Chapter 18
Travis
Sweat drips into my eyes. I blink it away and focus on the ice in the final period of this game.
It’s the last game of the college men’s hockey finals—the championship.
We’re playing Maine University, and it’s a damn blood bath.
We’re up one point, four to three. But both teams are fighting like hell. This whole game, every guy on the ice has been playing their heart out. Skating faster, playing scrappier, checking harder and more often.
All of us want the title of best college hockey team in the country.
And in less than ten minutes, we’ll find out which one of us that is.
I watch as my teammates gain control of the puck and take off with it toward Maine University’s net.
Leo passes it to Blake, who takes a shot, but their goalie blocks it. The puck ricochets off the goalie’s stick. There’s a scramble between the Maine and Hollis players for control of the puck.
I hold my breath, hoping someone on our team gets it, but Maine manages to grab it.
I get into position. I track the puck on the ice as it heads for me.
Every muscle in my body is tight, on high alert. I’m zeroed in. All I see is the puck. All I hear is my heartbeat pounding in my ears. Not the fans in the packed stands screaming. Not the sound of skates and sticks on the ice.
Just me. Because that’s what this is going to come down to. My ability to keep that puck out of the net.
I watch as the center from Maine gets closer and closer. This is the guy who managed to score against me earlier in the period, so I think I know how he’s going to play this. He’s going to fake me out, like he did in the second period.
He closes in on me, raising his stick. I don’t move to block it though. I wait and watch.
It happens in less than a second, but it feels like slow motion as I watch him pull his stick back, then stop short of shooting the puck. I don’t move. I’m steady as a brick wall.
He moves to the left. I move too, raising my glove in anticipation.
He shoots, and I catch the puck.
All the Hollis fans in the crowd roar. Play stops, and a few of my teammates skate over to me.
“Nice fucking save, dude,” Nick says, tapping my leg pad with his stick.
“Thanks,” I say as I catch my breath.
“We’ll try to give you a break for the rest of the game and keep the puck on the other side of the ice.” He grins at me.
I let out a tired laugh before getting back into position for face-off and ignore that pulse of guilt landing in my gut.
Two nights ago, I helped Anna get away from that piece of shit rideshare driver…and then told her that I had feelings for her.
I don’t regret any of it. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
She’s all I’ve been able to think about. How scared she sounded in her messages when I texted her. How her voice trembled at first when I called her.
How I didn’t even think; I just reacted.
I had to make it to her. I had to make sure she was safe.
How relieved she was to see me. How, the second she got out of that car, she ran to me. How right it felt when she was in my arms.
And how, when I laid eyes on the motherfucker who scared her, all I could feel was adrenaline and rage.
It took every ounce of self-control I had not to bash his face in.
So I just focused on Anna. On the fact that she was okay—she was safe with me.
And I finally told her how I felt about her.
I know that I crossed a line with Nick…even though he doesn’t know it. He doesn’t have any idea what I’ve been doing with his sister. And that makes this worse, honestly. Because I’m hiding it from him.
I’m doing the one thing I wasn’t supposed to do, and I’m doing it behind his back.
But I can’t help it. What I feel for Anna is real. And I can’t deny it anymore.
I quiet the flurry of thoughts in my brain, tucking them away for later. I can’t think about any of that now. I have to focus. I have to help my team win.
I get into position and watch as the puck lands on the ice. Blake passes it back to Nick, who takes off with it across the ice.
When we hit the last sixty seconds of the game, and we’re still ahead of Maine, excitement simmers inside of me. I shove it back. Not yet. That’s still plenty of time for Maine to score or for one of us to make a mistake.
So I zero in. I focus. I watch the puck all the way across the ice.
I hold my position in front of the net, my muscles tense as I count the seconds to the end of the game.
Ten…nine…eight…
My heartbeat pounds in my ears.
Seven…six…five…four…
A University of Maine player checks Nick and tries to take control of the puck, but Nick manages to hold on to it.
Three…two…one.
The final buzzer blares. I let out a breath. We won.
The arena explodes. I drop my stick, pull off my helmet, and rush over to my teammates, who are crowded together on the ice, screaming and celebrating.
When Nick sees me, he tackles me. I fall on the ice.
He smacks my shoulders. “We did it! We fucking did it!”
“Champions, baby!” Blake yells as he jumps on top of Nick, who’s lying on top of me.
“Number one!” Leo screams as he jumps on top of Blake.
