Page 108 of Fear of Falling

“What was that about?” Tasha whispered.

“Not a clue,” I replied.

We took our seats, with Lydia at one end, followed by Tasha, Me and then Mila, with Mateo and Landon behind us.

“Why didn’t Evelyn come?” I asked Mateo over my shoulder.

“With the team playing theBlizzardsmom knew not to come.”

“What’s wrong with theBlizzards?” Tasha asked.

Mateo grinned and leaned forward. “Let me tell you darling.” Both her and I raised our eyebrows at the endearment.

“The Blizzards and the Knights have a lifelong rivalry. Every time they play each other, someone gets into a huge fight,” he explained. “Usually more than one.”

I already knew of the rivalry, but hearing Mateo say it made my stomach churn. Wyatt can’t get hurt again, he’s finally back to his old self.

“Bryton told me about some new player on the other team that’s known for getting in fights every game, regardless of who they’re playing,” Mila added.

“So, basically a bunch of men fighting to show dominance,” Lydia supplied.

“Have you never been to a game before?” Landon suddenly asked, though it came out more like a taunt than a question.

“No. And?” Lydia turned and looked at him, her eyebrow haughtily raised, seemingly impervious to Landon’s intimidating stare.

“Don’t worry if they come too close. I’ll protect you beautiful ladies,” Mateo butted in, cutting the tension. I grinned at Mateo. The kid knew no boundaries. Personally, I found it funny and by the grins on my friend’s faces I could tell they did too. If he was older, it would be a different story.

A few minutes later, the stadium lights dimmed, and the start of the game was announced.

“Damn, they’re playing rough tonight,”Mila said, both of us wincing as one of our players took a particularly hard hit. I knew the Blizzards and the Toronto Knights were rivals but watching it in person was a whole different thing.

At first, the Knights were playing friendly-ish, but the Blizzards instantly came out of the gate with hard hits. Hits that the refs should have called them out for. At almost every turn, they slammed our players into the glass or tripped them.

Wyatt managed to avoid some of the harder hits, mostly thanks to Trevor and Bryton. The two did their jobs covering Wyatt, but damn, they took some nasty blows. The last guy who’d slammed Bryton hard into the wall, had Mila out of her seat, screaming at the ref. I didn’t blame her at all. It felt like the refs were blind.

“Ow,” I groaned, closing one eye as I shrunk back in my seat. “That had to hurt.” It was hard to watch as one of our players was slow getting up off the ice. Everyone around us booed and yelled as the ref ignored what was an illegal hit.

The players barreled down the ice as Bryton expertly handled the puck in front of him, Wyatt and Trevor right by him. It was still incredible to watch the three of them play together, like they were one and knew exactly what the other would do next. All three moved on the ice so fast, weaving in and around players as they neared the goalie.

I held my breath, Mila beside me doing the same, as Bryton brought his stick back and flicked it forward. The speed andprecision were as spot on as Wyatt’s. I lost sight of the puck as it flew towards the goalie, a mess of players in the way.

A small cannon sound echoed around the arena, followed by deafening cheers. Score. Unbelievably, I could hear Mila’s screams above those of the crowd.

“I sleep with him!”she screamed, and the two girls sitting on the other side of her sent her weird looks. Of course, Mila didn’t give a shit as she cheered her boyfriend on, not afraid to tell everyone Bryton belonged to her. It was one of the things I liked about Mila in the short time I’d know her—she was unapologetically herself.

Turning my attention back to the ice, my eyes landed on Wyatt immediately. I probably should’ve paid more attention to what the other players were doing, but I only had eyes for my man. It was hard not to when he looked so good in his uniform.

Also, the fact I know he looks even better out of it.

I was so busy thinking of all the ways to congratulate him on his win tonight, that I almost missed the two players hurtling towards us. Yanked from my thoughts, I realized one of those players was Wyatt.

With wide eyes, I watched in horror as one of the Blizzards players violently slammed Wyatt against the plexiglass in front of me. The boom that sounded from the impact shook my bones as the plexiglass rattled. I wasn’t even thinking as I stood up and banged the glass with my fist.

“What the fuck!” I slammed the glass over and over as I yelled. “That was an illegal hit, you asshole!”

I could barely see the guy's face underneath his helmet, but I knew he was staring at me.

“Play like a fucking adult you piece of shit!” I honestly didn’t know I was capable of the anger I felt, but the thought of anyone hurting Wyatt infuriated me. A tapping on the glass turned myattention away from number 46, and as I met Wyatt’s blue eyes, I felt my rage abate.

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