Page 130 of Defensive Zone

“Daydreaming about hoisting the Cup,” he said.

“Damn right,” said Crow, bouncing on his feet next to Max.

Max had to focus on the game and not dwell on Gabi pulling away. She was here tonight, wasn’t she?

But there was a little niggle in his brain. Between the pictures online and her mom’s ridiculous opinions, he was doing everything he could to prove to Gabi that they belonged together. She’d pushed back tonight about the nanny issue, but how did she not see that their situation was different?

He turned his attention back to his teammates. Cheesy gave a pep talk. Bugsy added his own pointers, and then they were heading down the tunnel to the ice. As soon as Max’s skates hit the fresh ice, his focus lasered in on his purpose tonight. Win the game and maybe get a point for Connor.

He did a few laps around their half of the ice to loosen everything up and then started firing pucks on Booksy, their backup goalie who was starting tonight. The kid was good and had already helped them win a few playoff games over the last month, but Booksy liked to leave his crease to be a more active participant, so Max knew he’d be staying a bit closer to the blue paint tonight.

He spotted Gabi in the front row, and she blew him a kiss when he skated up to her. When she’d moved in, she had sworn she wasn’t that much of a hockey fan, but over the last few months, he’d liked to think that his hockey love had rubbed off on her. Seeing her near the glass made him beam. Hockey was a massive part of his life and anyone he had a future with had to understand that. She was showing him that she did and his heart swelled.

“If you’re done mooning over Gabi, can we finish up this warmup?” Crow teased. “Hey, Gabs, I’m going to steal him now,” he yelled to Gabi.

She laughed. “Go kick some ass,” she called back.

Yep. He definitely couldn’t love her more.

An hour later, Max hovered in front of Booksy. They were on a penalty kill due to a crap call on Dom, who was currently stewing in the box for tripping. One of the forwards from St. Louis had clearly tripped over his own damn feet, but Dom had his stick too close to the guy’s skates, and the ref had called a penalty.

It was two minutes left in the period and ninety seconds left of the penalty that he had to help kill. They were tied up one to one and the last thing Max wanted was to go into the locker room down a goal because of a penalty.

One of the forwards made his shot and it echoed off the pipes. Max grabbed the rebound and skated around the back of the net before sliding it to Harty. Then Harty was checked into the boards, and St. Louis had the puck again.

Harty shook off the check and nodded to Max to let him know he was okay, and then he was tracking the puck again. Max hovered near Booksy and waited for the penalty clock to run down. Luckily, they went into the locker room still tied at one at the end of the period.

The second period went about the same as the first. No goals for either side and it was getting chippy. No fights, but there’d been more than a few tussles and penalties. Dom had gone down the tunnel halfway through the second after getting drilled into the boards. His head had been low, and his shoulder had clipped the edge of the boards, but he was back on the bench a few minutes later.

At the start of the third, Max looked over at the glass but didn’t see Gabi. She was probably up in the suite with the other WAGs. He loved how easily she got along with his friends’ significant others. It made such a difference. But he did miss seeing her screaming for him against the glass. There was nothing hotter than watching her get riled up.

Yes. He’d turned her into a hockey fan and that turned him the fuck on.

Five minutes into the third period, Max got his goal for Connor. He saluted the cameras. Connor was probably asleep, but Max would show him the clip tomorrow when the little boy was feeling better. Having his family in his home and coming to his games was the extra push he didn’t realize he had needed. His playing had been top-notch and it was all because of them.

And Gabi.

And when the final buzzer sounded and his goal had been the game-winning goal, he celebrated with his teammates on the ice, but he couldn’t wait to get home and celebrate with his family.

“I’m here,” Gabi said when she walked into the kitchen. She’d loved watching Max play and hanging out with the WAGs, but she’d felt guilty for leaving Ava at home with three kids, especially when one of them was sick. It was her job to help Ava, and she had bailed to watch her boyfriend play hockey. Her priorities were screwed up, even if no one else agreed with her—well, aside from her mother.

She’d had another lovely conversation with her mother yesterday about her priorities after pictures of Max and Gabi kissing had popped up online. She hated that her mother put doubts in her mind and she wondered if Max noticed.

Ava had all but ordered her to go to the game and support Max, but it hadn’t felt right, so at the start of the third period, she’d left the game.

“What are you doing here?” Ava asked from the living room.

Gabi sank down on the couch next to her friend. “Are they all in bed? How’s Connor?”

“Yes. They’re asleep. Connor’s fever is almost gone and he’s been sleeping soundly for a few hours. I checked on him after feeding Elise an hour ago and he’s fine. Amelia is sleeping in my bed tonight, just in case.”

“That’s good,” she said; then she glanced at the TV. “Oh, they won. That’s great.”

“Max got a goal during the third period, which I’m assuming you missed,” Ava said accusatorily.

She felt guilty for missing the rest of the game and his goal. Sometimes she felt like she couldn’t win, which sounded like a pity party.

“Why am I in trouble?”

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