Page 18 of Into Ruin

Good luck x

He doesn’t reply, and I tuck it away again. By the time Olivia returns with popcorn and drinks, the opening ceremony is beginning. The main lights dim, while spotlights dance over the crowd and the ice. We stand at the edge of the student section, which is going nuts for the players about to burst out from the locker room.

Their opening music swells, and the visceral excitement of the people around me almost chokes me. Echoingboosfill the arena when the opposing team makes their appearance.

Finally, our players skate out and the arena goes crazy. The whole team skates a few laps, then lines up on the goal line. The cheers turn to boos when the other team appears on the ice.

The announcer calls the home team’s starting lineup. A video plays along on the screen, and my breath catches when Camden appears. He smirks at the camera. Royal is next, crossing hisarms as the camera pans around him. He looks confident. Almost a stranger.

Once the announcer is done, the lights come back on. Those not starting go to their benches. One national anthem later, and the game begins.

My brother plays defense, and he leans over with his stick at the ready, positioned between the face-off and his goalie. The ref skates up to the two players in the middle of the red center circle.

He drops the puck, there’s a flurry of motion, and I lose track of it almost immediately. The players have no problem following it, though. The other team—in white jerseys with red lettering—get it back in their zone. They seem to take a minute to collect themselves, then attack.

It’s fast-paced, and the way the players crash into the boards makes my heart skip. Especially when it’s Royal—either doing the hitting or taking it—but he seems fine every time. He steals the puck from an opposing player and passes it to Camden. It’s so fast, the puck slaps against the blade of his stick with acrack.

Camden takes it toward the goal, dodging around an incoming player like we saw him do in the highlight reel, and veer toward the goal. An SVU player dives.

I jerk, wincing, and Camden somehow avoids him. He goes airborne, the puck seeming to keep with him, and he’s all alone on the ice.

Shoot—score.

The horn blows. The crowd around us leaps to their feet. Olivia and I belatedly follow. It was so fast… I don’t know how anyone even followed that, let alone a goalie having a chance at stopping it.

“Holy shit.” Olivia laughs. “That was epic!”

I stare down at the ice. Camden is swarmed by his teammates, their celebratory huddle brief. He takes off from the pack first, going down his bench line and bumping his glove withthe rest of the team. The spotlights flash around again, music blaring.

Around us, people high-five, bump fists.

The game passes in a blur. One period blends into two, and at one point I look up, shocked to see there’s only two minutes left of the third period. The score is 4-1 in favor of Framingham State U.

Good.

Great, even.

The final seconds count down, the buzzer sounds, and we all scream and cheer as the home team jumps out onto the ice. I imagine the team will be celebrating tonight, which means I can spend another night free of Camden.

Rather, free of worrying Camden is going to do something.

It doesn’t matter. None of that matters.

I grab Olivia’s hand and pull her up the steps along with the crowd. We get into the hallway, and everyone heads in the same direction.

“Harper!” a guy calls.

I stop dead in my tracks. Olivia crashes into me from behind, sending me stumbling forward. It takes a long moment for the crowd to open up, revealing the body attached to the voice.

MaxKeegan.

Olivia’s grip on my hand tightens, crushing my fingers.

She knows him, too.

He comes toward us decked out in red. The opposing team’s colors. Shadow Valley University is written across his chest in black lettering. He dodges around people, and Olivia yanks me backward. We reach the wall, and the flood of people stops moving all around us. They just stream in front, with our backs to the wall.

But he still approaches.

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