Chapter 8
Mackenzie
“Just pop it back in and send me back out!” Linc’s face contorted with pain as he spoke. “It’s just my thumb.”
He was right, itwashis thumb, but that didn’t mean dislocating a digit wasn’t painful.
“Please, Kenz. You know I need to get back out there.” His pleading would have been adorable had he not been so serious.
She clicked his thumb back into place, gave him some Tylenol, and smacked his butt as he turned to make his way back onto the ice. “Go gettum, Cap.”
They were down by a goal at the start of the second period. And to say the game was rough would have been akin to saying snow was cold.
It was fucking brutal.
The de la Peña brothers were taking no prisoners. The twins seemed to be opting for a Bash-Brothers á laThe Mighty Ducksstyle of play, and baby de la Peña stood on his head between the pipes. The kid had wicked skills, but Kenzie suspected his gigantic ego would probably be his undoing.
In the time she took to sneeze, the Raccoons had scored again. Top shelf, right over Séb’s glove hand. She shook her head. The Snow Pirates wouldn’t be happy with themselves. And while she looked forward to getting another round of those delicious tacos regardless of who was paying, she could see Theo’s bad attitude causing problems and interfering with her taco enjoyment.
Sending up a silent prayer, she followed the puck along the ice. The whistle blew, and the ref made the signal for hooking, then pointed to Russ.
“The fuck?”
Even from a distance you could tell he was big mad, holding his arms wide open, claiming innocence.
She quietly willed him not to get confrontational with the ref, they needed a full roster on the bench if they had any chance of winning against the home team.
Russ skated to the box, tossing his gloves against the plexi glass walls with an aggression she hadn’t seen in him for a while.
She swallowed hard, steeling herself for a long and painful two-minute penalty kill out on the ice. While the Snow Pirates were known for their special teams, the new player configuration hadn’t yet had time to gel.
She found Claudia sitting with Austin in the stands. His body was arched forward, forearms resting on his knees, and a severevbetween his brows. She knew he’d want to be with his teammates for the game, that his big ole, hockey-loving heart was yearning for his skates to cut through the ice, and for his thighs to burn right along those of his brothers.
He’d had an offer to play for the Wild, but considering all the work to do with his father’s business, he’d declined. He played rec league a couple times a week, but it wasn’t the same, especially as Finn had signed a contract and was playing pro. Austin was faced with a reminder of what he’d turned down, almost daily. He missed the ice. Perhaps it was time for her to talk to him about rethinking the Wild’s offer. Dad’s business be damned.
Thirty seconds had passed out on the ice pad. She’d always thought penalty kills passed in slow motion, an added torture over and above being a player down.
Both teams hovered around the Snow Pirates defensive blue line, Apollo sliding the puck back and forth on the blade of his stick, watching, waiting for an opening in the Snow Pirate’s defense.
Linc had switched places with Enzo so he marked Apollo. His lips were pressed in a firm line, his jaw hard, and his eyes narrowed. Never mind the tacos, Lincoln Scott was playing for keeps.
As the clock ticked toward the halfway point of their penalty kill, Linc took possession of the puck and sped down the ice toward the Raccoon’s goal.
With both twins hot on his heels, and Ares’s determined face in front, Kenzie held her breath as Linc faked once, twice, and the third time chipped the puck tidily over Ares’s stick side and straight into the back of the net.
Molly’s piercing cheer could be heard over the murmurs of discontent rippling around the rink. The message was clear. Linc, and therefore the Snow Pirates, weren’t going down without a fight.
Enzo grabbed Linc by both sides of his face and planted a huge kiss on his lips. Straight up macked on him. To be fair, Kenzie couldn’t blame him. After such a pretty goal, she’d lay one on the Captain too, if she could.
She couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her. It wasn’t one of the more common goal celebrations she’d ever witnessed, but it definitely sucked some of the tension from deep within her muscles.
It was a 2-1 game. The most dangerous lead in hockey. With any luck, and as long as her boys kept level headed, they’d be able to pull the second goal back and tie up the game.
The period finished 2-1. Two down, one to go.
Sweat streamed off the Snow Pirates as they trudged into the locker room. She stepped into line beside Linc, giving him a gentle nudge with her shoulder. “Nice goal celly.”
He grinned at her. “Think Cleo’s going to mind?”
