Page 61 of Unbroken Promises

I have a five-minute penalty, and as the seconds tick by, each moment feels like agony. My face is displayed on the jumbotron multiple times in-between plays, and I know my focus should be on the ice, but I just don’t fucking care. The minutes are slowly passing by and there is still no sign of my girl or my cousin. What the hell is going on right now? If I could, I would just leave the game, go figure out what is happening. But this is an important match, and I can’t just abandon my team because I am having my own internal freak-out session. My knee bounces anxiously as I count down the seconds until I can hit the ice again, can signal a swap with another player so I can grab my phone and try to figure out where she is.

My time in the box runs down, and I am getting ready to jump back on the ice when I catch a glint of red out of the corner of my eye. I turn my head sharply, and the tightness in my chest eases as I see my girl settle once more into her seat. Her face is pale, shoulders tense, as she sits down next to Tony. Shit. Maybe she is mad at me for what happened on the ice. Dammit, I need to talk to her. My five minutes is up, and I hit the ice, coming to an abrupt stop at the glass directly in front of her.

Danica’s gaze is focused on the game but her eyes are glazed; it’s clear her mind is a thousand miles away. My teammates are signaling me to pay attention; I hear coach yelling at me to get my head in the game, but I am not fucking moving until I know my girl is okay. After what feels like an eternity, she finally notices me standing there, and she shoots me a small smile, no sign of her carefree jubilance from earlier in the game. My girl is definitely not okay. I frown, but she shakes her head at me, motioning that she is fine and to go back to the game. We’re definitely going to have to talk about this later. Reluctantly, I skate off to rejoin my team.

Weare in the final minute of the game. After my little panic attack, coach yanked me out to lay into me for not having my head in the game and told me I needed to get my shit together. I agree completely, the only difference is the shit he thinks I need to get together is completely different for what I have in mind. He sends me back out in the final two minutes of the game.

Sabretooths are still in the lead, but the Cougars were able to manage two goals while I was stuck in the box. We are sitting at 5-3 now, and they are closing the distance on another goal. There is still a small chance they could manage to pull ahead but there is no fucking way I am going to let that happen. Moving quickly, I flank our forward, blocking one of the other team’s players as they try to steal the puck.

Samuels skates ahead, passing to Helmsy, and I check their forward, shoving him into the boards to make an opening for our guys to press ahead. He yells some nasty shit my way, but I keep my head down, intent on finishing this. Samuels has the puck again, and makes a shot, but it is blocked by the other team’s goalie, who sends it flying down towards our goal. One of their wingmen takes control of the puck and makes a dash, trying to get a clear shot, but Bruin is there to block him.

Robinsky takes control of the biscuit once more, and heads toward center, the Cougars hot on his heels. Samuels and Dillard go to block the Cougars, creating an opening and I push ahead, making my way down towards the goal. Marsh has the puck now and he passes to me. McMurray is headed my way, pressing in, but I fake a shot to the left before doing a quick turn, and with a sharp flick of the wrist, I send the puck flying. For a moment, the crowd is quiet, waiting on bated breath, and then the buzzer sounds our win as the puck hits the back of the net after just grazing past the gloves of their goalie.

Thunderous cheers sound throughout the arena, and my teammates all slam into me, cheering and slapping my back. I whip my head around, checking to see if my girl is watching, and there she is. Black rose a contrast in her coppery curls as they glint in the fluorescent lighting, blue and silver jersey with my name splashed across the back making a statement as she jumps up and down cheering for me.

Breaking away from the group, I skate towards her seats, motioning for her to go to the end where there is a door leading on to the ice. She is waiting for me by the time I get there, and I am reaching out to grab her. I skate backwards, Danica in my arms with her legs wrapped around my waist, and I fist my hands inher hair as I kiss her for all that I’m worth.My fucking woman. In my fucking jersey.Ignoring the cheers of the crowd, I am lost in the moment as she kisses me back, her hands reaching up into my sweaty hair to pull my head closer.

Panting, I pull my head back slightly, resting my forehead against her own.

“Congrats on your win! You were incredible!”

Well, shit. Compliments like that could really go to a guy’s head. But I have to focus, dammit.

“Are you okay?”

My words are quiet, meant for only her to hear as several of my teammates skate up to introduce themselves. I don’t miss the hesitation on her face as she bites her lip, before nodding.

“Diavoletta. Talk to me.”

There is a hint of something that flickers through her eyes, and I could almost swear it’s fear. She shakes her head. “Not here.”

My brows furrow in concern, and I press an urgent kiss to her forehead. “Tell me that we’re okay?”

A soft smile plays on her lips as understanding registers in her eyes. “We’re fine.” She kisses me quickly. “Now, put me down so you can go celebrate with your guys.”

I shake my head. No. We need to fucking talk, I can celebrate my win with her later. She is the only one that matters, anyway.

“Seriously. I’m fine. I promise I’ll talk to you about it later. Besides, don’t you have to hit the showers? I thought you have a plane to catch for your away games?”

Shit. She’s right of course. I only have a short window after the game before I have to load up on the bus with my team to head to the airport. Dammit.

“Meet me before I go?” I kiss her again, unable to let her go, to give up this moment with her.

“Okay.”

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Danica

Start of the Third Period

Ilaugh, cheering along with the crowd as the players hit the ice once more. I was self-conscious with all the eyes on me at the beginning of the match. Wearing Theo’s name boldly across my back, along with his antics at the start of the game, made it clear to anyone with eyes that we were a thing. Okay, then. I guess we’re doing this. It took a while for me to settle back into the swing of things, to get lost in the heat of the plays; but on a deep-seeded level, hockey games were second-nature to me. And it didn’t matter that it had been years since I was a regular attendee; old habits die hard, and cheering on Theo was embedded in my DNA.

The match was a brutal one. Seattle and Calgary were long-time rivals, and the Cougars were known for playing dirty. Players were being checked into the boards, given penalties for high-sticking, I even watched on in frustration as one of their starters deliberately maneuvered his stick to trip one of our players. The crowd was on a rampage of their own, cursing out each other’s teams and jeering as players were sent to the sin bin one after another. There were even a few fans that got expelled from the game for starting a fight while waiting in line for concessions. This game was probably one of the craziest I had ever been to.

Theo was on fire though. Backing up his team whenever gloves were thrown down, or positioning himself to act as a barrier between his forward and the opposition. It was hard not to become enthralled in the match. I had forgotten just how incredible he was, how much fun it could be to watch him play. And I wouldnever be one to take credit for his own diligence, but it seemed he was putting in extra effort tonight in an attempt to win for me, just like he promised.

My eyes are glued to the ice, watching the quick movements of the players as they speed across the rink, as I reach over to grab a handful of popcorn out of the bucket that Tony purchased for us during the last period break.

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