Spinning to the Goal (Desert Ice Hockey #4)

Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

ACE

A few days after my text to Zoma, I skated to the net in full gear. It was time for my daily dose of getting pummeled by pucks. I twisted and bent forward, my stick and blocker on the right and glove on the left. The last few days hadn’t gone so well. I’d been distracted. This had to end. I spied Coach Meadows, our goalie coach, by the boards.

Coach Meadows crossed his arms and chatted with Coach Hammett, the D-line coach.

They’d both noticed my decline and I was sure they were strategizing on how to fix it. Fuck. And now they were using Myles to run some basic shots at me.

Myles skated to a pile of pucks around twenty feet in front of me. “Ace, you ready?”

“I’m not supposed to be ready. You’re supposed to shoot like you’re trying to get the fucking puck in the net. Would you ask a goalie if he was ready during a game?”

With a scoff, I shook my head. Myles hadn’t deserved that. I had to get my head on straight, but not hearing back from Zoma had put me in a foul mood. What the hell had I done to be ghosted?

“Dude, chill.” Myles grabbed a puck with his stick, coddled it, and shot.

Dropping to the ice with my shins spread, I held up my right arm, and the puck ricocheted off my blocker. “Come on, Cummings, you can do better than that. Hit me.” I rapped my stick on the ice, getting as big as I could.

“You sure are a moody fucker lately.” He pulled another puck from the pack, came at me in a zigzag, and slapped the puck to my left.

Jutting out my leg, the puck smacked my leg pad and flew off. “That’s what I’m talking about.” I glanced at the coaches, watching us. We weren’t sticking to their plan, but too fucking bad. I could do this.

“Almost gotcha that time.” Myles skidded to a stop on the edges of his blades, took off with a new puck, skated around the backside of the net, and flung the puck up high.

“Shit.” I swung my head, and the puck knocked off my helmet so hard my ears rang. “Fucker, you did that on purpose.” I adjusted my helmet and centered myself in the crease. Next time he tried that, I might have to take him out. I peeked at the coaches, now watching the defensive-line drills across the ice. Yep, just a quick flick of the stick in his skate, and he’d go down.

“Quit chirping at me. We’re supposed to be practicing, and it’s not my fault your hot little hookup didn’t text you back, eh.” With a smirk, Myles picked a new puck and swiped it back and forth between the blade on his stick.

The whole house knew about that. Every morning the two morons had to ask me if I’d heard from Zoma. “Maybe if you two hadn’t harassed me about it every day, my game wouldn’t be off.” Huffing a sigh, I sat on the ice and spread my legs in front of me. This was useless. I’d never get the guy out of my head like this.

Myles skated to me with the puck and stopped. “Talk to me. Is this text thing really what’s got your game?”

“I guess so.” I hung my head and pulled my helmet off. “I can’t figure out what I did wrong? I mean, we had something, a connection.” An ache wormed its way through my chest. Why did dating have to be so hard?

“Yeah, he looked like he was into you too.” Myles shucked off a glove and combed his fingers through my wet bangs. “You’re a catch, Ace. Any guy would be lucky to have you.”

I snuck a glance at him. “Then why would he ghost me like this?” Did something happen to him, maybe? I had only texted the one time. Maybe he hadn’t seen it? No, the text said it had been read. He’d seen it.

“Don’t know. Maybe it’s a blessing. Maybe he’s an asshole in real life. In any case, it wasn’t meant to be.” He slid his free hand into his glove. In a flash, he skated around me and sank the puck into the net. “Goal!” He pumped his gloves in the air.

Choking out a chuckle, I said, “You fucker.” I shook my head.

Coach Meadows skated to us, his brown eyes hard. “What the hell are you two doing? You’re supposed to be practicing, not lolly-gagging on the ice.”

“Lolly-gagging.” Myles barked out a laugh. “Good one, eh.” He tapped me on the leg pad with his stick.

“Quiet, you.” Coach Meadows gave Myles a half-smirk and focused on me. “What’s up with you, Ace? You haven’t been yourself this week.”

“Nothing.” I set my helmet on my head and climbed onto my skates, standing to my full height. Straightening my shoulders, I said, “I’ll get over it. I’ll be fine by this weekend, and don’t you worry, U of A won’t have a chance. You have my word.” I locked my gaze on his. “Shutout, baby.”

“Good. I’m counting on it.” He patted my shoulder and glanced at Myles. “Now, give him something to work with.” He skated off and stopped at the boards. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

After cooking the house a nice spaghetti dinner, I sat at our dinette to eat with Myles and Tyler, jabbing my fork into my noodles and twirling them. I had to stop checking my phone for text messages. Maybe I should delete Zoma’s text and his number from my contacts?

