TWENTY-NINE
Lincoln
Whooping and hollering is heard throughout the entrance tunnel, and a rush of adrenaline is making me feel damn near high with excitement.
“Yeah, we’re ready, baby! Let’s go!” Connor Bedford yelled out, tapping his stick on the ground as the other guys around us joined in with their enthusiasm.
Crew nudges me as the announcer starts calling names. “You ready, Captain?”
I nod my head with a grin that can’t be contained. “You know it.”
We all step carefully through the tunnel, one after another, taking to the ice like we were made to be here, and I take a moment to breathe through my nose, readying my body for our first game back on the ice.
I was ready.
Training wise, I had been killing it lately. Even with the looming question of whether or not my professor accepted my paper, I have worked harder than ever to become the best player I could be.
When Tanner told me that my teacher gave my paper a passing grade and I could continue to play this season, I’d been overwhelmed with gratitude. I worked hard on my paper, trying to find an angle that made sense to me.
Not that love made a whole lot of sense.
I’d sent the paper to Cassie days ago, and since then, she has yet to say a single word to me about it.
I didn’t let myself think about the worst-case scenario, knowing that I had more work to do to prove that I was worthy of her love.
Now that I was staying in Rose Hill for at least another year, I knew that I could make her a priority.
The crowd is excited tonight as we skate into the rink. We’ve already done warm-ups, the game puck was just about to drop, and I scan the crowd, looking for that familiar head of blonde hair.
I’d been hoping she would show up and surprise me, even though hockey wasn’t really her thing. I knew that going into the relationship, and I wasn’t about to push it onto her.
But after not hearing from her for several days, I couldn’t deny that worry had settled into my gut like lead.
I skate over to our sidelines as the guest team is introduced and end up next to Coach.
“Hey,” Tanner says, nudging my shoulder. I turn and nod at him, trying to keep my focus on the game. “Ready to win?”
“You know it,” I answer without thought, wondering where the hell Cassie has been. Maybe she’s busy with her new agent or at the diner working for her mom.
That’s what I’ll do tonight. I’ll go to the diner and track her down and just make sure she’s okay. I know the paper was a lot. I know putting it out there like that was not something that she was probably expecting.
But I was an all-or-nothing guy, and if I couldn’t admit to her how much I loved her, how ingrained in my heart and life she was, then there was no point in trying to win her back.
I was ready to tell the world that I was madly in love with her.
I just needed her to be ready for that.
“Mick just got here,” Tanner says offhand, and I turn, seeing my sister moving her way down the aisle, my cousin Joey in tow, and they wave at us. I don’t wave back, giving her a small smile instead before my gaze goes behind her.
Nothing.
My heart drops.
I didn’t invite her to the game, but I’ve said before how much it would mean to me if she would come.
The game starts, and I’m able to put it out of my mind and focus on what I’m here to do. When the game is over, I’ll go figure out where we stand. I was tired of not being with her, I needed her in my life, and I think I’m good for her. I want to be the one who pushes her to do scary things like publish her book. I want to be there for her when I know it’s going to take off and she’s going to see how much her book will be loved.
I want to be there for her, and I need her to be here for me.
The team we’re playing is aggressive and just what I need to work out my frustrations.
Barely into the first period, a player targets me, and I shoot the puck toward Connor before he slams me into the wall. I get back in his face, shoving him off me, and he backs off, just enough to let me go.
I chase down the puck, waiting for my team to shoot it at me, and when I finally get it, I chase it back down to my side, shoot for the net…and miss.
I growl under my breath, breathing heavily, when a body slams into me again. It’s the same fucking player.
Turning, I shove him off me, but he gives me a taunting grin and waves at me like the jackass he obviously is.
Ignoring him, I chase down the puck, getting it and shooting it over to Crew, who takes it for a goal, which he misses too.
Fuck.
We need to get our heads in the game and find a way around this goalie.
They head down to our side and shoot the puck at our net, not even standing a chance against Gabriel, who is quickly becoming one of the best goalies in the league.
I nod at him, and he gets back into his normal, quiet, concentrated self.
The horn blows for the end of the first period, and I head to the sidelines, taking a breather and a gulp of water before I look up at the stands.
