Page 80 of Broken As Puck

Unfortunately, their lead diminished only a few minutes later when the opposition took out Elliott and got the puck past Schmidt, who was taking a turn in goal. Coach Dunn swapped Schmidt for Davenport and managed to hold the line for the rest of the period.

In the third, we were all on the edge of our seats. Jane had put aside her Oreos, claiming the game was too intense for her to eat, and even Maribel’s children seemed to sense the hum in the air. The score stayed where it was until the last few minutes of the game, when Rasmussen received a pass and unexpectedly broke away from the rest of the forwards to get the puck into the goal.

I hollered my support, and on the ice, his linemates Brown and Freeland sandwiched him between them. I was glad for the kid. He’d had a decent season but hadn’t scored much, so getting a goal now would mean a lot to him.

The game ended 4-1, and as usual, we waited for most of the spectators to leave before we made our way to the changing rooms to wait for our men.

“Can you believe how well they’re doing?” Regina asked, her cheeks pink and her eyes sparkling.

“They should be proud,” I agreed, hoping my feelings weren’t as obvious on my face as hers were. That wouldn’t do me any good when I was supposed to be here as a professional.

She grinned. “My man is going to get so lucky tonight.”

When the players emerged from the changing rooms, they were all clad in suits. Matt’s suit fit him well and emphasized the breadth of his shoulders. I itched to smooth my palms down his arms and fuss with his buttons just as an excuse to touch him, but I restrained myself.

He met my eyes and his smile turned dirty. I shivered, thinking about the pleasure his smile promised.

Harris and Rasmussen accompanied Coach Dunn to the press conference and the rest of us headed to Rinkside to celebrate the win. I dawdled near the back of the group as we approached the bar, pleased when Matt did the same.

I waited until everyone else had entered and then I grabbed his hand and tugged him around the corner of the building. If we were inside, there would be no getting him alone for at least a couple of hours, and I needed a kiss now.

He backed me against the wall and plastered his body against mine. “Is this what you wanted, baby?”

I wrapped my arms around him to pull him even closer and tilted my face up to kiss him. His lips were slightly chapped from the cold, but they were soft on mine.

I drew back. “You were amazing.”

“Thank you.” He kissed my forehead and then the tip of my nose. He briefly brushed our noses together and then claimed my mouth again. This time, the kiss was deeper and less sweet. It was all tongues and heat.

I rocked against him, loving the way he braced his arms against the wall, bracketing me between them and erasing the distance between us until he consumed my senses. The faintest hint of mint on my tongue. The scent of liniment in the air that I dragged into my lungs. The press of his firm body against mine and the hard wall at my back. The blazing blue of his eyes, both cool and burning at the same time.

But then a throat cleared loudly behind him.

I pulled my mouth from Matt’s. Cursing, he spun and kept me behind him, protecting me from view. It was chivalrous but didn’t really achieve anything when I could see over his shoulder that the person who’d stumbled across us was Coach Dunn, and from the scowl carved into his stubbled face, he knew exactly who we were.

He crossed his arms over his burly chest. “Matthews. Fields. This is a surprise.”

I winced. He’d never last-named-me before and I had to assume this wasn’t a good sign.

“Coach.” Matt’s voice was slightly too high and breathy—a fact that seemed painfully obvious in the otherwise quiet alley. “I didn’t expect you here.”

Coach Dunn’s eyebrow rose. “So I see. I was just coming to remind everyone not to go too wild when I saw you two sneak around the corner.” His lips twisted and he shook his head. “I expected better of you, Matthews. You’ve been so reliable this season.”

Matt’s shoulders slumped and he seemed to shrink a couple inches. I tried to think of something to say that would extricate us from this situation without any problems but came up blank. After all, it was blatantly obvious what we’d been doing.

All of a sudden, Matt straightened and stepped farther away from me. The space between us widened like an impassable gulf. “Sorry, Coach. I was excited about the win and got a bit carried away. I shouldn’t have kissed her, but I swear, there’s nothing else going on. I just got lost in the moment.”

I stared at the back of his head, stunned. Was he denying the fact we were together? Surely not. Especially when the truth must be obvious to Coach Dunn. After all, I was the one who’d led him around here. It wasn’t as if he’d pounced on me unprovoked.

“It was a one-off thing,” Matt continued, cracking his knuckles, his telltale sign of distress. “It won’t happen again.”

There was a sharp pain in my chest, and I pressed my hand to it. My stomach hardened, and I felt small and insignificant, just like I had back in college when I’d overheard Cory Haas make that awful comment about me and then waited, certain Matt would put him in his place, only for him to remain silent.

Had I been wrong to trust him? Should I have realized that this time wouldn’t be different?

“Stop talking,” I said, unable to listen to any more. I stepped around him so I could see Coach Dunn more clearly but didn’t dare to look sideways at Matt because I was certain I wouldn’t like whatever I’d see on his face. “If you give me until the end of tomorrow, I’ll come clean to Stella about what’s happened between us.”

Coach Dunn glanced back and forth between us, his forehead furrowed. He didn’t look mad, exactly, but he certainly wasn’t thrilled either. “There isn’t actually a rule against whatever this is.” He motioned to us. “But it can’t impact your jobs.”