“Dude, Myles said you’re still upset over that Zoma guy.” Focusing on me, Tyler held his fork over his plate, piled high with pasta and meat sauce.

“I’m not upset. I’m over it. Guess I saw something that wasn’t there.” I stuffed food into my mouth and chewed. Nothing tasted good. Why was I letting this bother me so much?

Myles cut his pasta with his fork and a butter knife and then scooped it up and ate it. Chewing, he tapped on the table. “He is too.”

Shifting in his chair, Tyler said, “You going to be okay by game day? We’ll have a packed barn, and fuck if I want to lose to U of A. We haven’t lost to them since we’ve been here.”

“Don’t you worry about that. I’ll be fine.” I forced a mock smile at him and drank some orange Gatorade from the bottle. “I’m sure the guy has his reasons why he ghosted me. Probably thought my friends were assholes.” I freed a soft snort.

“Right on.” Myles lifted the edge of his lips. “Whatever makes you feel better about yourself.” He ate more cut pasta.

With a glance at Myles, Tyler said, “No, really. Forget about him. How about after we win our game, we go see that queer band? I can see if Leo is going since his brother is in the band. I think Archer and Mason are traveling.”

“What was the name of that band? Knot Me?” I tapped the top of my fork to my temple. Maybe I’d meet a new guy at the show and get my mind permanently off Zoma. And seeing Zoma again at the gay bar might be a little weird. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

“Okay, it’s a plan. Let’s get you back on the horse.” Tyler twisted his fork in his pasta. “And out of this funk.”

“Hell yeah.” My heart lifted. If I played a shutout, I’d also have a little celly and delete Zoma’s text and contact in my phone. I’d go out with a clean slate.

The next day, I sat on my bed, leaning against the pillows propped against my headboard, and set my laptop to the side. I was done studying, and it was time for a phone call to Mom. I was almost back to my old self and had only checked for a text from Zoma once today.

Shimmying on my bed into a butterfly leg pose, because why not get some extra inner thigh and hip stretching in while I talked, I called her. The phone clicked on the second ring.

“Hey, Ace. It’s so good to hear from you, darlin’.” Clanking filtered in through the connection. The woman was always working.

“Good to hear your voice, Ma.” I smiled against my phone, set it on speaker, and held it in my lap. “How are things on the ranch?” There was always some good gossip.

“Well, you know we’re going to have a good calving season this year. I’ve never seen so many pregnant heifers in one season.” She gave me a soft chuckle. “Which is good, I guess.”

“It is.” I hadn’t calved a heifer in so long…but it was nerve-wracking as hell, and I wasn’t sure I missed it. “How are my sibs getting along?”

“Eli is getting good grades with his online college. Thank God for that, means we aren’t losing him to Montana State this year, and he’s a wiz with the ranch’s finances. I swear that boy loves numbers more than girls.”

“Ma, leave him alone.” I chuckled. Just because she married her high school sweetheart at twenty-one, she thought we’d all do the same. It was only when she found out I was gay that she stopped that sort of talk with me. But it was all good. She meant well.

“I know, but I want some grandbabies,” she said. “And so does your father.”

“And how is Dad doing?” I picked at a thread on my athletic shorts. I’d gotten my size from him. The man was built like a house.

“He’s the same. He’s been working on the fences. The man acts like he’s still in his twenties instead of his fifties and insists on doing so much himself.” She freed a sharp chuckle. “We have perfectly good ranch hands for that sort of thing.”

A smile tugged at my lips. Both my parents were always working, not just Mom. “And how’s Charlotte doing?” I’d always found it amusing my mother named my sister after the girl in the story Charlotte’s Web . My sister wasn’t particularly fond of pigs though.

“She’s on the hunt for a new horse since Angel is getting so old. You remember she only took third place at the Bozeman Stampede last August, right?” Mom asked.

“Yeah, I remember. She was pissed.” With an ache floating through my chest, I said, “Angel is a good horse. She was catty back in the day, quick as hell and light on her feet.” I pursed my lips. I’d like to take Angel off Char’s hands, but where would I be after this hockey season? I certainly wouldn’t have much time for riding a horse.

“Yeah, I’m sure Charlotte will keep her and the new horse. She grew up on Angel.” Mom sighed.

As pounding and laughter erupted through my closed door, I glanced at it. Myles and Tyler must be messing with each other again. God, I missed having Mason around. “So, tell me the latest on Austin.” He was the youngest and wildest one of the bunch.

“Your father caught him drinking beer with his buddies in the barn.” Mom tsked. “They were playing beer pong.”

