Perez gripped the top of the boards beside me, chewing the mouthguard dangling from his chin strap. “They’re pressing hard, bro.”
I nodded. The ice was chaos. Bodies crashed against the glass. Sticks hacked at shins. Our goalie turned away one shot, then another; the puck squirting into the corner.
“Clear the damn crease!” Coach’s voice ripped down the bench, his cap already off and crushed in one fist.
Elliot leaned out over the boards, shouting at the ice. “Outside lane, Dom! Force him wide!”
A forward in the opposition’s dark jersey drove hard into our zone. Aleksey stepped into the lane, planted his feet, and took the hit shoulder-to-chest. The impact slammed him backward. He went down hard, sliding across the ice and crashing into the corner boards.
I locked my hands on the top of the boards until the plastic bit into my palms, waiting as Aleksey stayed down.
Ten seconds seemed to go on for an eternity, the crowd noise fading to nothing. I waited for him to move, to twitch, to show he wasn’t hurt.
“Shit,” Perez muttered. He swallowed hard, gaze fixed on the corner. “If he stays down, nobody blames him. He already did enough out there.”
My throat had closed up. “He’s not done.”
Leaning further over the ledge, I locked my gaze on Aleksey crumpled in the corner. “Come on, you can do it. Get up.”
I let loose a breath I didn’t realize I was holding when Aleksey shoved himself upright, both hands pressed flat against the ice. He kept his weight on his left skate, the right leg barely taking any of it.
Our team trainer yelled over the crowd. “Zotov! Come off!”
Aleksey shook his head and waved him away, limping over into position for the defensive faceoff. He still kept his weight off that right skate, but he lined up as if he had every intention of finishing this game on one leg.
“Thirty seconds, Karter.” Coach grabbed my shoulder pads and hauled me toward the boards. “Get out there. Win this face-off.”
Without another word, I went over the boards, and the chaos swallowed me whole. The other center beat me on the draw. Their defenseman wound up from the point and let a slapshot fly. The puck rang off the post, a sharp ping that sliced straight through the arena noise, and kicked into the corner. I chased it down, pinned it against the boards with my blade. A winger hacked at my shins, his stick cracking against the plastic guards, but I leaned my shoulder into the glass and held on, refusing to budge as the seconds ticked down.
And then the final buzzer blared.
We won.
The bench emptied, equipment raining down onto the ice as the guys threw their gear in the air. Pushing off the boards, I shoved through the crush of bodies, past Elliot’s outstretched arm, past Matt’s grinning face, and locked onto the one thing that mattered.
Aleksey stood near the faceoff dot, still favoring his right leg a little, but his face had split into a wide grin that made him look like a completely different person.
I stopped a foot away, just close enough to talk without drawing stares. “We actually pulled that off.”
“Told you.” His voice was rough, barely carrying over the celebration. “You owe me for listening.”
“Owe you what, exactly?”
Aleksey grabbed the front of my jersey and hauled me into a hug. Our embrace stretched a lot longer than any other teammate hug, but I didn’t care.
Cameras flashed from the other side of the glass; photographers pressed against the boards. And for a tense beat, my shoulders tensed, an old reflex kicking in.
My father. The campaign. The fallout.
But then I crushed it all down and held Aleksey tighter. I didn’t care who saw, cause I was done ducking away from this.
Aleksey’s breath was hot against my ear. “I knew you’d get that goal.”
“And I knew you wouldn’t stay down.”
He pulled back just enough for me to see his face. Sweat plastered his dark hair to his forehead. A fresh bruise was already swelling along his chin, but his mouth curled into that sharp, feral grin that made my stomach bottom out.
Aleksey then grimaced, shifting a little. “This leg’s gonna hurt like a bitch tomorrow,” he said, patting his right thigh.
