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Growling under my breath, I know what he’s doing. He’s trying to rile me up so that I’ll take my aggression out on the ice. Shrugging his words off, I think ‘Why the hell not?’ If I’m going down, I might as well go down with a fight. It’s the only thing I’ve got left.
I’m ten steps behind Luke. He knows I’m following him, but he won’t turn around. The roar of the crowd gets louder the closer we get to the ice. Taking one last breath, I skate onto the ice, refusing to look at our bench or my two empty seats. I keep myself focused on the ice, the opponents, my stick. I skate around the net, making eye contact with everyone on the opposite team. Letting them know I’m here. I’m hungry. And I’m coming for them.
I cover my goal while my team comes around, running quick drills, slapshots, and words of encouragement.
I don’t listen to any of it.
“Zeke. Whatever you’re thinking of doing, you better cut that shit right now. I see it written all over your face.”
“Fuck you.”
Blake laughs. “You’re going to scare her away and you only just got her back. Asshole.”
He drops his words and skates away, which has me freezing on the spot.
Is she here? I snap my head toward our home bench and one of the two empty seats is now holding the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met in my life.
And she’s all mine.
Despite the warning clock ticking down, I skate as fast as I can to the glass. She watches me the entire way. Like she was waiting for me to come to her.
I put my glove up to the glass and lift my helmet. She gives a soft smile and places her hand over her belly.
The one growing my gorgeous baby. Who will hopefully have those green eyes just like their Momma.
At this moment, I know I’ve changed. I know I’ll never go back to the asshole puck bunny chaser I once was.
Okay, maybe I’ll still be an asshole. But only on the ice.
Honey has a magic about her that soothes all my rough edges.
“I told you you’d be good.” He claps me on the back. “I don’t know how you did it, Stone.”
“I didn’t do shit. She found me.”
Giving her a wink, placing my helmet back over my face, I elbow him. “Come on, we’ve got a game to win.”
“Fuck yeah!”
The horn goes off, and the next twenty minutes are a blur. My adrenaline is pumping, just knowing my new found family is here. My girl and my child, the only thing I’ll ever need in life, is watching me, cheering me on.
I’ve held this team to their four goals. My offense did its job and scored two more. We’re tied up, and it’s getting rough out there. We’re playing frantically and that’s when shit goes wrong.
“Calm it down, boys, calm it down.” I chant from my net, praying for a quick goal to wrap this up.
Luke has the puck and is dancing around the edge. He’s passing back and forth, teasing the other team. The shouts from our team, the cheers from the home crowd do nothing but pump us up. The ice does nothing to cool off the heat radiating from us, begging for this win.
I flick my eyes to Honey, who’s not watching Luke. Instead, her head is angled towards me. She’s a little too far for me to make it out who she’s looking at. But I know. She’s watching me. In this moment, she cares how I’m doing, how I’m feeling, and how I’m going to react when that buzzer goes off, whether or not we score.
She just wants me.
And I’m going to make her mine. For good.
I get tunnel vision and narrow in on Luke. The sounds around me drop and it’s like I’m underwater. The screams become distant, and all I hear is the slashing of the ice, the hit off the boards and the slap of the puck.
GOAL!
The horn blows a second later, and we rush Luke on the ice. We’re circled up, sticks are forgotten and he’s lifted into the air.
