Page 96 of Home Ice

"We'll see." I hold my palms up as I walk backwards to the tunnel. I like to think that I look handsome right now, but walking backwards in skates while every inch of me is padded means I probably look more like a video of a waddling penguin played in reverse. But when she blows me a kiss, I don't care if I look like a shaky baby antelope. I blow it right back to her and turn toward the tunnel. The rest of the team is already on the ice, and as I get closer, the boos of the crowd grow deafening. But it's going to take more than that to wipe this goofy ass grin from my face.

The way we play in the first period just makes it even bigger. We only have one goal—a deflection off Poppy's stick that barely snuck between Milo and the post—but we've spent at least two-thirds of the period in the O-zone. And the crowd that was so loud I swear I felt the ice shake at the opening face-off is so quiet now I can hear my own breaths. Milo has fought off every shot on goal so far except the one, and as we head off the ice after the horn sounds, I give him a quick salute. I know that even that one goal is bothering him, but he smiles at me.

Behind him, I notice Asher sneering at me. "Problem Sorenson?"

"Just when you think you know someone..." He skates a circle that takes him past his team's gate and within a few feet of me. "Serenity told me she's not surprised, though. Said she always thought you seemed like the type. She's in a suite watching tonight, by the way."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

He casts me a smirk over his shoulder and then goes down his tunnel. I shake him off. He's just trying to get into my head.

As I step into the tunnel that will take me to the visitor's dressing room, I realize that I have no desire to turn around and find out if Serenity really is here or if he's just talking shit to me. Since she left, I wondered how I would react being in the same space as her again. The answer is, I just don't care. Nice fucking try, Sorenson, I think to myself. But you have to try harder if you want to get to me.

The intermission passes quickly. Those are the best kinds. When things are going well, I don't want to be away from the ice any longer than I have to be. I don't want to give too much time for a hot streak to go cold. Unfortunately, it doesn't take much time for that to happen today.

The start of the second is almost a mirror of the first. The Squall control the puck in our end for what feels like an eternity, and I see the exhaustion spread through our team. Our defense is getting slack. They aren't bodying their men the way they should. And I tense, knowing that trouble is going to come any second.

I see the passing lane open just a fraction of a second before the Denver player sees it. If he sends it across the ice, and if Asher can snap it on goal quick enough, he does have an angle. As soon as the Denver player's stick rises, I slide to my left to close off any opening that might have been there. Princeling is tied up in front of the net. Denver is using him as a screen, but I know exactly where the puck is coming from. I raise my glove just as it whistles past Princeling's back. Asher dives towards the crease to stick back his own rebound if there is one, but I make sure to glove it so he won't have the chance.

"No worries, Morrison." he pats me on the top of my helmet when he sees I'm holding on to the puck. "I still have plenty of time to score against you." He's drawn the attention of some of my teammates, including Kayden who skates up beside us, ready to defend me if Sorenson turns out to be stupider than I think he is. "Maybe I'll catch you daydreaming about that cute little boyfriend of yours."

My cheeks flare and I grip the handle of my stick so tight it presses into my palm even through my glove. "What are you talking about?" I bark the words at him, even though I know it's exactly what he wants. Before he can say anything, the ref ushers him and Kayden toward the face-off circle on my left. Kayden skates backward, looking at me, rolling a shoulder to ask what that was all about, but I shake him off. It's nothing.

Kayden wins the face-off and clears the puck out of our zone. Thankfully. I was so distracted I didn't even notice the ref drop the puck. He's just trying to get to me. Block it out. I inhale a long breath and blow it out slowly. Both teams work a long overdue line change as Milo handles the puck behind his net.

The next couple of minutes settle into a sloppy routine. Both teams turn up the forecheck pressure, so there's not a real threat at either end. Not until Sorenson's line comes back on the ice. As soon as he's over the boards, he comes screaming toward me. Their defender, who was content to just control the puck in the neutral zone, flings it ahead toward him, but it's a sloppy pass. It leads him just a little too far, and by the time he has control, I've shut down his angle and make an easy save. "You can do better," I call to him as he stops a couple of feet from me.

"Funny, I would have said the same thing to you. What's his name? Oh yeah, Lily. I never really thought of you as a stickhandler." He drags his eyes down my body, and it's all I can do to not tackle him to the ice.

