Page 40 of Puck Struck
The drill resets. We repeat. Three more run-throughs. Every time, we fall into rhythm like we’ve been doing this for years.
But underneath it, something else bubbles up. Every time Cam brushes my arm, every casual look he throws over his shoulder, every smirk that lingers a second too long…it’s carnally infused static, and I can’t ignore it anymore.
I want him.
And not just on the ice.
During the water break, I skate over to Coach where he stands near the boards.
“Hey, Coach, you seeing it too?” I ask, trying to keep my tone even.
“Foster?”
“Yeah.”
Coach nods. “Hell of a player. But he’s off today.”
“Off how?”
He shrugs. “Not sure yet. Something’s in his head. And it’s not hockey.”
I glance over my shoulder. Cam’s talking to Tate, laughing at something, but there’s tension in his jaw. A stiffness in his shoulders that no one else on the team seems to notice.
Except me.
Because I’ve been there, wanting to hide my own shit.
“Keep an eye on him,” Coach says. “The mentorship’s working. Don’t let it fall apart now.”
I nod, throat tight.
But something in me is already unraveling.
When I get home hours later, my body exhausted and near the breaking point, I walk in to a house filled with the scent of tomato and garlic. Ethan’s on the couch watching cartoons with a blanket over his lap.
“You’re late,” Tessa calls out.
“Practice ran longer than I expected.” I drop my bag by the front door.
“You look like hell,” she says when I walk into the kitchen.
I grunt. “Add it to the list.”
She ladles soup into two bowls and puts one on the table in front of me. “Sit. Eat. Pretend you’re a functioning adult.”
Ethan walks into the kitchen. “Did Cam beat you again?”
Tessa smirks.
I groan. “He’s not that good.”
“Sure he’s not,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Want to try that again without gritting your teeth?”
My phone buzzes on the table. I glance down at the message on the screen. It’s from Carter.
Play It Forward needs extra hands to help clean up after an event tonight at the practice facility. Cam already said yes. You in?
Tessa sees me hesitate.
