AllFreeNovel
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It’s like I have all the time in the world—to look, to breathe, tosee.I cut hard to the left, drawing a player from the other team with me…
And leaving the center open.
ForRiggs.
Who keeps skating, his big, fast-moving body a distraction that allows Leo to slide in and camp out by the back door, by the opposite side of the net to me.
Fucking perfect.
I lift my stick like I’m going to take a shot, grinning when the goalie scrambles, when he flinches, anticipating the puck to be flying toward him.
But I’m not shooting.
I’m passing…
Through Riggs’s feet—
And straight onto Leo’s stick.
He doesn’t need to make a move, doesn’t need to get fancy. He just needs to keep the blade of his stick on the ice, needs to angle it properly—
Just. Like.That.
Time starts moving again as the puck ricochets off Leo’s stick with a resoundingsnick, changing directions so quickly my mind can’t process it.
But then it catches up…
Right as the puck flies into the back of the net.
There’s always a moment of quiet when someone scores, as though our brains can’t quite accept it, and the crowd is usually several beats behind us.
Then the red light comes on.
The fans react—mostly cheers, a few boos from supporters of the other team.
And…it getsloud.
But I only hear my teammates as we collide, nearly taking Leo down at the boards, “Fuck, yeahs!” exchanged, bear hugs given.
Euphoria for one glorious second.
Then it’s back to work, skating to the bench, frustration creeping back in because they’re mostly assholes, and can’t even summon a “Good job” to Leo for putting us up a goal. There’s jealousy and indifference and annoyance at listening to Coach blabber about shit that doesn’t matter, considering he’s likely to be out of here before we make it to the All-Star break.
Tightness in my shoulders.
Anger in how fiercely I grip my stick.
I sneak a look across the ice and see Nova smiling and cheering, her and Ella doing a little dance.
And…everything in me settles.
The irritation. The tightness. The sense of everything going wrong.
Because I have Nova, the rest of it doesn’t matter.
Since pressalways takes a ridiculous amount of time, Nova and I made plans to meet back at the house.
Can’t have her first taste of pro hockey be tempered by sitting around, twiddling her thumbs, waiting for me to answer an endless amount of dumb questions.
