Page 25 of Drawn to You

I’m not doing much, but I don’t argue with Arnold. I’ve endured too much air sickness and lack of sleep to tell him it was nothing.

“Oh, the law student who wants a date with him?” I ask.

“Yes.”

“I think he should do it.”

“Sure, our PR people could even set everything up,” he says.

The players return to the ice, the crowd roaring as music booms.

“We need this win,” Arnold says. “It’s crunch time.”

I squint at one of the screens in the arena, making out the words on the cardboard sign a fan is holding up.

It saysMarry Me Lucas.Sweet. I read another one.

Shaw doesn’t need a penalty to get in my box.

WTF? The camera quickly pans to another set of fans. Shaw must be a Seattle player. Looks like Dane isn’t the only one with thirsty female fans.

The game resumes and Arnold sits down in the open seat next to me. We watch the game in silence for a couple of minutes, but when Dane gets shoved by a Seattle player between plays, Arnold groans.

Dane immediately throws his gloves off. My heart pounds hard as he throws a punch at another player. Fans jump to their feet, yelling as the two men fight.

I look at Arnold, wondering why this is being allowed. Aren’t the referees supposed to stop it? Dane’s getting the better end of the fight, but he’s taken several blows to the head.

The Seattle player says something that causes Dane to shove him to the ice and climb on top of him, punching him repeatedly. Players from both teams jump into the fight, the referees trying to break it up with no luck.

“Dammit,” Arnold mutters, burying his face in his hands.

Finally, the refs break the fight up, fans screaming as a ref points at Dane and he skates away.

“What happened?” I ask.

“He was ejected.”

Dane is almost off the ice when he says something to a fan who’s yelling at him from the stands. The fan flips him the double bird and Dane opens his arms and says, “Come on! Let’s go!”

“Dane, stop,” I say softly.

“Nothing gets him going like Sam Styles,” Arnold says, typing out a text on his phone.

“Is that the Seattle player who started the fight?”

He nods. “I don’t know who started it, but Dane can’t play this team without a major altercation with Styles.”

“Why?”

He looks over his shoulder to make sure no one is in earshot, then speaks in a low tone. “His wife left him for Sam. It’s been years, but...” He shrugs. “I don’t think a man ever forgives that. They were teammates when it happened.”

“Oh my God.”

I sit back in my seat, stunned. The conversation between Dane and Tim makes sense now.

“Don’t even try to talk to him,” Arnold cautions. “I hear he’s impossible to be around after one of these fights.”

I sigh heavily. “I wish I’d known about this.”

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