hungrily soaking up the action. It’s a super-fast game and sometimes I have a hard time even following the puck. The first time the Cold Fury scores, I don’t even realize the puck has gone in the net, and I have no clue it’s Alex who actually scores. The only reason I come to find that out is that Monica is screaming that she wants to have his babies.
    While Monica does spend much of the game screaming in my ear and yelling obscenities at the players from the other team, she also takes the time to explain the game to me when she can. I now at least understand what
offsides
means and I’m starting to catch on to the concept of a
power play
. I still don’t understand the penalties, and I surely don’t understand why you’re allowed to fight in a game that penalizes you for doing so, but it’s exhilarating watching as one of the Cold Fury players drops his gloves and faces off with an opponent at mid-ice. The fans go nuts when the fight starts, surging to their feet.
    And while I very much want to see the action of the fight, my eyes can’t help wandering over to Alex, who is sitting on the bench. He isn’t even watching his teammate beat the crap out of the other player but rather seems to be looking down at his lap, completely uninterested in the brawl.
    I tear my eyes off him, because sadness wells up inside of me as I remember how he had told me he hates to play hockey. It hurts too much to watch him and then think that although he may be an asshole, he may have a very good reason to be that way. Just the thought makes me want to wrap him up in a hug and soothe his pain.
    The game speeds by in a haze, and long before the final buzzer sounds and the Cold Fury is about to celebrate a 4-2 win over the other team, I am officially obsessed with this sport. I spend a few moments jumping up and down with Monica, our arms wrapped around each other in excitement over the win.
    Many of the fans start leaving while some stay in their seats, but before I can ask Monica why, I hear the announcer’s voice come over the loudspeaker.
    Tonight’s game’s most valuable player, with two goals and three assists: number sixty-seven, Alexander Crossman.
    The fans erupt and I watch as Alex steps out onto the ice and does a slow skate around the lower half of the rink closest to our seats. He has his helmet off and his hair is soaking wet. He skates holding his stick raised high up in the air in salute to the fans, and they go crazy over it.
    When he approaches the glass by our seats, I’m clapping exuberantly and Monica is again offering up her ovaries to him. Alex has his head tilted up, looking up at the fans in the sections above ours, but when he gets to where I’m seated, he comes to a stop on the other side of the glass and brings his gaze to mine.
    Monica shrieks beside me but I don’t turn to look at her. My eyes are pinned by Alex’s.
    He mouths the words
Thirty minutes?
to me while pointing to an imaginary watch on his wrist.
    I nod at him and he holds my gaze a moment longer, then pushes off to complete his lap and head back to the locker room.
    “Oh, you bitch,” Monica squeals as she wraps me up in a suffocating hug. “You’re going to hook up with Alex Crossman. I’m so jealous.”
    “No, I’m not,” I immediately deny. “I’m just meeting him over at Hoolihan’s across the street. It’s a business meeting.”
    Monica looks at me skeptically. “Business meeting?”
    “Yeah, we’re working on an anti-drug outreach program together. He gave me the ticket to the game, but we’re meeting just for business.”
    Monica’s eyes light up as her arms come up, pushing at me to leave the aisle. “Perfect. You can hook me up with him, then.”
    “What? Wait. No,” I protest, turning my head over my shoulder, even as Monica starts to push me up the stairs. “I have a business meeting to attend. You can’t come. I’m not going to