Page 51 of Captain's Claim

I focus on the ice as the final two minutes of the game tick down. The Icehawks are in full control, keeping Montreal on their heels. Logan flattens the biggest guy on the ice and the puck slides across to who else but Blake Maddox.

The entire stadium holds its breath.

Even Eli stops mid-rant about the referees as I glance up to the Megatron above center ice.

"Three seconds!"

Blake glides across the blue line, smooth as sin, calm as you like with the puck on his stick like it’s an extension of his body. Even amongst the chaos around him, his sharp gray eyes flick upward - right atme.

I don’t even have time to process the way my stomach clenches before he winks. And with one second left on the clock, he fucking scores.

The arena explodes.

“HAH! THAT’S MY GODDAMN CAPTAIN!" Eli shouts, completely and utterly unhinged. "SOMEONE GET ME ANOTHER BEER!”

Natalie stares at me like she just witnessed a miracle.

“Okay,” she says slowly. “That… was that directed atyou?”

I swallow, glancing down at the ice. Blake is beaming, skating past the bench, then looking up… right into the corporate box and at me again, only this time…

He blows me a goddamn kiss!

Natalie chokes on her drink.

My cheeks burn as Natalie continues to sputter beside me. I quickly hand her a napkin and she practically vomits on it. Gross. Greg's face has gone from its usual shade of disapproving pale to something approaching nuclear fusion, his phone forgotten in his slack grip.

"Did he just—" Greg starts, then stops, his mouth opening and closing like he's just witnessed the second coming of Christ himself.

"FREE DRINKS AT RIDGEVIEW!" Eli's voice booms from somewhere in the hallway behind us as the celebration music blares around us and he disappears from the corporate box. "FIRST ROUND'S ON ME! CELEBRATE WITH YOUR CAPTAIN AT RIDGEVIEW TAVERN!"

I'm going to kill Blake. Slowly. Painfully. Right after I figure out why my stomach is doing backflips and my heart is trying to escape through my throat.

"Oh my God," Natalie wheezes, finally catching her breath. "That was... that was..."

"Nothing," I say quickly. Too quickly. "That was nothing."

"Nothing?" She arches a perfectly manicured brow. "Sophia, the captain of the Icehawks just blew you a kiss on live television.Across the country.You're already viral!"

As if on cue, my phone buzzes again. And again. And again.

I close my eyes and take a long, steadying breath. "I think I'm going to need something stronger than gold flakes in my drink tonight."

"Good thing we're heading to Ridgeview," Natalie grins, looking entirely too pleased with this development.

I shake my head, standing up to follow Natalie as she grabs her coat and hands me mine. But before I can take a step, Big Mike catches my arm.

“Sophia,” he says, tone weirdly serious after such an emphatic victory on home ice.

I pause. “What’s up?”

He exhales, rubbing a hand down his face. “I know you’ve had trouble settling in, but… that video? The one of you and Blake? It’s going off.”

Really? I hadn't noticed.

I force a polite smile, even as my stomach churns. "Thanks for looking out for the engagement metrics."

"Looking out?" Big Mike's eyebrows shoot up as he steps closer, lowering his voice despite the noise of the fans cheering the team off the ice. "Kid, you don't understand. We've been trying to boost real engagement for years. Not just likes and shares – actual emotional investment from our fanbase. Remember why we hired you? Now suddenly, the whole damn internet wants to know who the mystery woman is that got our stoic captain to crack a genuine smile."

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