Page 76 of Going All In

“Yeah. He was in my face, trash-talking.”

“I’m not mad about it. Liam’s a little shit, and he’s been trash-talking since he could talk. Just tell him to fuck off,” Sully said, then grinned.

“Family get-togethers must be fun at your house,” Jake said.

“You have no idea. Just don’t fight him. The little shit’s dirty as hell.”

“Come on, boys,” Dom yelled from his seat next to Sully.

Boston’s goalie was out of his crease. He’d tried to send the puck to one of Boston’s forwards, but Fishy caught the rebound and fired it.

A groan rolled through the arena as it missed the open net and bounced off the pipes.

“Those pipes are extra rubbery tonight,” Sully muttered. “Everything’s fucking bouncing off of them.”

“No shit,” Jake said, his eyes glued to his teammates as Fishy caught the rebound and, this time, sent it to the back of the net.

They all jumped up on the bench as the goal horn sounded, a few guys tapping their sticks on the boards as Fishy did some weird celly and the rest of the Strikers on the ice barreled into him in celebration.

The arena vibrated with their loud goal song as everyone was on their feet and cheering. The guys on the bench held out their gloved fists to bump with the goal scorer and the rest of the team on the ice as they skated down the line of the bench.

Now they had to hold the lead for three minutes.

With twenty seconds left, Jake held his breath as Liam Sullivan took his shot. It hit the pipes, and Dom snagged the rebound, streaking down the ice and dekeing around one of Boston’s defensemen.

Dom fired on the goalie and it hit the goddamn pipe. This time Boston grabbed the rebound as the buzzer sounded and ended the game.

“What the fuck’s with the pipes tonight? Someone change them to rubber?” Harty muttered.

“No shit. But at least we won.” Jake followed his teammates over the boards to tap helmets with Booksy and celebrate the win. It’d been too close for comfort, but they were walking away with two points and he’d avoided the penalty box again.

He looked toward his seats, but Darcy wasn’t in them. He knew there would be a text on his phone as soon as he got back to the locker room. She was working tonight but had set up text alerts for all the Strikers’ games, so she would know what was going on even if she wasn’t watching.

He hadn’t even had to mention the option to her before she’d set it up on her phone. Hockey was definitely growing on her.

That did something to the inside of his chest. Something he wasn’t ready to explore.

“Solid game, Northman,” Bugsy said when Jake skated back to the bench.

“Thanks.”

“Next time, get a goal.” Bugsy said before he turned to head down the tunnel.

“He busting you?” Harty asked.

“Who knows. C&B after this?” Jake asked. Darcy said she’d try to meet him there after her shift was over.

Which meant that she’d show up and they’d flirt like crazy and go back to his place. She liked congratulating him after a win, and he was fully on board with whatever she wanted to do to him. The image of her on her knees in front of him a few days ago sent a bolt of lust straight to his cock. He was dead on his feet after that game, but thinking of Darcy made him want to rush through his shower and rush through celebrating at C&B just so he could get her home as fast as possible.

“Of course,” Baz said, slinging his arm over Jake’s shoulder from behind.

“Didn’t we talk about getting a bell on this one?”

“I sidle right in. You never know I’m there until I’m on top of you,” Baz said with a hearty laugh.

“Hope you aren’t using that line on the ladies,” Harty said.

Baz put his hand to his chest. “I would never. Besides, they’re always sidling up to me first.”

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