Page 326 of Saving Forever with the Hockey Captain

Liam is covered.

Toby remains high at the point.

Then...

I see Ethan.

He's slipped unnoticed into the soft space between the circles.

Exactly where he's supposed to be.

Exactly where we've practiced a hundred times.

Without hesitating, I slide the puck through the narrow lane between two defenders.

Not hard. Not flashy.

Simply...perfect.

Ethan catches it in stride. One quick release. The puck whistles past the goaltender's blocker and slams into the back of the net.

For a heartbeat...the arena goes silent. Then eighteen thousand people erupt at once.

The sound crashes over the ice like thunder.

Ethan throws both arms into the air before turning instinctively toward me.

I point straight at him. "That's yours!"

His grin is almost as wide as the rink. The rest of the team pours over the boards to celebrate, surrounding him near the corner.

Liam grabs the top of Ethan's helmet. "I told you he'd find you!"

Toby laughs. "I think the rookie owes the captain dinner."

Coach remains behind the bench.

He doesn't celebrate wildly. He simply folds his arms and smiles. A small smile. The kind only those of us who know him would ever notice.

I catch it anyway.

And somehow that means almost as much as the goal itself.

***

The celebration lasts only a few seconds before Coach's voice cuts through the noise.

"Reset!"

It isn't shouted. It doesn't need to be.

Every player on the ice hears him, and every one of us knows exactly what he means.

There is still hockey left to play.

Ethan skates past me wearing the stunned expression of someone who hasn't quite caught up with what just happened.

"You saw me."