Page 37 of Rookie Move

Maybe she should go sit on the ice.

Desmond had neverbeen a stay-at-home defenseman, but he was spending way too much of his last two shifts hovering next to the Strikers’ net. St. Louis was on fire tonight and he refused to let them get another goal. The Strikers were already down four to two at the start of the third period.

The St. Louis forward he was shadowing pulled back his stick to shoot the puck, and Desmond reached out, poking it away. He fired it up the ice, but one of St. Louis’ defensemen caught it and sent it right back to their forward.

Son of a…

Desmond scooted back toward Gally in net, trying to cover as much space as possible. His eyes darted toward Finn on the opposite side of the net. They were ready when the forward took another shot. Desmond snagged it that time and sent it toward Dom and center ice.

Baz and Crow were already halfway over the boards when Finn and Desmond made it to the bench for a shift change.

The Strikers lost the puck and they were skating back toward Gally, but Baz snagged it and managed to one-time it into the back of the net.

“Fuck yeah,” Dom shouted as the guys on the ice celebrated before heading down the line to tap gloves with the guys on the bench.

There were a few shouts in the crowd, but it was an away game, so most of the fans didn’t want to see the Strikers get close to tying it back up against their team.

***

A short whilelater, Desmond was back on the ice for another shift. They were still down by one with eight minutes to go. The tension was thick on the bench, and they needed this win. Yes, it was early in the season, but they’d lost the first two games on their road trip and he’d be damned if they were going home tonight with another loss. They were currently first in their division, but Vegas was sneaking up on them.

He caught Finn’s subtle head nod and Desmond shifted his weight slightly to one side to accept the puck Finn had knocked toward him. He spun around, curving the puck into his body and darting around the St. Louis player in front of him. They were close to center ice, and as soon as Desmond crossed the line, he quickly tried to find an open teammate, but they were all covered.

Desmond took the shot. He wasn’t known for his one-timers, but by some miracle, it was a clean shot right between the goalie’s legs. The man dropped down a second too late and the goal horn blared. Desmond couldn’t help thefuck yeahthat came out of his mouth as he pumped his fist in the air.

Then he was slammed into the boards by his teammates on the ice, receiving hugs and helmet taps and slaps on his shoulder in celebration. It was his first goal as a Striker.

“Fucking beautiful,” Finn said with a huge smile as his teammates barreled into Desmond.

“Yeah, Nessie. Right through his five-hole. Sweet shot,” Westie said as they made their way over to the bench to tap gloves down the line with the rest of the team.

He slid onto the bench, his grin wide. They’d tied it up and now they needed one more goal to snag the two points.

“Great shot, Nessie,” Bugsy said, slapping him on the shoulder.

“Thanks, Coach,” he said. Rylie’s eyes were the same color as her father’s and just as expressive. He wished it was a home game so he could celebrate with her tonight, but they weren’t flying back until tomorrow morning.

“You good, Nessie?” Bugsy asked.

“What? Yeah. Great. Thanks,” he said quickly, but Bugsy eyed him.

Desmond spun back around to watch the game. That was the only thing he should be focused on right now.

***

A few nightslater, Desmond joined Finn and Jake to crash girls’ night. Rylie had gone out dancing with Sophia, Darcy, and Ally. Finn said it would be too obvious if he showed up alone, so Desmond had reluctantly agreed—at least that’s how he’d acted when Finn had asked him to tag along.

Finally, he had Rylie in his arms. They’d danced—as a group—for at least an hour, but he was done keeping his hands off of her. He’d kept a respectable distance on the dance floor, but now they were in a dark corner of the club, away from prying eyes, and all the rules were gone.

“You are driving me insane,” Desmond said, kissing along her jaw. Fuck. He needed to take her home.

“It’s called dancing, Desmond,” she replied, her voice husky with need.

“Whatever you want to call it, Rylie, but you’re still driving me crazy.”

“Someone could see us,” she said, looking around, but he knew no one could see them. It was why he’d picked this spot tucked around the side of the bar.

“Would that be such a bad thing?” he asked in between kisses.

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