Chapter 39 #3
Hopefully reminding everyone they can do this.
That he can do this.
Without Shadow.
I barely register how it’s going until Kane hits the penalty box midway.
Fletcher messes with the Make Some Noise button, frustrated with it having a mind of its own.
Make some noise…
My stomach fizzes with Kane’s voice in my head from the other night.
Let me hear you, baby. Scream for me.
I glance his way. He’s got a little over a minute left in the box.
“Excuse me.” I stand and push past some people to reach his table. “Fletcher.”
He jumps. “What? Oh. Hey, Isla. Sorry.”
“It’s fine. You got the thing working now?”
“I think so. Just waiting for Renee to give me the go-ahead to change the screen.”
“Fletcher, I need you to put something up there for me. A message, but it needs to happen now.”
His eyes travel to the bench. Then the screen. “Alright. Here,” he slides over the keyboard. “Just type it in and I’ll queue it up. There’s about thirty seconds left on this one.”
I don’t have time to think. I don’t have time to second guess. I’m just over here, typing a message I know everyone behind me is seeing me do. Probably taking pictures of it.
But I’m not letting it stop me. I might suffer a panic attack afterward, but Shadow is sending her message.
My fingers type out the five words, shaking above the keyboard. “Okay, ready.”
He looks at the screen for the queued-up prompt and then at me, a smirk on his face. “This better work.”
My eyes scan the sold-out arena. “You’re telling me.” I notice the clock on the board. “When will it send?”
“About ten seconds.”
I nod a thank you and scurry back to my seat, exhaling. Which is odd because I don’t remember taking a breath in the last three minutes.
“You alright?” Tisch asks.
I shake my head. “Nope,” I rasp and squeeze her hand.
The timer on Kane’s penalty is almost up and he’s watching the numbers count down on the big scary bright box that’s about to display my message.
The screen changes and my message displays.
MAKE ME SCREAM
DARK KNIGHT
I knew it was coming, and still the breath is knocked out of me. The arena erupts. Cheers crash from every direction. Chants of the first three words echo around me, and I want to shrink into myself.
But Kane’s gaze finds mine, holding me still. His eyes dark, his grin slow. And my world…somehow calmer.
He shoots out of the box and back into the play. At the whistle, he waves the guys in.
Our team colors crowd around him near the faceoff circle, helmets tipped together in a huddle.
Kane taps Hunter on the chest, points toward the other end of the ice, and a few others nod, then they all break away from the huddle.
Somehow, they claw their way back and when the final horn blows, Northwind is on top. The arena absolutely loses their mind. A wall of screams and cheers explode. Everyone jumping and screaming. You’d think they just won a championship.
Kane skates straight for me and Maddie doesn’t miss it. She pulls me toward rinkside.
Before I can even process, Kane reaches us at the boards, gloves off, hands reaching for me. He slides them around my neck. “Thanks, Mads,” he pants, eyes still on me.
Taking her cue, she giggles and leaves us alone.
“I didn’t come through for you,” he growls into my ear.
“What? You most definitely did.”
His eyes dip to my lips. “I didn’t hear you scream.”
I shove against him with a laugh. “You couldn’t possibly—”
“Oh, I could. And you didn’t. So you owe me,” he adds the last part darkly and it makes me ache for him.
I exhale, still in shock. “I thought I was too late.”
“You’re always right on time.” He presses his wet forehead to mine. “You won this one, baby.” He draws back and glances around us.
I wince. “Is it bad?”
He smiles. “See for yourself.”
I twist around, bracing myself for the hundreds of eyes pointed our way.
I was right. But the way it hits is nothing like I expected.
People are smiling. Cheering. Phones held up everywhere.
“I’ve got a feeling you’re going to need your own fan page,” Kane murmurs.
Several others are doing the same thing, but I somehow zone in on one girl a few rows up. She catches my eye and throws both hands in the air, screaming like I’m somehow part of the win. Like I’m someone she admires.
And maybe that’s what catches me off guard the most.
I’ve spent so much of my life believing that being noticed meant being judged. That if enough people looked at me at once, eventually they’d find something wrong.
But standing here with Kane, with a ridiculously stupid thing I just did in front of everyone despite my fear and anxiety, I’m finding there’s another kind of way of being seen.
One I’m proud of.
I catch Renee, their social media manager, flashing us her teeth with two thumbs up, then pointing to the jumbotron.
Kane chuckles, the sound rumbling through his chest and into mine.
“She’s been wanting to post that since last season.”
I laugh and wrap my arms around his shoulders. “Looks like I’m her lucky charm too.”
For one perfect second, it feels like we won something bigger than a hockey game.
COME FOR HOCKEY
STAY FOR THE LOVE STORY