“Ma, I got news for ya. I was playing beer pong in the barn at seventeen too.” I huffed a laugh. I was never stupid enough to get caught.

“You did?”

“I did. So did Eli.” Now I was an adult, it was so much fun telling her all the bad shit I did when I was under her roof. With a soft snort, I said, “Just don’t be too hard on him. He’s a good kid.” There, I’d put in a good word for him. “And be happy he wasn’t drinking whiskey or doing bong hits in the barn.”

“Oh, Ace. You stop that. Now you’ve got me worried.” She tutted.

“You don’t have to worry about any of us. We’ll all turn out fine.” I straightened my legs and leaned back, stuffing my hand between my head and a pillow. “How’s Austin doing in school?” He’d always been an average student, and I saw him taking over the day-to-day at the ranch when it was passed on.

“Same. He flunked a chemistry test, but the teacher let him do some extra credit to make up for it.” She giggled. “I think he’s got his eyes on a girl. He’s been chatting with someone on his phone nonstop.”

“Oh yeah, the telltale sign.” I huffed a long breath. Too bad fucking Zoma never texted me back, or I might be doing that. Shit, I had to quit thinking about Zoma.

“How are you doing? Any prospects?” she asked.

I wouldn’t tell her about Zoma. There was no point. “I’m focusing on hockey as per usual.” I smirked at my phone. “I mean, I wouldn’t turn it down if the perfect man walked into my life, but you know, hockey comes first.” And hopefully, I’d get a nice contract with the Coyotes.

“I’m sure once you’ve been picked up by an NHL team, you’ll get settled, and the right one will come around.” She sucked in a breath. “Things happen for a reason.”

Yeah, okay. What reason was there for Zoma to feel so right and then ghost me? I twisted my lips. “Sure, Ma, whatever you say.”

Pounding jiggled my door. “Hey, Ace. You still in there? Want to play NHL on the Xbox?” Myles shouted.

“Just a minute.” I held my phone to my face. “Gotta go, Ma. It was good talking to you.”

“Of course. Talk to you soon. Have fun with the game and love you,” she said.

“Love you too. Bye now.” I ended the call and threw my legs over the side of my bed. I was going to slaughter those two tonight. “Here I come.” I threw my door open and sauntered out.

Friday night, we were playing our first game against the U of A Wildcats, and they were bringing it, but I held my own. I glanced up at the scoreboard. There were two minutes left in the second period and neither of us had scored. Our line was battling with the U of A guys in their D-zone, so I was safe for the moment.

I spread over my goal and fixated on the puck, putting myself in the zone.

The Wildcat center, Hutchings, broke free and ran the puck down the ice before passing it to his left D-man.

Tyler checked him and grabbed the puck, but their winger slid in and nabbed it, then barreled at me.

The fucker, no way was he getting into my crease. I spread out even more but readied to drop.

A messy head of light-brown hair caught the light in the stands and moved down the stairs, his red shirt giving off a sheen. Sort of looked like fucking Zoma. No, don’t think about him. Not now.

I snapped my gaze to the man with the puck and a line of skaters speeding my way. The puck dove this way and that, hitting one stick and flicking off another.

I edged to the right and the left, following it with precision.

The man in the stands held up his hand and waved, jumping up and down.

A spray of shaved ice blasted through my face mask and coated my cheeks. “Dammit!” I dropped and splayed my legs out.

With a cackle, Hutchings tossed the puck up and to the corner.

Throwing my arm out, I swiped for it.

The buzzing noise of a goal filled the arena as the red light swirled.

“Fuckin’ A. Motherfucker.” I slammed my gloved fist to the ice, hung my head, and peeked at the ref. Would he call a penalty for Hutchings snowing me? Nope. The jerk was acting like he never saw it.

“Dude, it’s okay. We’ll get ’em back, eh.” Myles skated to me and patted my shoulder.

“It’s not okay. I let myself get distracted. Fuck!” Throwing off my blocker, I punched the ice again. I had to do better, snowing or no snowing. Glancing into the stands, the man in the shiny shirt stood still on the stairs, focused on me with a girl standing beside him. Nova and Zoma. They were here watching the game, and I’d given up a goal because of my stupidity.

After the game, I stretched my hips on a foam roller in the gym. All the guys were busy stretching, icing, and winding down before hitting the showers and packing up.

Throwing a towel over his shoulder, Tyler strolled to me. “What happened? You didn’t look like yourself out there. I mean, letting that fucker Hutchings get a goal on you?” With a shake of his head, he scoffed.

“I saw Zoma in the stands.” I pressed my lips into a hard line. Might as well admit it. With the roller under my bent leg and the other leg straight out behind me, I shifted back and forth. God, it felt like heaven.

