Page 94 of On Thin Ice

I ignored him and skated around the back of the net. Just as I cleared the pipe, I angled my shot, adrenaline pumping through me as it flew into the back of the net before Gally could drop to block it.

“Fuck, man,” he barked out. I flashed him a grin before my teammates crashed into me as the crowd went crazy.

“You like that?” I called out to Baz as he skated past me. He just glared, but there was a small smirk on his lips. He was going to be on top of me even harder for the rest of the night for that slip.

“Sweet goal, Dom. That fucking angle,” Xan said, crushing me in a hug. I glanced up at the Jumbotron to see the close-up.

Yeah, that was definitely a highlight reel. Then I turned my attention to the family suite and gave Ally my little salute. It was cheesy, but I would keep doing it every time because I knew she was up there cheering for me, even if she kept it a little quieter tonight since her brother’s team was also on the ice.

My teammates tapped gloves with me as I skated down the bench with my lineys, and I was still grinning when I slid down the bench while Tally’s line took the ice.

“Nice goal,” Millsy said, slapping my back. “Baz was running his mouth and forgot to actually play.”

I chuckled. “You know he never stops talking.”

Millsy just shook his head. He knew exactly what it was like to have Baz as a teammate.

***

I braced my stick on my legs as I looked across the face-off dot at Cheesy. Harty had already been thrown out of the face-off for moving in a little too quickly to try to block my stick. He bitched about it but skated to the side while Cheesy slid in. As the puck dropped, I won the face-off and sent it back to Haldy. We had seven minutes left in the third and were tied at three. The game had gone back and forth all night with very few penalty minutes. We’d all been on our best behavior, even if I was still questioning the hit Harty had had on me during the last period. My shoulder ached, but I was fine.

Ally was fuming, according to the text I’d read during the second intermission. Probably telling Harty that she was pissed at him when he’d been across the dot from me had contributed to him crowding me and getting kicked out, but who’s to say. It was all just part of the game.

And to be honest, I loved thinking about her being fired up watching the game.

Fuck. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her tonight. Her goodbye kiss after a nice pregame nap earlier this afternoon hadn’t been enough.

“You keep smirking like that and Harty’s going to punch you,” Cheesy said with a chuckle as he skated past me to track Haldy, who still had the puck.

I moved around Crow, one of the Strikers’ other defensemen, to get ready in case Haldy needed to send the puck my way. Buthis pass was interrupted by Cheesy, and then we were skating toward Tucks at the other end of the ice. Cheesy, Harty, and Jake passed the puck back and forth like the well-oiled machine. They’d been linemates for a few years now, and that ease was what I wanted with Xan and Haldy or whatever linemates I ended up with. Solid producers who could be relied on.

Jake’s shot banged off the pipes, but Harty easily grabbed the rebound and took his shot. It sailed over Tucks’s shoulder, and the goal buzzer blared.

“Fuck,” I shouted as the Strikers celebrated another goal and were now one up on us.

***

But a few minutes later, I tied it back up again, and with one minute left to go, Santa scored the game-winning goal.

I looked up at the family suite and swore I saw Ally yelling and clapping as the stars of the game were announced, happy that I was one of them.

Chapter 18

ALLY

“If your water breaks because you’re celebrating too hard, I won’t know what to do,” Darcy said, laughing as I clapped my hands when the three stars of the game were announced.

I watched the screen to see a close-up of Dom’s sweaty, gorgeous face as he was named second star, and he gave me his little salute. That gesture heated up my body more than it should have. It was cute and sweet, and ugh, I wanted to kiss that man right now.

“Don’t be grouchy because your team lost,” I teased.

Penny chuckled. “It was a close game, but you guys played hard, and the bounces just didn’t go our way.”

“It was a solid team effort, and we just got a few great starts. Got the puck in deep,” I said, repeating the canned answers players always used during media interviews.

“Do we watch too much hockey?” Darcy asked.

“Never.” I’d spent my entire life watching hockey. I guess it was only fitting that I’d ended up with a hockey player, even if Dom and I had gone about it in an unconventional way.

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