Page 47 of Pucking Tangled
Three…two…one?—
BZZZZZZT.
The crowd went wild. Cowbells rang as sticks flew into the air and gloves scattered across the ice. They’d done it.
Game 4 was in the bag with a 3 to 1 win over the Firebirds.
He slowly blew out a breath, letting all of the tension finally roll off his shoulders. He wasn’t just relieved that they won. He was proud.
Everyone on the team played their hearts out tonight.
The guys were disciplined. Focused. And ruthless when they needed to be.
Tonight they played playoff hockey exactly the way they should have been playing all along.
A switch had flipped somewhere and it felt like suddenly the Barn Raisers were in it to win.
The guys crashed together at center ice, hugging, back-slapping, shouting over each other. Waylon grabbed Luca in a headlock, shaking him like a younger brother, all his earlier frustration and grumpiness gone in the moment.
Casey skated over to Owen, his grin splitting wide as they bumped gloves.
“That’s three down,” Casey said, breathless.
Owen smiled. “One more in this round to go.”
The weight of it wasn’t lost on him. Theyhad towin the next one to end it. But tonight—tonight they could savor this.
His eyes flicked up instinctively toward the seats. He didn’t have to search long.
There she was.
Mia.
Bundled up, face glowing, caught mid-laugh as Brooke shouted something animated beside her. Mia’s hands clapped together as she watched them celebrate.
It wasn’t just him who noticed.
He’d caught each one of the guys reacting to Mia’s arrival tonight—subtle, but telling.
Waylon’s gaze drifted toward the glass more than usual. The way his jaw tightened after every shift, like he was barely holding something back.
Luca—hell, the kid had played lights out tonight, skating with a kind of quiet fire Owen rarely saw from him. All because he had the balls to ask her to show up. All because she was there. Watching him. Cheering him on.
And Casey…
Casey was the one Owen kept circling back to.
He saw the faint shadows behind Casey’s smiles every time he looked Mia’s way. The protective aura projecting off of him the entire game. Owen could read Casey like an open book and he knew…Casey was finally coming around to the idea of there being something more there worth pursuing.
Owen wondered if Mia even realized the power she held. The gravity that she possessed, pulling them all into her orbit.
They could dance around the obvious all they wanted.
This wasn’t just playful flirtation anymore.
It wasn’t harmless fun between roommates.
They needed to talk. All of them. Before it got messy.