“Are you serious?” He dropped to his knees beside me, mouth open. “When?”

“Right before the first goal. He was waving. I guess at his girl friend.” I switched legs.

“He has a girlfriend?” Tyler stared at me.

“No, he has a girl that’s a friend. She was with him at the gay bar the night we met. She’s queer too.” I bent forward, letting the stretch work into my glute. I was so fucking lame, letting him get to me.

“Do you think he was trying to distract you?” Tyler narrowed his eyes.

“No, I think he was just finding his friend. I don’t think he was being an asshole or anything.” Though, did I know for sure? No. I twisted my lips. “It’s my fault. I lost focus and didn’t see Hutchings pick up the puck.”

“Plus, the fucker snowed you. Should have had a penalty called on him. No way that should have been a goal.” Patting my back, Tyler hopped up. “We won anyway, so be happy about that.”

“Yeah, thanks to Myles’s goal in the shootout.” I didn’t want to talk about this anymore. I slid off my roller and picked it up. Time for a shower, then I’d distract myself with homework or game footage. Tomorrow night, we’d go have some fun.

“Hey, Ace.” Tyler grabbed my arm.

“Yeah?” I stopped and faced him. What now? I was done talking about Zoma.

“I have a proposition for you.” He eyed me. “Coach Henderson wants us to do some community outreach, right?”

“Yeah.” I studied him. I hadn’t done any yet this year.

“Well, my mom had a friend back in Chicago who owned a ballet studio. I guess she moved out here when she retired, and now, she volunteers at the Ice Den, teaching kids to figure skate.” He quirked the corner of his mouth. “They got to talking and thought it would be fun for the kids if we taught them a little bit about hockey.” He tagged my shoulder. “What do you say?”

Rolling my lips, I thought about it. I had nothing better to do on Sunday. All my classwork was caught up. With a shrug, I said, “Sure, why not? Maybe we can turn some of those kids into hockey players.” I bumped my elbow into his.

“Right?” His eyes twinkled.

“Hell yeah. Bring it.” Nodding, I walked toward the doors leading out of the gym. “See you at home.” I’d have to watch myself on Saturday now and not be too hungover after the Knot Me show.

After redeeming myself with our win against U of A and a score of two to zip, I strolled with Myles, Tyler, and Archer’s boyfriend Leo into Talking Stick Casino to see the band. “They’re playing by the pool tonight?” I glanced at Leo, lit up by the parking lot lights.

“Yep. It’s a bigger venue, and they’re getting paid a hell of a lot for the show. It’s one of the things they’ve been working toward.” Leo’s brown-eyed gaze found mine, his dark hair falling across his forehead.

“Good for them.” I glanced at all of us, dressed in nicer shirts with jackets and our finest jeans. October was still warm during the day, but the dry desert air got cold at night, so dressing in layers was key. Plus, this casino in Scottsdale was where all the trendy, rich crowd hung out. I wasn’t in Tempe anymore…

I looked at the modern high-rise building with lights racing across the walls as if the place itself was a slot machine. Being on the reservation meant there was nothing around it but desert and cotton fields. “I’ll bet you can see for miles from the top floors there, huh?”

Leo chuckled. “Yep, you can see all the way to Camelback Mountain and beyond. There’s a bar at the top. I took Archer there on our anniversary.”

“Right on.” Myles nodded and smiled.

I followed everyone into a large, well-lit foyer, stepped inside a sliding glass door, and was met by the constant hum and flashing lights of the real slot machines. People sat on black vinyl stools, sipping drinks and pushing buttons.

“Come on, I think it’s this way.” Leo waved and guided us past Blackjack and Roulette tables, then a swanky bar, and out onto a patio with squarish squat tables and chairs. “Look, over there.” He pointed across a pool with rounded edges.

A stage was set up with lighting on tall trusses and instruments were strewn across the platform. “Damn, these guys have gotten big.” I looked at Tyler, who gave me a wide grin.

“This is going to be a blast.” Tyler patted my shoulder. “There should be a broad assortment of men for you to choose from tonight. Choose wisely.” His grin turned into a smirk.

“Bro, nice to see you.” A man with black bangs falling around deep-blue eyes and onto his high cheekbones strutted to Leo and wrapped him in a hug. A bullet belt hung across the hips of his skinny jeans.

It was Axel, the guitar player. I’d heard about him from Archer when we’d been to the other shows last year, but I’d never really met the guy. I planted my hands on my hips.

“Remy’s on his way.” Axel stepped back, beaming at Leo. “And these are Archer’s buddies?” His gaze met each of ours.

