Up ahead, he saw Wolf shifting into position, and Jett knew that look—he was about to take a penalty they couldn’t afford.
“Wolf!”
Park side-stepped the trip, jumping over Wolf’s stick and landing on the ice without breaking his stride. He would score, and Jett didn’t know if there was a way to stop him.
In a last-ditch effort, Jett shoved the blade of his stick between Park’s legs, barely tapping the puck, but it worked. Park took the shot but missed, forcing him to desperately dump it into the Sunburst’s zone, flashing a glare in Jett’s direction.
Jett had too much momentum to make an easy stop, but he was in the perfect place to shove Park into the boards to slow himself down.
“Jugeullae?!”
Jett had already redirected himself and was skating away, too focused on the puck to guess what Park had just cursed at him. He tried to steal the next pass between Conclave players and missed, and Park swooped in, ready to make him regret his mistake.
Park spun around so fucking fast that Jett could do nothing to stop the puck from rocketing through the air over Powers’s shoulder. The lights flashed, and the horn sounded, tying the game five minutes in.
Jett sulked as he returned to the bench, not listening to Wolf’s cursing behind him. He plopped down and grabbed his water bottle, taking a furious gulp that burned his throat like acid.
“Wow,” said Harrison. “He’s…”
Jett slammed his bottle down and glowered at his skates. “Yeah, he’s fucking something.”
“Your goalie is gorgeous,” Park’s voice said from the other side of the dividing glass. “I think the feeling is mutual. He always lets me into his net.”
Melvin stumbled over his next words with a laugh.
Jett had no idea Bracken was sitting beside him until his captain threw himself across his lap to get closer to Park.
“Keep talking shit, Park! Touch my goalie and I’ll rearrange that pretty face of yours!”
Darkness entered Park’s expression, and Jett was struck by the thought of the pink-haired man breaking through the glass to throttle them. Melvin must have seen it too because he ducked his head, his tone shifting to nervousness as he spoke.
“Enough.” Harrison shoved Bracken back into his spot. “You want to fight? Then do it on the goddamn ice.”
Park hadn’t said anything, which wasdangerous. His scoff was loud enough to be heard over the crowd, but he turned away and kept his eyes on the game.
Jett swallowed, suddenly finding his throat dry as sandpaper. The bubble of confidence he felt after the first goal was ready to pop and evaporate.
The second his blades touched the ice for his next shift, Park was on them. Bracken had the puck after a solid pass from Cote, and was heading for the blue line when Park met them. He knocked the puck off Bracken’s blade and turned to chase it, but his stick came up with the turn, smashing Bracken in the face.
Bracken was nearly knocked off his feet, but he recovered quickly and was already chasing Park when Jett slammed him into the boards. It wasn’t the cleanest hit, but Jett would not tolerate someone harming a guy on his team, especially not his fucking captain.
He was instantly swarmed by Conclave players, followed by every Sunburst player on the ice. He was pulled away from Park, and his leg was kicked out from under him, forcing him onto the ice. The impact fuckinghurt, but Jett ignored the pain in his shoulder in favour of covering his face with his gloves for protection.
The skirmish lasted less than a minute before Wolf picked him up by the back of his jersey and helped him up. His ears were ringing from the shrill calls of the whistle and the booing of the crowd, but he grinned at the Conclave fans behind the glass before spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Fuck, he must have bit his tongue.
Park was sent off the ice for a high-stick penalty, and Jett narrowly avoided a roughing penalty of his own. They had the power play, and judging by the sour looks on his teammates’ faces, they were about to get another goal.
“You guys are fucking wimps!” Park called out before he went into the box and slammed the door behind himself, ignoring the startled look from the attendant there.
The next goal was so easy Jett couldn’t help but flash a grin in Park’s direction as he was let out of the sin bin. He expected to see fury in those dark eyes, but Park grinned manically at him.
“Holy fuck, Fraser. You keep playing like this, and I might start to respect you.”
“You’re such a prick, Park. Shut the fuck up.”
Jett went to the bench to cool off, but he couldn’t relax with Park on the ice against their second line. He thought for sure the bastard would tie the points, but thanks to two huge saves from Powers, the score stayed the same.
