Page 137 of What If I Knew You

Am I a dead man?

Or do I live to see another day?

Taking the deepest fucking breath I think I’ve ever taken, I blow it out and crumble against the set of lockers next to me. “We’re good. I survived.”

I imagine a collective unclenching of everyone’s assholes happens around the room. Shoulders relax and smiles abound as the guys each give me their congratulations and pats on the back

“So, what are you going to do now?” Griffin asks me. “Is there a plan?”

Beaming back at him I nod. “Yeah. Actually, I do have a bit of a plan. I just need to find Ella first.”

“I just left her in her dressing room,” August tells me. “She’s getting into costume.”

“Perfect!”

I watchfrom my spot on the bench as Oliver faces off against Milo Landric to start the game. Landric wins and passes to Malone but Ollenberg’s on his tail as Malone moves the puck down the ice. There’s Blackstone taking it back and passing to Dayne. He goes for the setup and passes back to Magallan who tries to make it in but, no! Zeke Miller doesn’t allow it.

Ledger comes off his shift and I hit the ice running in his place as Meers takes the puck away from Shay. He sends the puck to Landric who tries to sidestep Ollenberg who is relentless in his block, but I cut inside and steal that little rubber fucker from right under Landric’s nose. With Foster and Nelson hot on my ass, I set up the play beautifully for Blackstone but he doesn’t hit the target.

Fuck!

I swing around the net to take possession back, sending the puck over to Magallan who shouts, “Yours, Roche! Here comes the assist!” He tosses to Blackstone who sets up one of the offensive plays we talked about when studying the tapes and then I spot my opening.

Yes!

Positioning myself between Foster and Nelson, I drive them back until I know I’m close enough, spin around the net like a rebounded play, and push the puck inside. The sirens go off and the net lights up and the home crowd is on their feet.

“LET’S GOOOOO!”

“FUCK YEAH!”

“THAT’A BOY PICKLE PANTS!”

The guys all crowd around me, giving me hugs and high fives, slapping my helmet and spanking my ass, but all I care about is the beautiful woman I see standing two rows behind the bench. The woman wearing my jersey with my number on her back. The woman cheering for me so loudly I can practically hear her voice over the entire arena. The woman I can’t wait to take home tonight.

The woman I can’t wait to sink myself into.

The love of my life.

My Corrigan.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

CORRIGAN

“Holy shit this game is action packed!” Layken says next to me as we watch the end of the second period. Thanks to the amazing comradery between the Stars and the Red Tails, this game has been free of any major fights and really, only a handful of penalties. When the bell rings for the end of the period, both teams leave the ice.

“What’s that?” I ask her as I watch Bodhi skate off the ice.

Man, does he look good in that uniform or what?

Before the game I got a text from Bodhi explaining that he had an interesting conversation with my father. For a moment I worried that perhaps this was going to be a tense night until he told me he had my dad laughing so hard he cried. That coupled with the fact that my dad gave me a huge hug when he saw Layken and me in our usual spots behind the bench told me whatever they talked about, we were going to be perfectly fine.

“Uh huh…I get it.” Layken laughs. “You can’t keep your eyes off your little sex toy down there.”

“Can you blame me though?” I ask with a lovesick sigh. “He’s just so fucking hot in that uniform.”

“Tell me about it.” I turn my head to catch her eye but she’s watching someone on the ice too, which makes me smile.

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