When you give de la Peña the puck in that position, there’s only one place that puck is going... in the back of the net.
Eight seconds remaining in the game. Penn State won the faceoff, and coming in with the shot high, bounced over the top of the net. Rebound attempt, picked up by Justin. It takes a fraction of a second to score, and the final seconds tick down on the screen in front of us in painfully slow motion. Penn State have got one last chance to tie the game. They shoot, it travels toward Ares with precision, but he saves it with ease right as the final buzzer sounds.
I scream, burst into tears, and almost pee myself. We’re going to the motherfucking finals!
CHAPTER27
Apollo
(MARCH 30TH – DAY 13 POST OP)
“So here’s what I’m thinking.”
It’s been a few days since the semifinals of the Frozen Four and my muscles are finally starting to think about working again. Between hockey practices and classes, Edith and I have spent damn near every second curled up in bed, or on the couch watching old horror movies, icing my tender limbs, and making out.
It’s been fucking amazing. Low-key, just us, tactile touches and tender kisses.
She’s gotten a little better on her feet since her last surgery. I’m not sure how much of that is sheer grit and determination, versus actually feeling any better, but she seems to be more mobile two weeks post-surgery number two, than she was after her first surgery.
“Did it hurt?”
“Huh?”
She’s staring at me with a lopsided grin on her face. “You said you’d been thinking. I know how hard that is for you, and I was going to offer my support as your girlfriend during this difficult time.”
I’m not sure what I love more, the warmth flapping in my chest any time she calls herself my girlfriend, or the fact that glimpses of my snarky best friend are starting to reappear through the doom and gloom.
Seeing her so down for such a prolonged period of time has been hard. I’m not stupid enough to believe she’s magically through it, though. I made that mistake once before. Then found her sitting on the kitchen floor covered in melted ice cream, and angry cry-screaming about how much everything sucked.
We’re taking it day by day here on recovery road, and good days don’t mean that things are good. It means that in that moment, she’s feeling a little less bad about all the shit she’s swimming through.
“What’s that look on your face?”
She shifts her weight on the couch and her calves move in my lap. I press my thumb into the arch of her foot and shrug.
Jerking her bare leg to pull my attention back to her face, she snorts. “Nice try, Pollo. I’ve known you long enough to know that face means something. Spill.”
Oh, I must have really done it now because her beautiful freckled face is crinkled by a frown and arms are folded across her new “My Heart Belongs to a Snow Pirate” t-shirt she ordered online to fuck with me.
“Can you not wear that, please? It has to be bad luck or something leading up to the playoff finals, right?” The words are barely out of my mouth before I realize my mistake.
Gripping the hem of the shirt, she pulls it over her head and throws it at my face. When I finally wrestle the grey and powder blue material from my face, her bare tits are just... right there.
I groan, as my dick springs to life. I try to tell it that it wasn’tforus. To stand down. That it was totormentus, but he doesn’t get the memo, and suddenly my sweats are bulging.
“You were saying.”
My eyes stay firmly planted on her pert little rosy nipples. They’re hard, probably because of the chill in the air, but I want to think it’s because she feels my cock getting hard for her under her legs, and she’s soaking wet for me.
“I was... what?”
She snorts again. “My eyes are up here.” She gestures to her face, but I can’t break boob contact. They’re not even moving, but I’m hypnotized and want those buds between my fingers and teeth so I can make her moan.
“I know where your eyes are,princesa. I’m having some quality time with your titties right now.”
“And they say romance is dead.”
“Your titties?”
