“Are you jealous or something? Are you mad because she wants me and not you? Newsflash, Heart, you had 17 years to get the girl, I’ve nearly done it in two months.”
Yeah… I knew that was going to get me punched before I even said it.
It’s like a cat fight only with tall sweaty grown men in hockey padding. We each get a couple good hits in before Braxton, Derek, and Charlie haul us from each other.
Our chests heave as we stare one another down but Jace is the first to speak up. “You hurt her feelings,” he says and my stomach drops.
“I didn’t mean to, I honestly said it as a joke…” I sigh, grabbing the tape for my stick to keep myself busy.
“Yeah, well, she didn’t take it that way and since you two are my closest friends, I need you to understand that when she hurts Iwillbring down hell for her. I’ve been protecting these girls since I could walk, and I’ll be damned if I watch them get their hearts broken by someone that I called a friend…” He holds my gaze before sighing.
I nod in understanding and thank the hockey heavens that the rest of the team isn’t here yet. We got here a few hours earlier than our call-time to do some free skating before the game.
“You’re a good guy butdudeyou have to read the room… CJ is reclusive when it comes to men. She’s been scorned before and it’s hard for her to get back into the swing of things, especially after everything with Marcelo. I just don’t need any more motherfuckers breaking my best friend's heart.”
His last two sentences catch the both of us off guard, Jace’s eyes widen to the size of saucers as he becomes paler at the mention of Marcelo.
My body is hot with anger at the thought ofRiverspotentially hurting a woman like Cleo. “What did he do to her?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“Let’s just say he made Hell a place on Earth for her. He was sneaky and manipulative and an overall bad guy towards her. I know you’re not like him, but she doesn’t. You must move at her pace and allow her to come to you first. I know I said leave her alone but that was when I was mad at you, you fucker.” He chuckles, running a hand through his hair before taking a sip from his water bottle.
“Be patient and kind to her, I’m giving you my blessing so don’t fuck it up or I’ll have toactuallyblack one of thosepretty blue eyes.”
I roll my eyes at the idiot to my left just as the guys poke their heads back into the locker room. I hadn’t even noticed they’d left but Charlie is the first to reenter the room.
“So, what I’m hearing is that we’re kicking some Brighton ass when we see them?” the long-haired man asks, smiling deviously.
“Oh, they’re going to wish they’d never stepped foot in Maryland.” Derek chuckles, patting my shoulder as he takes a seat in his cubby between me and Jace.
“Are we good now?” I ask the blonde on the other side of Derek as he nods with a small shrug.
“Of course, and keep your head on the ice tonight. You’ve got a season to open.”
thirty-one
Cleo
It’s the first gameof the season, the rink is lit up with blue and orange lights and the boys are playing to win tonight. Since it’s a home game, I’m obligated to be here by not only the pact I made with my dad but by another that I’d made with Jace last week.
Spirits are high tonight and almost everyone in a ten-mile radius of SFU is here sporting the schools’ vibrant colors of navy blue and orange.
Georgia, Sienna, and I sit just a few rows behind the home box, watching the boys put on one of the best season openers I’ve seen in college hockey to this day.
It’s been a week since Blake and I have had any contact, and to say I spent that time even more confused than I was before would be an understatement. But the girls and I took a collective mental health week where we spent most of our time doing coloring books and face masks while drowning our sorrows in pints of ice cream.
There are twenty seconds left in the last period of the game, SFU is leading by a single point but the Moran U defensemen aren’t letting up on our boys. It’s nasty out there as the boys fall into a heated puck battle. The crowd grows silent as we all sit on the edge of our seats, the only sound to be heard in the arena being the slapping of the puck against the sticks on the ice.
I suck in a deep breath, hoping and praying that Moran U doesn’t suddenly become amazing and make the goal.
A loud slap followed by the sound of the goal horn ringing has the crowd slipping into a loud cheer and if I had blinked, I would’ve missed the sheer artof a goal that number 13, Blake Wilder, had scored. I jump from my seat and cheer with the rest of the crowd for the man, the myth, the legend—Wilder.
“I fucking hate hockey but did you see that?!” Georgia exclaims, her eyes bright as she jumps up and down pointing at the ice below.
“He scored the winning goal!” Sienna gasps looking up at the Jumbotron above with Blake’s image and stats displayed on it.
For SFU to be a football university, we have one of the best hockey programs in the country. Dad says it’s because he’s the coach, whichmaybe true. But I also believe it’s because Summerfield birthslegends.
The school has producedseventeenStanley Cup winners and six Olympic hockey players from both the menandwomen’s teams.