“Yep, I’m Ace, the goalie.” I extended my hand, and he gave it a firm shake. He was a good-looking guy. Too bad he was taken. In fact, too bad all these guys were taken.

“Nice to meet you.” Axel greeted Myles and Tyler and held an arm out to the stage. “We’ve got the band-wives table all set up if you want to sit there.”

“Sure, but I think we’ll get drinks first.” I tapped Tyler’s elbow. Sure, these guys were cool and all, but I wanted to cruise and meet people.

“Oh yeah, drinks.” Tyler’s gaze raked over Axel.

“Dude, time to hit it.” Another man with slightly lighter hair strolled to us and grabbed Axel’s hand. Was he the bass player? “Hey, guys, meet up with you at the break?” He waved at us and pointed at his chest with his thumb. “I’m Caleb, by the way.”

“Yeah, meet up with you later.” I poked Myles in the ribs. I needed a drink. Now. It had been a long-ass week.

Myles’s gaze chased Caleb and Axel as they sauntered off toward the stage. “Damn, if only those guys were single.”

“But they’re not.” Leo gave him a pointed look. “I take it you don’t want to sit at the band-wives table?”

“Not yet.” I scanned over the people piling out from the casino and into the pool area, all making a beeline for the stage. This place was going to be packed quickly. It would be nice to have a seat later. “Save us some chairs, okay?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll see you over there.” Leo walked off.

“Come on, boys. How about we start the night off with a shot?” Placing an arm around Tyler’s and Myles’s shoulders, I turned them in the direction of an outdoor bar housed under a long palapa. It would have been nice if it were warm enough to go in the pool, but that was okay. We’d still have a great night.

As we reached the bar, the thumps of a bass drum echoed through the venue.

I stopped and turned around, watching the colored lamps light up the stage. A man with red hair in a miniskirt and combat boots grabbed the mic from a stand at center stage. “Hello, Talking Stick. We are Knot Me, and we are…” He held the microphone out to the crowd.

The crowd roared, “Not Okay!” People raced to the stage, shouting and jumping up and down.

Axel and another guitar player with long dirty-blond hair jumped high and strummed their guitars in a furious rhythm, starting a My Chemical Romance song.

The crowd screamed and fists pumped the air.

“Holy shit, they’ve gotten even better than last year,” I said under my breath, staring at the men twirling and stomping on the stage. I had to focus here. “Shots. We need shots.”

“What are we getting?” Myles wrinkled his nose. “I don’t think I want to have a hangover tomorrow.”

“Don’t be a hoser, Myles,” Tyler scoffed. “We’re here, and we won. Let’s see if they can make the Fuck U of A shot here.” Tyler rested his forearms on the bar top.

“Do you even know what’s in that shot?” I looked over the bartenders, mostly women in revealing black dresses. Like any of them would know how to make something like that.

“Yeah, it’s dark rum and, shit, I don’t know.” With a snicker, Tyler dipped his head. “How about tequila? That’s easy.”

“Hell yeah.” I held up my fist to him, and he bumped it. “Myles?” I moved my fist to him. We needed fall down drunk Myles tonight.

With a tut, he said,” Fine, I’ll do it.” He shook his head. “We did win today.”

Tyler leaned over the bar, ordered our shots and beers, and paid. “You get the next round, Ace, then it’ll be Myles’s turn.” The bartender set our drinks down and slid them to us.

“Fuck U of A.” With a smirk, I held my shot in the air.

“Fuck U of A.” Tyler and Myles said in unison and tapped my glass.

I downed the shot, the burn skimming my throat, plunked my glass on the bar, and hissed. The buzz hit me instantly. “Fuck, that’s what I needed.” It was time to check this place out. Grabbing my beer, I twisted around.

The crowd parted in front of me.

Fucking Zoma strolled through, arm in arm, with Nova.

“Oh, hell no.” I averted my gaze and pursed my lips. Was I going to see him everywhere now? What had I done to deserve this? And here I’d thought I’d avoid him by not going to The Club on Mill.

“Dude.” Myles patted my arm, staring in Zoma’s direction. “Isn’t that, uh?—”

“Yes, it’s Zoma.” Twisting my head, my gaze locked on his, and he stopped, his mouth dropping open. The fucker looked sexy as hell tonight in a tight sequined peach shirt and white linen pants that fell around his ample package as if kissing it. My dick perked up. Nope, stand down.

Tyler leaned in. “What are you going to do?” As he sipped his beer, he fixated on Zoma.

“Nothing.” I pursed my lips. “I’m doing nothing. He’s obviously not interested in me.” My chest ached. Why was I so attracted to this guy? He wasn’t all that.