Chapter 20
Connor
Daisyhadwarnedhimshe had a reason to keep him at arm’s length, but he never anticipated such an utter disaster.Her Patrick was Patrick Mills, the one guy in the entire league Connor couldn’t fucking stand.
And of course it came to light in front of the entire team as he was trying to introduce her as someone important to him.He felt like an idiot.Hazy and Lover hadn’t left him alone since they had followed him out of the team lounge at practice.They both had opted for pre game naps at his apartment.They carpooled with him to the game.In a weird way, they were closer as a group than ever.
Right before warmups, they did a solemn toast with their treats.
Connor tried to put his head down and focus on his routine.The last game boosted his confidence.He’d gotten points on the board.Lover and Hazy had goals.They could do this.He finished his stretches and found his linemates, ready to try to pump them up too.He wasn’t alone in his hurt feelings.
They stood by the benches, heads bent over an iPad, watching one of their goals from the previous game.The slow motion shot replay had his lips turning up at the corners.
“We can do that a couple times tonight, yeah?”
Lover’s grin fell off his face as he stared at something over Connor’s shoulder.Connor twisted, searching the crowd of visiting fans to find what had him upset.
Daisy pressed her hands against the glass on her the visitors side, her eyes on Patrick Mills.She wore a San Jose jersey with Patrick’s number drawn on her face and the sight turned his stomach.A single glimpse and his relaxation techniques became useless.His instincts told him to skate over there and ask what the hell she was doing, but Hazy’s hand on his arm kept him in place.They watched together as Patrick tossed a puck over the glass, making Daisy blush and laugh.
Connor tried to shake off his bad attitude as he took the face-off against Patrick.He knew it would be a long night when Patrick said, “I heard you’ve been spending time with my Daisy.”
He bent over the ice, his stick ready to sweep the puck to his teammates.“I keep hearing she’s your Daisy from you and everyone else.Except her.Wonder why.”
Patrick chuckled, and the puck dropped.The puck went to San Jose and Seattle started the game on defense.Patrick scored twenty-two seconds into the game.During his celly, he pointed to a spot in the crowd, and Connor couldn’t help but follow it, knowing what he would find.A jumping, screaming Daisy, with a man he didn’t recognize.
The game went to hell from there.Connor and Hazy had five-minute major penalties for fighting in the first period.Connor got a ten-minute misconduct and booked it to the locker room to cool down before the end of the second period.The Connor line was on the ice for three of the seven San Jose goals.
Seattle got their asses handed to them.
At least he’d broken Patrick’s nose.
Chapter 21
Daisy
Patrick’sfirstgoalwasexciting.The second was also fun.But after San Jose’s third goal, Daisy stopped celebrating.Watching your team crash and burn always sucked, but this was so much worse because she could claim at least partial responsibility.The arena went silent.
Connor and Patrick were going to fight.They had in every game since college.She expected it, the crowd expected it.The tension built before the puck dropped.After Patrick’s goal so early in, she could see the emotions getting out of control.
“Your boys look rough tonight,” Grayson gave his unsolicited opinion.
“They’re fine,” Daisy reassured him.
They weren’t fine.
“Is this your fault?”he asked after the third goal in ten minutes.
She smacked her brother’s arm.“No, it’s not my fault.”
The players met at center ice to reset.Patrick and Connor faced each other, each poised to win the puck.But the puck never dropped because Connor had dropped his gloves and snagged the collar of Patrick’s shirt, landing a punch to Patrick’s jaw before his gloves hit the ice.
Their helmets flew off and fists flew.One of Patrick’s teammates tried to pull them apart and Hazy dropped his gloves too, getting involved.Patrick and Connor’s fights usually lasted a few punches, but this one went on and on, Connor’s fist slamming into her best friend’s face over and over.
“Oh, fuck.This is kind of my fault.”
By the time the officials were able to separate them, blood dripped from both their faces.Both men skated to their benches and got cleaned up while the crew scraped the blood out of the ice.
San Jose got awarded a power play because of the fighting and they converted in the first minute.
