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The puck sailed through the air, and for a second, I thought their goalie had it. But he went down, and the buzzer lit up, our fans going wild.
We’d won.
We’d won, and I’d scored the winning goal.
“Fucking A.” Aiden piled on me, slapping me on the back as he celebrated our last-minute win. Then Connor jumped in with Noah and the rookies until I was surrounded by my teammates, whooping right along with them.
“That shot was fucking impressive,” Noah said. “I think he’s after your job, Cap.” He dipped his head toward Aiden.
“If he keeps winning us games like that, he can have it.”
“It was a lucky shot,” I murmured, not entirely comfortable with their attention.
“Nothing lucky about it. Coach D is right. You’ve been holding out on us.”
We skated toward the benches, and Coach Dixon was the first to congratulate me.
“Good game, son. Damn good game. How does it feel?” He gripped my shoulder, grinning from ear to ear.
“It feels good, Coach.”
“Plenty more where that came from by the time I’m done with you. Listen, son. I put some feelers out and touched base with some old friends from back in the day. A couple of them scout for pro teams now. And look, I’m not making any promises, but I think I could get them down here to take a look at you.”
“Whoa, Coach, I don’t know what to say.” It was a lot, too much to think about while I was riding the high of the win. I could barely think straight, let alone make decisions about the future.
“Yes, you say yes, Mase.” His deep laughter rolled through me. “This could be your ticket to the pros, son. Keep putting in the work, keep scoring goals like the one you just did, and teams are going to take notice.”
He gave me a proud nod before moving to some of the other guys. I noticed Connor, Noah, and Aiden had made their way over to their girls, the three of them goofing around like idiots.
“Good game.” Adams came up beside me.
“What the fuck do you want?”
“What? I can’t congratulate you on your lucky shot.”
“Nothing lucky about it,” I quirked a brow at him.
“Coach D has taken quite the shine to you.”
“Jealous, Adams? Because we both know he sure as shit hasn’t taken a shine to you.”
“Fuck you, asshole. You think you’re so fucking slick, coach’s new pet. But he’s just using you. You’ll see.”
“The fuck is—” But he was already heading off the ice.
The guys skated over and pulled me into another bone-crushing hug. “Proud of you, Mase.” Connor practically squeezed the air out of my lungs.
“Get off me, you big— hey, you good?” I asked, noticing his contorted expression.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He yanked his helmet off and ran a hand through his damp hair. “Nothing a hot shower and some TLC from my girl won’t solve. See you in there.” He took off, leaving me behind with Aiden and Noah.
“He seem okay to you?”
“He took a big hit,” Aiden said. “He’ll be okay after a little R and R.”
“Come on, hotshot,” Noah hooked me around the neck, pulling me in close. “Let’s hit the showers so we can get the hell out of here and celebrate in style.”
“Nothing crazy,” I murmured. “I’m going home tomorrow to pick up Mom and Scottie.”