I’m not expecting to see her.
I’m not.
But…she’s here.
She’s here, and she’s smiling broadly at me. And when she turns around, I notice what she’s wearing for the first time.
A Vapors jersey with Ellis on the back.
She’s at my game and wearing my jersey, and if that doesn’t make me want to pound my chest and call her mine, I don’t know what will.
I grin back at her, relieved and so fucking happy I could cry. Which I won’t because I’m in the middle of a game.
I wish I could race up the stairs, take her in my arms, and kiss the hell out of her, and let everyone know that the gorgeous woman in the stands was mine.
But first, I have a game to win. I place a hand over my chest, staring at her while I do so, and get my head back into the game.
The second period goes by in a blur, and I assume it’ll get easier to concentrate the more she comes to games, but right now, my concentration is pretty much shot.
I head down the rink with the puck in front of me, angling to get the best shot into the net, and finally, it sails through the air and into the net, making a score.
But I don’t get a chance to celebrate because I’m thrown into the wall by the same jackass who’s been targeting me all night.
I turn and throw my gloves to the ground, moving toward him, ready to strike, and he does the same, tossing his helmet and gloves off and raising his fists to fight.
There are no words exchanged as we start brawling, and still, I don’t know what the hell his issue is, but I’m not about to lie down and take it.
He throws a fist at my face, and I dodge, throwing one right back and connecting with his cheek. Taking another shot, he manages to get me in the nose, and I hear the unmistakable crunch of my nose breaking.
Fuck me. Is this guy for real?
He starts to back away, pissing me off more. He’s going to back off after taunting me for the whole game?
I raise my hands and gesture forward. “Pussy! Come at me!”
The crowd is growing more and more excited as the guy keeps coming at me. I throw a jab at him and get him in the eye, knocking him back a few steps, and the refs know it’s time to step in.
Especially since there’s blood gushing down my face.
They eject the guy from the game for starting the fight, and I’m about to get stuck in the penalty box. I skate off to the side to get some tissue to shove up my nose, and I know the team doc is going to want to correct it, but I need to finish the game first.
As I’m getting shit shoved up my nose, I glance to where Cassie is sitting, her thumbnail is in her mouth, and worry is written all over her face. Mick is talking to her, probably trying to calm her down since she’s seen this a million times.
It shouldn’t make me feel good that she’s upset, but it does. She cares, and that shows me a lot right there.
“You good?” Coach points at me, a look of determination on his face. It’s not that he doesn’t care that I’m bleeding profusely, it’s that he now wants us to wipe the floor with them.
That I can do.
I nod and head to the box for my timeout.
We’re quickly into the third period, and I watch with eagerness, standing near the edge of the rink for the moment that my time is up so I can get back out on the ice.
As soon as it is, I’m back out there, and apparently, the number one target for this team because they’re on my ass faster than I can blink.
But I don’t give a shit.
I have one goal in mind, and it’s on their team’s side.
Crew passes me the puck, and I make for a goal; it bounces out and back to me again, and the opposing team gets it back. I skate my heart out to get back to their side, and Connor nicks it from them, sending it back down to the opposite goal. It gets nabbed by Kyle Greaves, and he nods at me when he passes it.
I fake a shot and shoot it over to Crew, getting the goalie to go right when Crew shoots left, and we go up in score by one.
The time is running out, and the other team is starting to become aggressive, wanting the win.
Offended on behalf of their teammate getting ejected from the game, another player starts to come at me, knocking me into the boards, but I manage to keep my footing, nudging him out of the way. I have to keep my temper in check or I’m going to get ejected for knocking this guy out.
I get the puck back, and just as I’m about to shoot, the guy purposely trips me, and finally the ref calls a penalty on the guy, getting him into the box.
If I wanted an exciting start to the season, I was definitely getting it.
We’re down to the final seconds of the game and still up by one. The goal was either to make another one or make sure they don’t tie us up.
The clock is ticking down, and Crew manages to grab the puck. We shoot down the ice, dodging our way around the other players and aiming for the goal. He feigns a shot, and the goalie falls for it as Crew shoots the puck to me, and I shoot it in.
The buzzer sounds, and we win the game.