AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But when the real puck was dropped and the game was on, I took control.
Halfway through the third period, I flicked the puck into the Falcons’ net, increasing the distance between our scores, while also getting a hat trick.
I celebrated as fans began tossing hats onto the ice. My teammates jostled me and yelled their praise, but all I could do was peer past them toward where I knew Jessa was. They were in the platinum box, and even though I couldn’t see her, I knew she was cheering the loudest.
We had a short break as the hats were cleared from the ice.
Ten minutes.
Ten minutes to score again. Ten minutes to win this. Ten more minutes until I could have Jessa in my arms.
And I had no intentions of letting her go.
I set up for puck drop, determined to score once more, and tipped the puck toward Aims. He was getting tired, his movements were sloppier, and a Falcon swiped the puck from him with ease. My shoulder screamed—I had forgotten to tape it before the game—but I pushed through the pain, determined to win this.
They scored.Fuck.
On shift change, I chewed on my mouthguard, watching the puck, predicting the play before it happened. It was a lot of back and forth until Rook crosschecked a Falcon into the board, getting a minor penalty.
Asshole.
We were four-on-five, down a player because Rook couldn’t keep his anger in check.
“Goddamn it,” I hissed, my gaze flicking between the puck and the clock.
Rook was back on the ice with three minutes left to the period. He immediately skated to the bench, swapping out with Owens, and Coach Wilkens nudged me from behind.
“You wanna win this for her? Show us.”
I was up and over the boards before the swap was complete, but I hung back so we didn’t have to stop the game for too many players on the ice.
I intercepted a Falcon pass, stealing the puck, and turned it around, bringing it back up the ice toward their net. Their goalie shifted back and forth, trying to determine the shot I was going to take.
So I played around for a little bit. Skated around the back of the net, and I kept ownership of the puck, thanks to my teammates. They kept the Falcons far enough away that I was able to tip the puck into the top pocket with a flick of my wrist.
Four goddamn goals. I’d scored four goddamn goals.
For her.
We ran down the clock by passing the puck back and forth, keeping it from the Falcons until the game ended.
We won. We fuckingwon.
Teammates crashed against me; we piled together in celebration, our first win as a team for this season. It meant nothing to them, but everything to me. To her.
We tapped gloves with players on the other team and filed off the ice, but it wasn’t over just yet.
“Don’t go far,” Coach Hall said, grinning at me. “Great job, Renshaw. Proud of you.”
Jessa wasn’t with him. He chuckled when he saw me frantically searching the space around him for her.
“You’ll see her soon enough. She’s doing an interview, but I wanted to come down and congratulate you.”
“I did it for her,” I blurted.
“I know. She does too.”
My name was called, and I accepted a new stick from the Assistant Equipment Manager and returned to the ice, holding the stick high.
