Page 103 of Puck You Very Much
“This again?”
“The stakes are too high to ever accept defeat. I want you to sit there and think about how much you hate them, and how glorious it’ll be when we serve them their heads on fucking platters.”
I skated away from Levi.
“Hey bro, was it something I said?” he asked.
The more I listened to Levi, the more I dreaded this game. I wanted to get it over and done with in the worst way.
No matter what Levi told me, I would have Zane on my mind. I would say nothing more to him because I couldn’t speak the truth. Levi’s jaw would probably drop to know that Zane was bigger than the championship to me.
41
ZANE
No one can say that I put myself ahead of the team. Yeah, I was dealing with personal issues, but I was all-in on winning a championship. That meant forgetting about everything. When Jakob and I parted ways, I totally meant to make this a permanent arrangement. My teammates didn’t know I’d ever crossed enemy lines (repeatedly). They didn’t know I’d ever experienced even a flicker of attraction to another man. That I could keep to myself. Matter of fact, it wouldn’t even remain a pleasant memory. I would strike him out of my mind as fast as I could.
I’d stayed quiet leading up to the game, though. On one hand, that’s normal enough for me. Whether it’s a regular game or the championship, I focused so intensely on the ice that the rest of the world fell away. Only my focus felt different this time. The entire worlddidn’tfall away. I was just much quieter than normal, ignoring my teammates who were going over pre-game strategy.
The next three hours would decide my fate. I would either win it all, with a chance to become the hockey player I’d alwayswanted to be, or I would lose and watch my dreams go up in smoke.
The crowd cheered as we took the ice. The fans in the stands looked like a gigantic blur. I felt a knot form in my stomach but ignored it. You can’t let little things get the best of you. Same principle as when I saw Jakob out there. I turned away from him instantly and skated back down the ice. No need to get sentimental.
Still, I glanced over my shoulder and saw the guy who’d punched me—no, wait, the guy who I’d kissed. The guy whose bed I’d shared countless times. He was beautiful; I couldn’t help noticing that.
He looked back at me, but I turned away, pretending he didn’t exist.
I felt like a hand had throttled my throat. Yeah, I know, I said I tried to strike my memories completely out of my mind. Problem was, I couldn’t do that with Jakob right freaking there.
Three hours. Just three hours, barring overtime or a shootout, and this ordeal would be over and done with.
The horn sounded and both teams lined up at center ice for the national anthem. As the song played, I focused my eyes on the flag as much as possible. Still, I couldn’t help shifting my eyes a little. That wasn’t enough to catch a glimpse of Jakob, though. I glanced over my shoulder, knowing how much it would irk my teammates.
When the anthem finally ended, the crowd cheered again, and AC/DC’s “Back in Black” pumped through the speakers. Our teams lined up for face-off. I can’t lie to you; I thought I was going to throw up. Don’t worry. Feeling like I might get sick before the game was as par for the course as falling silent.
I wanted to have a one-on-one against Jakob but was denied when Jax took the face off. When the puck dropped, Jax swept it up, passing it to me almost immediately. That meathead LeviDunn practically rocketed toward me. Yes, he was insanely fast for a guy his size, but I wouldn’t back down.
I braced myself for a hit. No, I did more than that. I would lower my shoulder and drive it into him, to show Mr. Levi Dunn that I could give as good as I got. Reality sank in the moment he collided with me.
Have you ever been in a car accident? I was t-boned by an old lady once. The shot Levi delivered reminded me a lot of that.
At least he didn’t knock me flat on my ass. He knocked me off kilter, and Icould’vewound up flat on my ass, but windmilled my arms to help keep myself upright. Nevertheless, Levi jarred the puck loose from me and snatched it up. I chased him down the ice but, amazingly, never caught up with him.
Levi took a shot at the net but missed, striking the boards behind the goalie. I dove for the puck, determined to take it back, but wouldn’t you know it, Jakob Martin swooped right in and grabbed what was mine.
Son of a bitch.
This didn’t have to be all bad. I could take the opportunity to show myex-boyfriend who was in charge—and who was the better hockey player. So, I chased him down the ice, lowered my shoulder, and drove him right into the boards.
The shot knocked Jakob off his feet, but he regained them swiftly enough. Whistles blew and both teams engulfed us at light speed. Jakob didn’t try to fight me, but that didn’t mean the rest of the Larkin Lions wouldn’t try to stir up shit.
Look, I didn’t care that I’d drawn first blood, but look at my point of view. To me,Jakobdrew first blood with that sucker punch at the Colter Bay Grill. That was what it all came down to. Part of me still felt royally pissed off about what happened and wanted to set things to rights.
When the refs separated all of the players, one zebra hooked my arm and led me to the penalty box. He was blathering about rough play or some shit. Like I gave a fuck?
The ref announced a two-minute roughing penalty, and I couldn’t have cared less. I played rough-and-tough hockey, especially against wuss bags like Jakob and his crew of assholes. If he couldn’t handle that, then he didn’t have any business on the ice.
I seated myself in the box, wearing a ginormous smile, and watched my teammates. I knew the penalty would be totally worth it. Someone had to show the Larkin Lions who was in charge, and it might as well have been me.