"What the fuck are you talking about, Asher?" Kayden sends a spray of ice toward Sorenson as he skates to a stop.

"Just talking about that tranny your buddy is fucking. I haven't seen him, but I hear he's quite pretty."

Kayden's eyes dart to me and then back to Sorenson. "What?—"

"How the fuck would you know anything about who I'm with?"

At this point, the closest ref is sensing trouble, so he skates between the three of us. Asher doesn't let that stop him, though. "We have a little birdie on our team who saw the two of you together last time we played. Said it was pretty obvious that you like to play the D."

"That's enough, forty-seven." The ref rests a hand on Sorenson's shoulder and nudges him away.

"Lily?" Kayden asks. "Is that who he's talking about?"

I glare at Sorenson's back as he skates away. Lily's ex, Tyler. He saw the two of us in the arena last time, saw that I had her pressed against the wall. He has to be the one who told Asher, but what kind of asshole outs someone like that? He'd better hope I never see him again. I turn to Kayden, who's still watching me. "We'll talk later. Shit. No, we won't. It's not my story to tell." Fuck, Sorenson's got me spinning.

Kayden nods. "You know how we feel about her. Nothing's going to change that." Everyone in that dressing room has considered her family almost from her first day, and I suspected that this wouldn't change anything. But it still feels like a weight is lifted away when I hear him say it. "Now excuse me while I explain to this pile of vulture shit how we feel about our girl."

I settle back into the crease as Kayden goes to the face-off dot. He's lined up all wrong, and he slaps at the ice before the ref is even close to dropping the puck. So it's not a surprise when the ref sends him out of the circle. What is a surprise, though, is when Kayden motions Princeling over toward him. The two have a brief conversation, and then Princeling enters the circle. He's a defender. There's a good chance that he hasn't taken a face-off since early in Juniors. What the hell are they doing?

When the ref drops the puck, Princeling doesn't even swipe at it. He just falls back into a defensive position. I could have taken a face-off better than that. I scan the ice to take stock of everyone, but mostly to find Sorenson. I have a feeling he'll make sure whatever they run goes through him. I miss him at first because Kayden is sticking to him, and Kayden never defends Sorenson. Coach has specifically warned us against that. Kayden is a hell of a player on offense, but he's only average on defense. On a good day.

Denver cycles the puck around the boards a couple of times until finally Sorenson has it on my left. He dekes a quick move to his right and then cuts toward the slot. We've all seen it a hundred times in our film sessions before this match. It's his move, and very few defenders can stop him when he executes it well, and the fake he just laid on Kayden is damn near flawless. But Kayden doesn't bite. Instead of moving closer to the boards, which is what Sorenson wants him to do, he dashes straight at Sorenson. Even from ten meters away, I see the smile on Asher's face. Taking Sorenson head-on in this situation is the exact wrong thing to do. He's too quick. He'll just skate around anyone and then have a free lane toward the net. But Sorenson underestimates how fast Kayden is.

Before Sorenson can make a move, Kayden catches up and holy shit. He fucking obliterates him. Asher flies backwards to the ice, the puck still at his feet. Everyone seems frozen as we all just watch. Kayden glides to a stop beside Sorenson's head and says something to him before turning away. In the corner of my eye, I see the ref's hand raised. A penalty. Damn it.

Kayden doesn't waste time pleading his case. He skates over to the penalty box before the referee even gets to center ice to announce it. As he does, he turns to me and makes a heart with his hands. I shake my head but can't help my laugh. "Love you too, man," I call out to him. On the other side of the ice, Sorenson is on his feet and heading to the bench. He looks shaken, but not hurt. As much as I hate that prick, I'm glad he's not. That could have easily crossed the line into a 5-minute major if Sorenson would have just played it up a little more. And five minutes without our best player on the ice would be hell.

As it is, the two minutes are rough enough, and I blow out a long sigh when we finally clear the zone at the end of it. Asher is still on the bench with a trainer examining him, but he doesn't stay there long. The next time his line is due out on to the ice, he comes barreling off the bench with them. His cocky grin aimed right at me. Apparently he hasn't had enough.

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