Page 141 of The Obvious Check

Scotty’s there in a heartbeat, bulldozing through the players as his stick stretches for the loose puck, which is knocked away in the last second. Southern Collegiate’s defense clears it down the ice, but Dash is on it, stopping it dead before it can get into the goal and flicking it toward Brooks.

We regroup and I dig in, sprinting up the ice, and my lungs burn as I try to break away from our opposition.

Brooks sees I’m open and passes me the puck.

This is it. One chance. It’s all I’ve got.

I drop my shoulder, selling the fake left so hard that the defender bites completely. His weight shifts, committing to thewrong direction, and I cut right so sharp that my skate blade carves a perfect arc on the ice.

The goalie’s eyes widen as I close the distance. He’s good, SoCol doesn’t recruit scrubs, but he’s also trapped between staying upright and dropping into position.

Time fractures. The crowd disappears.

It's just me, the puck, and sixty feet of frozen possibility.

I pull back my stick and fire. The puck rockets off my stick, straight to the top corner, and when the red light flashes, the crowd erupts.

Erik and Scotty crash into me in celebration.

“BRIGHT! BRIGHT! BRIGHT!”

The chant thunders through the arena, and the only person I care to look at is Savannah. She’s hugging Madison, beaming as she celebrates. When our eyes connect, I tap my fingers against my chest, then point toward her.

For you, Pretty Girl.

Because it’s true. Everything I do is for her, and seeing her face light up in the stands, watching her jump and scream my name with that beautiful smile, knowing I’m the one making her smile, makes everything worth it.

We have a meeting with that lawyer about Adley tomorrow, which is another step toward giving Savannah and her sister the reunion they deserve.

Everything is falling into place. The game, the adoption, our future. It’s all working out, which makes going to the fight feel less like suicide and more like a necessity, because when you have everything to lose, you fight twice as hard to protect it. Luke thinks he can threaten my wife, mess with our family, tear down everything we've built together?

He's about to learn exactly how wrong he is.

The prospect of walking back into his world, of putting myself in his crosshairs again, should terrify me. Instead, it fills me with purpose.

I glance up at Savannah in the stands, her eyes shining with pride and love, and make her a silent promise.

Whatever happens in that ring, I'm coming home to her.

I have to.

I’m called off the ice for a line switch, and just like that, the rest of the game passes quickly. Southern Collegiate pushes us hard, which is expected. Their defense tightens and they manage to tie it up in the second period. We answer quickly with an assist from Erik and Scotty scoring easily.

Unsurprisingly, Dash is like having a wall in the net. He shuts down almost every shot that comes his way, doing moves to make impossible saves, which I can only thank Bertha, his foam roller, for. I may make fun of him about it, but that thing keeps him damn nimble to the point where you’d think he was toying with the opposition.

By the final minutes of the third, we’re still up by one.

That’s when they decide to pull their goalie so it’s six on five. Chaos. That’s the only way to describe the last minute of the game. Bodies fly, sticks clash, and they hammer us in our zone.

My focus is razor-sharp, waiting for any opportunity to present itself. When the puck’s loose, I snag it and cut hard to the boards, skating full speed toward the empty net.

Someone slams into me from behind, making me stumble, but I manage to twist my body just enough to flick the puck forward. It slides, slow at first, then picks up speed, crossing the blue line, drifting closer… closer…

It hits the back of the net.

Game. Over.

I barely have time to react before my teammates are on me, slamming me against the glass, shouting. The final buzzer blares, and the arena explodes around us.

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