Page 120 of Dirty Pucker

My face heats even as I chuckle. Warmup ends and the teams get ready for puck drop.

A moment later, Dakota comes over. We stand up to hug her.

“Sorry I’m late,” she says. “Faculty meeting ran a bit long.”

We tell her it’s no problem. She eyes my jersey and smiles at me. “You and my brother are jersey official?”

I nod.

“You should have seen the way they were eye-fucking a minute ago,” Maya says.

Dakota makes a joking disgusted sound. “Thank god I missed that.”

A second later Dakota’s mom Nancy arrives. She hugs Dakota and I stand up to hug her, then introduce her to Maya.

Nancy sits between Dakota and me. When she notices I’m wearing Del’s jersey, the biggest smile spreads across her face.

She grabs my hand. “I’ve never seen my son so happy than when he’s with you.”

I smile and give her hand a squeeze. “Really?”

She nods. She gives me a quick side-hug right as the Bashers and Devils hit the ice, ready for the puck drop.

We watch as Del gets ready to face off against a Devils player.

The first half of the first period is scoreless. Both teams put up a good fight scrambling for control of the puck. There are afew scoring attempts on both goalies, but nothing makes it into either net.

After scrambling with a Devils defenseman, Del gets control of the puck. He passes it to Theo, who attempts a shot at the Devils goalie, but misses. The puck flies to the side, landing near Del. He winds up and takes the shot. A half-second later, it rockets to the back of the net.

The home crowd is on their feet, screaming for the first goal of the game. I watch as Del’s teammates surround him and celebrate his goal. The entire arena is vibrating with energy.

I think back to the first game Del played with the Bashers. When he scored, the reaction was so subdued.

It’s like night and day compared to now. Now they’re shouting and smiling and smacking his helmet in celebration.

Del has made amends with the guys who used to be his enemies. They worked out their differences and bonded as friends. He’s part of the team now, and I’m so happy for him.

He skates over to our side of the ice and looks right at me. He smiles and winks at me before skating off.

“Del is looking at you like he’s ready to devour you,” Maya whispers in my ear. “That jersey is hotter than lingerie.”

“Good thing I’m wearing both,” I say in a low voice so only she can hear me.

She raises her eyebrow, like she’s intrigued and impressed. I smile, excited for what I have planned for Del later tonight.

Chapter 42

Del

“Fuck yeah, boys! We won!” Theo hollers as he holds up a shot glass at our table at Spanky’s.

We all raise our glasses and shout in celebration.

“Three more wins and we’re one step closer to the Cup!” Theo says.

We all shout and down our shots of vodka. The liquor burns my throat.

Blomdahl winces. “I hate vodka,” he mutters.

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