Page 8 of The Hat Trick

“The greatest thing ever,” she replies.

My eyes track for Vince, he hits some pucks into the goal, and skates around before coming toward the bench, and the moment our eyes meet a smile forms on his perfect face. He grabs a water bottle, squirting it into his open mouth while his eyes remain locked on mine. I can’t look away. Once he’s done, he winks before skating backward until he quickly turns to hit a puck right into the goal.

“Holy fuck.”

“With him, I’m sure it is.”

I continue to watch the other men on the ice, stretching and warming up when another pair of eyes meet mine. These ones are dark brown and belong to the man I watched fight just last night. His gaze is different, where Vince’s is playful, Matt’s is intense. He seems to look me up and down before doing the same to Audrey. We are both in Dragons jerseys we just bought, but they don’t have a particular player’s name or number on them because I didn’t want to seem too over the top.

Matt sends a smirk in our direction before skating off again.

“You are such a lucky bitch. And you need to share.”

“What are you talking about?” I ask, not sure what she’s getting at.

“McQuaid just made total sexy eyes at you.”

I laugh, “He made them at both of us, so shut it.”

“Nope, that was all for you.”

I shake my head at her, because I’m sure a guy like Matt looks at all women that way, and he looks like he will fuck anyone with a hole. I’m not overthinking a look from him.

The warmups end, and the guys go back into the tunnel that leads back to the locker room. Vince and Matt are the last two to leave the ice, both leaving with a lingering look before they are out of eyesight.

“Damn, what’s better than getting one hot hockey player’s attention? Getting two, you bitch.” Audrey smacks my arm.

I shake my head. “You’re crazy. I bet Matt is interested in you, maybe Vince will set it up for you.”

“No way, I’m not taking second place to you, he can set me up with a different teammate who doesn’t already want to fuck you.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

Though, that last look did seem like it was directed solely at me, and I don’t know how to feel about that.

There’s a dedicated bar to our section that isn’t accessible unless you are sitting here, so Audrey and I go up there to get drinks before the game starts. We each get an extremely overpriced hard seltzer and make it back to our seats just as the lights around the arena dim, and the screen scoreboard starts the pregame that seems like a movie that introduces the players.

The entire arena transforms with lights and sounds while a “story” plays about the beginning of the team that came from actual dragons. It’s over the top, and I love it. As it concludes, the players come out onto the ice, and skate around the perimeter while the lights continue to flash different colors.

“They should show this part on TV too,” Audrey says without looking away from the ice.

I just nod because I can’t look away either, I watch as the entire team skates around before one by one they come to sit on the bench until only the five starters and the goalie remain. One of those starting players is Vince. Another is Matt. After the national anthem is sung the players get into position on the ice, and the game starts.

Audrey and I are glued to the game as the players skate back and forth across the ice. After Vince assists with an amazing save, he meets my eyes when he comes back to the bench for a shift change, and gives me a small smile. I bite my own smile away as my stomach flutters from his attention.

“I clearly need to run into my ex so some hockey player can save me,” Audrey says, looking between Vince and me.

“I guess I’m just lucky,” I joke.

With a little over five minutes left in the period, Vince goes out for another shift. He’s chasing after a guy on the other team that currently has the puck and ends up slamming him into the boards. The other player turns and starts punching Vince. The refs blow the whistle to stop the game as both Vince and the other player throw off their gloves and start full on fighting.

I stand up, leaning against the glass to watch the entire fight happen. Vince gets the other player onto the ground and continues punching him until eventually the refs pull him off, pushing them away from each other. Vince skates toward the bench and walks down the tunnel without another glance.

“Shit, is he okay?” I ask no one in particular while the teams get back into position on the ice for another play.

“Maybe you should go check on him,” Audrey suggests with a nudge.

“Yeah, pretty sure that’s not allowed.”

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