Page 104 of Line Change

Nolan turns back toward the corner.

I send the puck down the wall before he gets there.

He takes it on his backhand and keeps moving below the goal line. I release the boards at the same time. The defenseman stays with Nolan, expecting him to carry the puck behind the net.

Nolan knows I’m coming. His stick opens before I reach the slot.

The pass comes backward through the defenseman’s skates. I catch it and shoot in one motion.

I hear it hit the inside of the post before I see the net move.

The goal horn drowns out everything.

Nolan reaches me first. He slams into my chest hard enough to drive me into the glass, shouting with his mouth beside my ear. My arms close around him. For the first time in two weeks, I’m holding him again, and my body doesn’t care that this is only a goal celebration.

Bobby crashes into both of us before I can hear what Nolan is saying. Our defensemen skate in to join us while the bench goes fucking wild.

Somebody knocks my helmet sideways. Nolan’s glove catches the back of it and straightens it before he disappears under three more bodies.

We still have to protect the lead. On the next shift, Nolan gets the puck deep and Bobby reaches it first. I join them below the goal line, where we keep it against the boards while the home crowd counts down over the noise.

The final horn sounds with Nolan beside me and the puck nowhere near our net.

Gloves and sticks hit the ice around me as the bench empties. I grab the first guy who reaches me, then the next. The crowd is on its feet. PLAYOFFS flashes around the ribbon board in white letters while the noise keeps building.

We clinched.

I’ve played in bigger games than this and lifted the Cup. Still, Seattle brought me here because they thought I could help get them back to the playoffs, and the goal that did it started with Nolan moving before either of us had to speak.

Nolan is celebrating with Bobby near the crease. His face is red, his hair wet against his forehead, and he’s laughing hard enough that Bobby has to hold him upright.

His eyes meet mine until Sindre gets between us and grabs him. Nolan’s smile stays with me while I follow the team off the ice.

The locker room is louder than the arena was. Music pounds through the speakers while guys yell over it. Somebody gets me in a headlock as I come through the door, and by the time I fight free, Sindre is standing on his stall waving a towel over his head.

We made the playoffs after spending the start of the season fighting for clean entries and blowing leads we should have held. Now the schedule is going to keep going. That’s enough.

Caleb is in the middle of the room with two guys hanging off his shoulders. Bobby shouts something about never doubting us, and half the room throws whatever they can reach at him.

Nolan pushes through the crowd. He climbs onto the low center bench and cups his hands around his mouth.

“Shut up!”

Nobody shuts up, but enough guys turn toward him that he keeps going.

“I’m throwing a party. Details in the group chat. Everybody better be there.”

The room answers with a round of hell yeahs. Sindre nearly falls off his stall when he tries to add both arms to his. Bobby catches him by the leg and shoves him upright.

Nolan grins at the room. His eyes pass over the stalls on either side of mine without landing on me.

I can let that be my excuse. The invitation is for the team, and Nolan probably wouldn’t care if I found a reason not to go. He might prefer it.

“I’ll be there,” I say.

I can’t tell whether he hears me through the shouting. His head starts to turn in my direction, but Caleb grabs him around the waist and pulls him down from the bench.

That night, Grayson calls while most of the team is still out celebrating.