Page 31 of Pucking Snowed In with the Enemy

The game was getting a lot more physical with the time winding down and our team in the lead. The puck was being played near the boards when Peters got a short pass. I could see the defenseman heading at him for a dirty hit and yelled watch out, but Peters was checked hard with a high stick to the jaw and went down harder. The whistle blew, and refs raced to the scene, but so did the rest of us as the scrum broke out. I grabbed the closest guy to my downed teammate and dropped my gloves. I recognized the goon-like player who had knocked Peters down, and I let out all the rage that had built up inside of me.

He got one shot off and then my fist connected with his jaw, knocking him to the ground, but I went with him and continued to punch as hard as I could, drawing blood before the refs jumped on me and pulled me off.

I glared at him as they held me back. “I’m fine. Get off of me,” I ordered.

As they got up, I headed to the bin and checked my nose to see if it was bleeding. I glanced over at Savannah as I sat down with another teammate in the penalty box, and she stared at me with concern in her eyes. I mouthed, ‘I’m good,’ and she nodded but grabbed at her heart, which made me smirk.

Titus, Aaron, and my mother came to games, but Ronan hated hockey, my father thought it was a waste of time, and my baby sister was away at Wayward, but when she was home, she came to watch. I’d never had a girl I invited in the stands. I couldn’t stop girls I was fucking from showing up, but this was different. I wanted Savannah here.

One of their players ended up in the bin as well, and I glared at the guy I had down on the ground.

“You’re fucking dead if I get a hold of you again,” I yelled, and he looked genuinely concerned.

“You really shoulda been a defenseman,” Brunn said as he stuck a piece of cotton in his nose to stop the bleeding.

“Yeah, but I love shooting too much. Besides, this is my last year,” I said, hating that I was speaking the words out loud. It was too much to keep up with work, family drama, school, and hockey. Somethings had to go, and unfortunately, that choice was made for me years ago. Hockey and school were done after this year, so these moments felt like a last hurrah.

“For real? That sucks, man, I love having you out there with us. You’re like a goon and a winger. It’s a two-for-one.”

I laughed as I watched the seconds for the penalty tick by. The crowd was loud tonight. A sold-out game was always great, and as I stepped on the ice, I knew that I could retire happy to have someone here that I genuinely wanted to see me play.

“Yeah!”

We cheered as the puck squeezed through the goalie, going in five hole and breaking the tie. The rest of the guys jumped over the boards, and we lined up to congratulate one another.

“You coming to eat with us,” Peters asked as I stepped out of the shower.

“Not this time. I have things to do tonight.”

“By things, he means someone,” Brunn said and smirked. “Don’t think I didn’t see you staring at that sexy redhead. She is fine. You’re lucky, man.” He teased.

I wanted to say that her hair was strawberry and not red, but they would only blink at me in confusion.

“Oh yeah, How fine?” Gunnarrson chimed in.

“Like supermodel fine,” Brunn answered as he gipped my shoulder, smiling. I was torn between ripping his hand off and beating him with it for saying my girl was sexy or saying thank you. Since Savannah was not officially mine, I nodded and went along with the teasing.

She wasn’t officially mine…words I didn’t like, and I was about to make it a whole lot worse.

Yanking on my clothes, I was the first one out of the locker room. Savannah was leaning against a tall pillar, and the moment I saw her, I growled low. A pair of guys walking by stared at her, but she never batted an eyelash in their direction. A good fucking thing because I would’ve fucked her in front of everyone, so she remembered not to do it again.

Like she could feel me coming, she turned her head and locked eyes with me and then bit her lip. I didn’t wait for a hello or good game or anything else before cupping her cheeks and dropping my lips to hers.

“You make me crazy,” I said against her lips.

“Well, I have no intention of you fucking me on a popcorn grease and beer-coated surface, so we better get going.”

“Fuck don’t give me any more ideas. That sounds delicious,” I said and wrapped my arm around her waist. “So, you still hate me?”

“I’m undecided what I think about you,” she said.

“That’s fair. You up for dinner before we get started on the night’s festivities?”

“You promised⁠—”

“I know,” I cut her off. “I plan on answering every one of your precious questions. I promise.” I didn’t really want to, and I was going to tell her things that would make her more of a target for my father. If he knew, he would shoot her between the eyes, maybe me as well, before he tossed both our bodies into the ocean.

“Why don’t we get room service,” she offered, and I hadn’t heard a better idea all day.