Page 135 of Suck My Puck

The puck lands on the ice. The Vancouver forward takes possession and passes it back to their winger, who takes off with it.

Instantly, Del is all over him, and the two end up in the corner, fighting for control of the puck.

I turn my body and keep my eyes on the puck, despite how quickly and randomly it moves on the ice.

Vancouver shoots the puck away, all the way to center ice where one of their defensemen waits.

I get into position even before he takes the shot because I know what he’s about to do.

None of our guys are near him to cover him, so he winds up and hits the puck at me.

My glove is raised and ready for him. Not even a split second later, the puck lands at the center of my glove, right before the buzzer sounds, signaling the end of the game.

We won.

The Vancouver fans in the stands groan in disappointment, but the only thing I focus on are all the Bashers fans screaming and cheering.

My teammates crowd me, hollering and smacking me in celebration.

“Fuck, yeah!”

“You’re a brick fucking wall, dude!”

“Motherfucking shutout! Hell yeah!”

I’m grinning so hard, my face aches. Theo crashes into me, causing me to fall.

“Shit, sorry, dude,” he says.

I laugh. “It’s okay.”

He helps me up off the ice. We finish celebratingand the guys line up to tap my helmet. It’s a thing they do whenever I have a shutout.

When my last teammate taps me, I spin around, pull off my helmet, and skate over to Bella. She’s grinning wide, the look in her eyes bright and adoring as she gazes at me.

Through the glass divider separating us, she blows me a kiss. I grin back at her, sparks flying up my chest.

Post-game adrenaline and pure, unfettered joy crash through me. For a second, it’s hard to breathe.

That’s the woman of my dreams, by my side, cheering me on, supporting me, looking so proud of me in this moment.

I notice a bunch of sports photographers snapping photos of us. Even some of the Vancouver fans start to clap and go “aww” around us.

“I’ll see you later, pretty girl,” I say.

A beautiful pink blush paints her full cheeks as she beams at me. I skate off to join my team, feeling like the luckiest man on the planet.

Chapter 47

Braden

“Amazing showing out there tonight, Braden,” a reporter says to me during post-game press.

“Thank you.”

“How does it feel to have a shutout during an away game as opposed to a home game?” he asks.

“Both feel great. They don’t happen often enough, so I’ll take one wherever I can get it.” The reporters laugh.

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