Chapter 23
JETT
“Okay, here we go!” I announce and clap my hands. “The third period’s getting started.”
Thank fuck for distraction. I’m done talking about Renner and my love life. Even if Renner’s comments buzz around in my brain like an ear worm, I do my best to ignore it and focus on the game in front of me.
Five minutes in and it happens. The Cougars come blasting back in the third.
It happens so fast, that I nearly miss it.
Ethan, with an assist by Axel, scores on a breakaway to tie up the game.
I’m up on my feet, shouting and yelling, jumping up and down and hugging my friends as we celebrate.
Ethan’s surrounded by his teammates, who pat his helmet and hug him.
He looks up into the crowd and when he spots me, I shout out, “Way to go, Walrus!” His teammates must hear me, because they all look up, offering a wave.
Ethan puts his glove to his face and then holds his hand out.
It looks almost like he’s blowing me a kiss, but I’m probably imagining it.
Or if he is, he’s offering it up to the crowd, not to me.
I reach for my soda because I think I’m dehydrated, and I’m reading way too much into things.
Sutton fans are feral after that goal, and we’ve still got fifteen minutes to go.
After the on-ice excitement from Ethan’s goal finally calms, the players get back to it, and the rest of the period is a total nail-biter.
Wisconsin hits back, and their offense is strong and aggressive, but the Cougars’ defense isn’t letting anything past them.
Finn and Silas are in top form, hell, all the guys seemed to have come back stronger from their break.
Dane gets possession of the puck and takes it all the way down the ice with Ethan and Axel hot on his trail.
“Come on, come on,” I urge, and pull out my phone to record the play.
“Take it all the way, Dane!” Hudson yells.
One of Wisconsin’s defensemen moves to block Dane, but our captain passes the puck to Ethan just in time. Ethan takes a shot, low, but the goalie’s reaction time is spot on.
No goal.
“Shit, that was so close,” Archie comments.
“You can do this!” I shout. “Come on, Cougars! Let’s go!”
The puck’s back in play, and this time Axel gets possession.
I’m mesmerized by the speed at which he dekes around Wisconsin’s forwards.
Their D-men close in, but he manages to pass the puck to Ethan.
Ethan takes it the rest of the way, but he’s suddenly blocked, barely managing to flip it back to Axel.
There’s an opening, and I hold my breath as Axel takes his shot.
The crack of the stick slamming against the puck is loud, and everyone in the stands is up on their feet watching with rapt attention.
The puck zooms past the goalie’s blocker, and when the buzzer sounds, we erupt into another celebration.
Chips are flying everywhere, and I’ve probably knocked over my soda, but I don’t care.
We’re too busy jumping up and down and hollering until our voices are hoarse.
“Way to go, Axel!” I yell. “Cougars roar! Cougars roar!”
“I’ve never seen you this hyped up at any school game before,” Archie teases.
“I think I’m addicted to hockey.” I laugh. “It’s so fucking exciting. Did you see how fast that goal was? Where’s the replay? Ethan got an assist! A goal and an assist, holy shit!”
“Spoken like a true HAB,” Hudson quips.
“What? I’m not a Canadiens fan.”
“Not that kind of Hab, I meant HAB, as in husbands and boyfriends. You know, like WAG, wives and girlfriends of professional athletes.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m so not one of those.”
Hudson smirks.
“Sure you are. You just don’t want to put a name to it.”
Is everyone on this campus under the assumption that Ethan and I are boyfriends? Well, everyone except me and Ethan. I can laugh at the situation even though my heart is telling me there’s nothing funny about what I’ve gotten myself into.
The play resumes, and the whole game moves so fast that if you blinked, you’d miss something. The Cougars have possession of the puck more than not, but they’re struggling to get anything past Wisconsin’s goalie.
The clock is ticking down with three minutes remaining.
Wisconsin makes a valiant effort to score again, but Maddox deflects the shot, and I breathe a sigh of relief. I’m so hyped for Ethan and his teammates that my knees are popping up and down, and my hands are clenched tight. The Cougars are so close to a win, so close.
“I think they’re gonna take it,” Hudson comments.
The rink gets louder and louder as Sutton students begin chanting, “Cougars roar!”
As three minutes turns to two and then one, we’re all up on our feet again.
Jace makes a breakaway, but one of Wisconsin’s biggest forwards slams into him, and they hit the boards with a resounding crunch.
I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that sound.
I worry that Jace is injured, but both guys skate off like nothing happened. I don’t know how they do it.
Twenty seconds to go…
“You got this!” I shout.
