“You’re asking to get kicked in the teeth.”
“Might happen.” Stefan’s eyebrows raised. “Team C is looking pretty feisty this morning.”
Arcanea University had four different hockey teams, separated into groups labeled Teams A, B, C, and D. Our team was Team A, and had the best players, but C was catching up to us in the rankings. Right now, we were neck and neck for the head spot. Team B was so close behind both teams that their win against D last week put them in second place.
My team was behind due to several lost games. We had to win today if we stood a chance of making the playoffs at the end of the semester.
We started the walk to the rink. Before the grand staircase we saw Delmare, Kiara, and Alexei. All of them were dressed in their Faction colors with shirts that saidArcanea University, waving flags that had the Team A symbol on it; a crest of a wolf fighting a dragon.
Emma was there. Gods, I was embarrassed. I could feel my cheeks heat as I laid eyes on her.
“Hi,” I breathed. My words choked up in my mouth as I lost what I was going to say.
“Hey,” she replied. “Are you feeling better?”
“I’m fine,” I rushed to say. “I apologize that I got so carried away last night. It should’ve never happened.”
“It’s no big deal.” She waved her hand. “Everyone gets drunk at one point or another.”
“Emma, I’m serious.” I took her hands in mine. “I want to make it up to you. After the game.”
Her smile warmed, and she said, “Okay. After the game.”
I dug in my hockey bag. “Anyway. I know you’ll be in the stands, so... wear my jersey?”
I took out one of my hockey jerseys and handed it to her. This was the first time Emma would ever see me play— she was always practicing whenever I was on the ice. And I wanted the world to know she was mine.
Emma ran her fingers along the stitching of my last name on the back of the jersey. “I will.”
She slipped it on over her sweater. The jersey was huge on her— looked more like a dress— but gods, she was adorable in it.
“Let’s hurry up, eh?” Stefan said. “Before Lucien has our hides for being late.”
We hurried to the rink, which was filling up with spectators. There were two people missing from the group— Odette and Theo.
Emma caught my curious look, and said, “I’m not sure where Odette or Theo are. I haven’t seen them all morning.”
“I hope everything’s all right,” I commented.
Emma made a face and said, “They had to deal with something. I’m sure it’s fine.”
Her words carried a heavy weight, but I didn’t challenge them. I had to focus on winning the game. Emma and I parted to go to warm-up; she kissed me lightly and whispered, “Good luck.”
My chest lightened. I went to the locker room and laced up my skates, ignoring the slight pounding in my head.
“We need to concentrate on defense,” Elijah bragged from the other side of the locker room. “If we can get Team C on their guard, it’ll be easier to score goals. Do as I say and we’ll win.”
Gods, could he shut up? He was a shit leader. A couple guys had clustered around his bench to listen in, but most of the team was ignoring him.
We’d been divided this season. Not much of a “team” to go on.
The crowd roared as we stepped on the ice to take our warm-up. The announcer in the stands was blaring our names player by player, but I tuned out the noise and focused. I saw Emma sitting in the corner of the rink with all our friends— she mouthedgood luckas I skated by, and I smiled.
“Hey, keep your head on the ice,” Stefan said as he skated past. “You can bang your girl later.”
I shoved him. He gave me a cocky grin, and skated off.
Team C looked confident and prepared. They were gathered on one side of the rink against the boards, listening carefully to their coach’s pep talk.