I grunt since I’m at the bottom of this spontaneous dog pile, but I’m laughing. I’m grinning so hard, my cheeks ache. I’m full of adrenaline and excitement, and I don’t care that I can’t breathe or that my entire body hurts.
We fucking won.
After another minute of screaming and dogpiling, my teammates jump off and help me to stand. Our team bench empties and joins us on the ice.
Coach Sawyer makes his way over to congratulate us.
When he sees me, he grins, which is a little weird because I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile before. He’s always so serious. But I guess even the most serious coach can break when he wins a national championship.
“Maxton, that was a hell of a save you had in the third period,” he says.
“Thanks, Coach.”
Nick smacks my shoulder, a massive grin on his face. “Hell, yeah. Travvie, you saved us from going into overtime. You’re the MVP.”
I brush it off.
“I’m serious. We won because of you. You were the backbone of this team this entire game. You held us together,” Nick says.
The sincerity in his tone hits me like a punch.
Here he is, singing my praises, while I’m harboring feelings for his sister behind his back.
I clear my throat. “Thanks, man. That means a lot.” I can barely look at him as I say it.
He grins and turns away to our other teammates.
I go back to celebrating with the guys and try not to think about how I’m betraying my best friend.
I look up and scan the crowded, excited to see all the Hollis U fans going crazy for us.
And then I see Anna. She’s on her feet, cheering and screaming. Poppy is standing next to her, just as excited as she is.
A second later, she spots me. She bites her lush bottom lip, her smile turning shy and sweet.
My heartbeat kicks up just seeing her flash that gorgeous grin.
“Congrats,” she mouths to me.
“Thanks,” I mouth back.
Excitement kicks up inside of me. I want to see her.
After a while, our team is given the trophy on the ice. We all take turns holding it, then pose with it while sports photographers snap our photos.
Reporters swarm the ice, and I get pulled into a couple of interviews. I have no idea what I say. I’m too hopped up on adrenaline to think about sounding intelligent and thoughtful. Hopefully, I don’t come off like a dumbass.
We head to the locker room, where Coach gives us a congratulatory speech, then leaves us to celebrate for the night.
We’re dumping sports drinks all over each other and blasting music.
“After party in my hotel room sound good?” Nick hollers.
“Aye aye, captain!” Blake yells. Everyone says they’re in.
We shower and get cleaned up. When I walk out of the locker room, I spot my mom standing off to the side of the hallway. I walk over and hug her.
“Oh, honey. I’m so proud of you,” she says, her voice shaky as she holds me tight in her arms.
Emotion clogs my throat. I think back to high school, when she first got diagnosed…how sick she was…how I was so scared of losing her…
I swallow past the ache in my throat. It’s all okay. She’s here now.
She leans back and holds my face in her hands. Her blue eyes are teary, and her smile is wobbly.
“You were incredible out there, Travis. Just amazing.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
She kisses my cheek and chuckles when I make a face.
Her gaze drifts past my shoulder, and she beams.
“Nick! Congratulations!”
I step aside so she can hug him.
“Aww, thanks, Ivy.” He gives her a squeeze.
“I am just so impressed by you boys. You played your hearts out. And now you’re champions. Here, let me get a photo.”
“Mom,” I groan.
She waves a hand, brushing me off.
“Oh, stop your whining,” she says good-naturedly. “My son and his best friend just became college hockey champions. I’m taking a picture to celebrate the moment.”
Nick elbows me. “Yeah, dude. We gotta celebrate.”
He rests his arm on my shoulder, flashing that pretty boy smile as my mom takes a million photos of us.
“Think you’ve got enough pictures, Mom?”
She just laughs. “Fine. I’m all done. I just want a photo with my son now.”
She hands Nick her phone and stands next to me. I wrap my arm around her and smile so Nick can snap some pictures.
She thanks him when he hands her phone back to her.
“Now you two go have fun. You deserve to blow off some steam,” she says.
“You need me to take you back to your hotel?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “I’ll be just fine.”
“You sure? It’s no problem.”
She tilts her head at me and gives me that familiar “I’m your mom, so don’t try to act like you know better than me” look.
“I’m positive. Go celebrate with your teammates. You’ve all worked so hard, you should go have some fun now.”
Nick bumps my shoulder. “Listen to your mom.”
She laughs. I give her another hug before she walks off and disappears around the corner.
Nick turns to me. “Let’s go get fucked up.”