After what feels like an eternity, the final buzzer sounds, and the rink erupts into a frenzy I’ve never seen before.
Everyone is screaming and jumping, music is blaring, and all the Cougars rush to center ice to celebrate.
I take as many photos as I can to record the moment.
It’s a huge day for the team, and the school.
When the initial excitement wears off and the crowd starts to calm, Archie nudges me.
“Let’s go down to the locker room.”
“I don’t know that they’d want that.”
Would Ethan want me there?
“I ran into Ethan and Finn before the game,” Archie adds. “They want us all to come down and wait for them.”
The crowd is starting to disperse, and I follow my friends as we make our way down the stairs while everyone else is walking up. We head down the narrow hallway that leads to the locker room and wait on the bench nearby.
The opposing team heads down the chute first, and their downcast expressions and lack of chatter say it all. As an athlete, I have empathy for them. As Ethan’s friend and fellow Sutton U student, however, I’m more than happy that we won.
We wait a few minutes in the damp, cold hallway, until I hear the hum of voices and spot Ethan and Dane leading their team off the ice. They’re all smiling, laughing, and their energy is magnetic. My pulse rockets to an all-time high, and I wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans.
I look up and Ethan’s gaze locks on mine.
The undeniable intensity that flashes between us is hotter than ever and there’s something else in his expression that makes my heart pound harder.
Is he angry? Upset? I can’t quite tell. His face is flushed, rivulets of sweat running down his cheeks, and he stalks faster, heading right to me.
I stand up without realizing I’m doing it.
“He shoots, he scores!” I call out. “I’m so fucking proud of you.”
Shit, maybe I shouldn’t have said that with his teammates nearby. Fuck, I can’t control my mouth around Ethan. Who am I kidding? I can’t control myself around him, period.
Ethan doesn’t say anything, which makes the nerves in my belly ignite like sparklers.
He keeps walking faster and bypasses the locker room, moving to stand directly in front of me.
Without saying a word, he rests his stick against the wall, removes his gloves and reaches for me, cupping my face his hot, sweaty hands.
Holy fuck, what is happening?
My friends are watching, his teammates are watching, hell even Coach Banning is now staring at us. Suddenly I don’t give a shit. I don’t care about anyone else but Ethan.
“Ethan?”
“Are you okay?” he asks me, his voice hoarse, his breath choppy.
“Me? Why wouldn’t I be okay?” I smile back at him. “I’m so happy for you. That game was incredible. You were incredible.”
“Thanks, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I saw you and Renner at the end of intermission. I saw him yelling and then grabbing you and—” Ethan’s voice hitches. “Did he hurt you?”
Shit, Ethan saw all that? I shake my head, aware that he’s still holding on to my face and that the chatter in the hallway is almost silent.
“No,” I insist. “He ran his mouth off and then left when Archie and Hudson came back.”
“Fucking asshole. Something’s gotta be done about him.”
“He’s not worth thinking about,” I urge, staring deep into Ethan’s eyes. “Don’t ruin your moment by talking about him. This is about you and your teammates. What a game! You were amazing. An assist and a goal? Could you hear me screaming?”
Ethan licks his lips and nods. He steps even closer, his hot breath kissing my lips.
“What are you doing?” I whisper.
“Jett, baby, I don’t fucking know.” He sighs and closes his eyes for a brief second.
When he opens them again, there’s a mixture of joy and apprehension. It’s only then that I notice his hands are trembling.
“But I know that I want to do it with you. Since that soccer game, all I see, all I think about, all I want, is you. I need to be with you and no one else, and I don’t want to hide that. And I think you feel the same about me. You belong with me, don’t you, Jett?”
Now I’m the one shaking.
“Are you asking me to be your boyfriend?”
“Clearly you’re better at this than I am,” he teases. “And yes, that’s exactly what I’m asking.”
My smile is so wide that my cheeks hurt.
“I want that too. Even though I was happy with the way things were.”
Ethan’s thumb runs over my lips.
“Were you? Be honest.”
I swallow hard and nod.
“At first, yes, I was.”
“But now?”
Ethan offers me a wicked grin, and I know I’m a goner because I can’t resist it.
“Now you’re mine.” I smirk. “You belong with me.”
Ethan pulls me in and takes my lips in a fierce kiss that says everything. He tastes like sweat, and sex, and happiness.
“But I have to ask,” I whisper. “What brought on this epiphany?”
“Epiphany?” Ethan grins. “God, I love it when you talk dirty, Sugar.”
“Ethan.”