Page 134 of Suck My Puck

“Turn around,” he mouths.

I bite my lip and spin around. I swipe my hair over my shoulder so he can get a good look at his name and number on my back.

I peer over my shoulder, my tummy flipping when I see the fiery look in his eyes.

He blinks, his gaze refocusing. He winks at me before going back to his warm-up routine. I sit back down, my entire body hot and buzzing at the way Braden just devoured me with his gaze.

“Wow. Seeing you wear his name and number did the trick,” Ingrid says with a knowing smile. “He’s fired up.”

I beam, excited to watch my boyfriend kick ass on the ice tonight.

Chapter 46

Braden

I’m a fucking brick wall tonight.

Yeah, I sound like a cocky motherfucker. But it’s true.

Vancouver is throwing everything they’ve got at me, but I manage to block it all. Every single puck that comes my way, I smack it away or catch it.

It’s almost the end of the game, and they haven’t scored on me yet.

We’re up one to zero with three minutes left, and the home crowd fucking hates it. Every time I block or catch a puck, they boo. I don’t care. The one person who matters is cheering me on.

The guys are battling near Vancouver’s net, so I take a second to glance behind me.

There’s Bella wearing my jersey. My heart slingshots around my chest.

That’s my girl with my name and my number on her body.

She flashes that gorgeous grin. I smile back, hoping she can see it through the cage on my face.

It means everything that she’s here tonight. Every time I make a save, I hear her cheering me on.

I think back to when she said she’d never, ever date another hockey player again. When she said she’d never step foot in a hockey arena again. When she said she’d never wear another man’s jersey.

She broke all of her rules for me.

My heart races in my chest. All those nerves and uncertainty that plagued me at the beginning of the season are long gone. And it’s all because of Bella.

Not just because of all the time in bed we spend together. Yeah, that’s what got me out of my slump at first.

But now I realize I’m playing better because I’m with someone who believes in me, who defends me, who supports me. Regardless of how I perform on the ice, her feelings for me are unwavering.

That’s what I’ve been missing. This whole time I thought my worth was in how well I played. And yeah, that’s important. I wanna kick ass every time I’m in the net. I want to win. I want to be the best player I can be. I want to earn my paycheck and make my teammates and my coaches and the fans proud.

But I’m more than just a goalie. I’m more than just hockey.

I’m a person worthy of love and respect, no matter how well I play, no matter what I do for a living.

Bella showed me that.

A scuffle breaks out after one of Vancouver’s guys lands a cheap shot on Del. The linesmen break it up and things settle down as they get set up for a puck drop near our net.

I get into position, my eyes trained on the puck, ready for it.

Vancouver is going to try like hell to tie things up topush us into overtime. It’s their only way to salvage their performance this game. And I’m going to try my hardest not to let that happen.

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