Page 61 of Rise Above

fine line, Walker.”

“Maybe.” I finished with my stick. “You alright,

cap?”

“I’m good. Last time I faced Detroit, it just didn’t

end well.” He pulled his socks on. His eyes popped up briefly to meet mine. “Rammed me into the boards so hard, I was out with a major concussion for three weeks.”

“Fuck,” I said, examining my captain. As put

together and calm as Chris was, he looked nervous. He normally wasn’t an anxious guy. “What can I do to help?”

“Play your heart out. And maybe hit a little harder

tonight.” Chris stood and threw on his jersey. His gaze narrowed in focus. Game on.

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The game was fierce. Both teams were playing with

an intensity normally reserved for the playoffs or the Cup. Bodies were hitting the boards like no tomorrow, and shots were taken like there was someone’s life on the line. No one’s shots were getting through.

Zeke really seemed to be holding our team together.

He was outdoing himself, but so was our defense. On the other hand, I couldn’t put our offensive plays together. Every time I tried, we’d get hit or tripped up. Most of my play time had been in the penalty box tonight; I may have taken Chris’s words to heart. Each hit from the Red Cougars only fueled my desire to hit back, harder and better.

Sitting on the bench, I sucked in some much-needed

air. Maybe our second shift could do what we weren’t able to. Every play we attempted, Detroit managed to stop. They were on fire tonight. It was like they had an axe to grind with us, and maybe they did. We destroyed them in the playoffs last year, so this game was apparently quite personal. It felt like a playoff game, like everything rode on tonight.

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“Walker.” Coach looked over his shoulder. “You

have to figure something out. It’s the third period, son. Get me a fucking goal.”

With those words ringing in my ears, I hopped onto

the ice and slammed my stick for the puck. My center passed it perfectly, and I shot up the ice like a bullet. I blew by some of Detroit’s fastest players before it was just me and the goalie. Their goalkeeper had played the best game of his life tonight. He had anticipated all of our shots, but I forced it out of my head. Centering myself with a breath, I pulled my stick back and hit the puck with all my might. It sailed through the air and slipped just past his right hand, barreling into the net. The buzzer sounded and then my teammates rammed into me causing me to fall onto the ice.

“Atta boy.” Chris pulled me up. “MVP tonight.” We skated back to center ice for the puck drop.

Detroit had ninety seconds to score, and I was going to make sure it didn’t happen. I watched the ref drop the puck and Chris win the face off before dropping the puck back to Ryan. We managed to keep the puck away from them as the final buzzer sounded.

A cheer erupted from the bench at the same time the

Chaos Coliseum erupted in chaos. My eyes found Aife’s, and I shot a grin at her. We won! I scored the game-winning goal. I was practically on top of the world. Then I felt my skates slip from under me as someone slammed into my back. Without thinking, I threw my hands out to catch myself and that’s when I heard a gut-wrenching snap.

Time seemed to slow down as I realized I was face

first on the ice. Someone was on top of me, pushing my face further into the ground below, the frozen ground.

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