Page 56 of Heartless As Puck

The last minute of the third period began to count down. Nick had the puck and was tearing down the ice toward the opposing goal, but he was intercepted. A Milwaukee defenseman stole the puck from him and passed it to their center. Their forward line moved up the ice, an intensity to them that couldn’t be mistaken.

Matt came out to meet them, but they passed it around him and, as the timer blared, sent the puck over Mitch’s raised glove and into the goal.

The Mountain Lions cheered, but they fell silent quickly as they realized the timer had gone off before the puck hit the net.

We all waited with bated breath for the official decision.

SEVENTEEN

AUSTIN

My legs burned, and I gasped frigid air into my lungs as the referee skated to the center of the ice and declared that the goal had happened too late. Excitement rippled through our team. That meant the score was still nil-all and we were going into overtime.

Coach Dunn summoned us over.

“It’s three on three, sudden death,” he said, his expression intent. “We’re going to go hard on the attack, but I don’t want to leave us completely undefended. Davenport will stay in goal. Kelly and Harris will focus on getting us the win. If we need to swap out, Taylor and Gadot will take their place. Understood?”

We nodded, and Nick and I took our places on the ice, ignoring the scathing remarks muttered by the Mountain Lions and their fury at having their goal dismissed. They were mad as hell, but we couldn’t let that get to us.

Overtime began and we launched into action. Nick and I had trained and played alongside each other for years. We knew exactly what the other one would do at any given moment. The only reason we’d been a hot mess over the past years was because of Taggert messing up our rhythm.

Now, as Nick got the puck, we zipped past Milwaukee’s two attackers and came up against the defenseman they’d left to watch the goal. The guy was massive, but we’d run literally hundreds of two-on-one drills against Davenport, who was just as big, and Nick passed smoothly to me. I feigned a pass back and, when the defenseman moved, sent the puck flying over the line.

The audience in the stadium erupted with applause.

I started to turn, hardly able to believe what had happened—that we’d won—but before I made it the whole way around, a solid body hit me. The air whooshed from my lungs, and my skates slid out from under me. I hadn’t been expecting the impact, so I hadn’t braced myself.

My face cracked against the front of my helmet as I slammed into the ice, making me bite down on my tongue, and a metallic taste filled my mouth. My nose throbbed, and I ignored the Milwaukee player’s outstretched hand as I climbed back to my feet. He was probably just trying to save face by pretending he’d had too much momentum to stop before running into me.

Nick circled around beside me, and I slung my arm around his shoulders.

“You okay, man?” he asked.

Warm liquid was trickling over my lips and down my chin from a bloody nose, but I nodded. It wasn’t a big deal. Far worse had happened.

“Did we actually win?” I asked breathlessly.

“Fuck yeah, we did!” Mitch grabbed us in a three-way hug.

Others piled on, their exclamations of joy bringing a smile to my face despite the bloody nose. We’d actually done it. Only two games in, and we’d managed to get a win. Maybe this season wouldn’t be a total disaster.

Jesse slapped my back and whooped. Nick helped me get the helmet off, and Brown offered me a wad of tissues.

We did a celebratory lap of the rink and then shook hands with the opposition. I made sure to give Herdacre’s hand an extra squeeze, wishing I could do more after what he’d said about Jane earlier. He gripped me right back and winked. Fury tore through me. God, I wished I could hit him. I’d have to settle for being happy with the win.

Off the ice, I started making my way to the changing room, grateful that the bleeding had almost stopped, only to come to a halt when a small, feminine hand grabbed my sleeve.

“Austin!” Jane made a sound of distress in the back of her throat. “Are you okay? There’s so much blood.”

“I’m fine.” I shifted from foot to foot, a strange emotion bubbling inside me as she pulled a packet of tissues from her handbag and used them to mop around my nose and mouth. I was surprised she cared so much.

Jane’s touch was gentle, and each brush of the tissues deepened a little ache in my chest. She was fussing over me, and I… liked it.

“Naww, isn’t that cute,” Jesse said, grabbing one of my cheeks and squishing it. “Want me to kiss you and make it better too?”

I rolled my eyes and cuffed him on the back of the head. He was an idiot, but I didn’t mind the teasing. Not if it meant I got to have Jane take care of me with that tender look in her eyes, as if I actually mattered to her.

“Leave him be,” Matt rumbled from somewhere behind me. “They’re in love.”