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My stick swung back, sending the puck to Beckett so suddenly that everyone gasped. Everyone but Beckett.
I didn’t dare look. For one brief moment, I was too scared to look.
My torso twisted as I avoided opposing players. Two came to a halt and tried spinning around, skating after me, but they were just a moment too late.
When I passed them, there was only Beckett and the goalie near me. And I looked. Finally, I forced myself to check whether Beckett understood me.
His eyes were ablaze as he baited the goalie, navigating the puck seemingly to a victory.
I held my breath and directed all my thoughts at Beckett. Do it. Now.
And he did.
Instead of attempting to score the final point, Beckett pulled my exact trick, deceiving the goaltender at the last minute, and sending the puck my way.
Time sped up, making up for all the slowing down it had done. The puck touched the blade of my stick; my arms tensed; I held my breath.
In an instant, it was over.
The crowd erupted into a cheering frenzy. Half the rink moaned and cursed and the other half laughed and celebrated. Beckett caught my gaze again, a grin spreading under the helmet. He skated across the rink toward me, nearly tackling me to the ground.
His stick disappeared and mine dropped from my hands when Beckett crashed into me. His arms quickly wrapped around me and the fucker literally lifted me off the ice, spinning us around. “Holy shit, you did it!” he yelled. “Fuck, I knew you would. I knew it. I looked at you and I just knew.”
I wiggled myself free from his tight grip and found that his arms around my torso weren’t the reason I was short of breath. Hell no. It was the brilliant smile on his face that made my breaths shallow.
From the moment Beckett pulled back a few inches, still grinning at me with the same joyful intensity, until the moment we were all showered and dressed in the locker room, listening to Coach Murry’s praise, there was a gap in my memory. Everything had been happening in tiny flashes. Suddenly, everyone had an urge to tap my shoulder, all the while Beckett gazed at me. He didn’t even bother hiding it.
Beckett walked up to me, surrounded by a cloud of amber and sandalwood, and lifted his arm up, leaning against my locker just as I locked it up. “We should celebrate.”
My heart fluttered. “Um…I guess.”
“Guys are going down to Publin. Are you in?” The corners of his lips seemed permanently stuck in that half-smile of his.
I scratched the back of my head. He was too close and I was betrayed by my own flushed face. “Uh, not really my thing, to be honest. I think I’ll take a rain check.”
Beckett’s expression didn’t change. “Suit yourself.” He still gazed at me, not giving a damn about other guys talking at him from across the locker room. He ignored everyone and I finally found out what it was like to be at the receiving end of Beckett Partridge’s admiration.
No wonder this guy had an easy time with guys. Were I any weaker, I would probably be sliding down to my knees right here.
“Yeah,” I said, short of breath once again. “See you around.” I slunk my duffel over my shoulder, turned from Beckett, and walked out.
It was some thirty minutes later that the knock on my door startled me out of my desk chair. For once, it was welcome, though I wasn’t all too eager to show it.
Beckett strolled into my room before I had a chance to open the door. “Do you always claim other people’s rooms?” I asked for the lack of a better greeting.
“I figured it would be locked if you didn’t want people barging in,” he said with a cocky smirk.
“That level of sarcasm is so high I can’t tell if you’re for real,” I pointed out, crossing my arms at my chest and leaning against the edge of the desk. Beckett shut the door and glanced around the room, then lowered himself into my beanbag. “I see you have your own spot.”
“Do you mind?” he asked, obviously not interested in my answer. He probably knew what my answer would be. “You were great today, Caden.”
“People are always surprised,” I said, half jokingly.
“That’s just it,” Beckett said. “I wasn’t surprised. Not when I gave you a chance. When you scored that goal, it made perfect sense.”
My heart tripped. Was I hearing this correctly?
“You were right all along,” Beckett said and my jaw nearly dropped. “I was too full of myself to see it, but I should have trusted you sooner.”
