Page 63 of Cross Check My Heart
“Go do what you gotta do. I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch.” He pulls her in for a side hug and says something to her that none of us can hear. A flash of sadness crossed over her features, but she shakes it off just as quickly. Paige must have seen it too because she turns to the rest of our group and demands they lead the way.
Paige follows as Landon leads her and Arianna toward their seats with Dean trailing closely behind. I hang back slightly, making sure to keep enough distance between us, even though every bit of me is aching to touch her.
“You came to a hockey game.” I keep my voice low enough for only her to hear. Even with the space between us, having her here eases some of the tension I’ve been carrying around all day. Lilly smiles up at me, her eyes shining with emotion before she looks forward again.
“I figured it was time to finally see how my dad does at his job.” She spares me a quick side glance. Her cheeks flush slightly as she clears her throat.
“And?” She tries to hide her smile, shaking her head. When I don’t respond she lets out a dramatic huff.
“Fine. And I wanted to see you play. I was more than a little curious and I figured it might be nice to have a familiar face in the crowd tonight. Considering who you guys are playing against.” She fidgets with the hem of her shirt as she glances around. My throat tightens as I process what she said.
“You…wanted to be here for me?” She nods, chewing on her bottom lip as she sneaks a glance at me. She slows her pace a bit more when she realizes that we’re almost to their seats. She drops her hand to graze her knuckles across my hand as she faces her seat.
“This can’t be easy for you. And while I know youcoulddo this on your own, I hoped I could show you that you’re not.” She shrugs, as if her words and actions were nothing. When really, her being here for me means everything.
Flexing my fingers, I graze the side of her hand.
“And you’re wearing my number.” That cute blush deepens.
“They were just laying around, figured I should put them to use.” I chuckle, leaning down slightly.
“You look hot as fuck with my name on you.” That earns me a whack on my bicep as she laughs in response. I clench my hands into fists, reminding myself once more to not haul her against me and kiss the shit out of her. I stop far enough away from the entrance to where her seats are, turning fully to her.
“Thank you for being here.” Her smile softens at my words and she glances toward the ice. “I don’t think anything will happen, but if it does, it’s calming to know that all I’ll have to do is turn around to see you.”
Paige yells her name, and I motion for her to go catch up.
“I’ll see you after the game, Sunshine.”
Slamming down onto the bench, I reach for my water bottle and push back the unease that’s still going to war in my stomach. With fifteen minutes left in the game, I feel like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Like I have been this whole game, I glance over my shoulder, unable to keep my eyes off Lilly and some of the tension settles. Only, unlike all the other times where I’ve turned to find that she’s already been watching me, her attention is on the person a few rows in front of her at the glass. Lilly has one hand covering her mouth, physically trying to hold back her laugh, while the other is reaching to the side to tap Paige’s arm. Arianna and Paige are not as subtle about containing their laughter. I follow their line of sight and almost choke on my water.
Pressed against the glass facing the team benches is a woman with silver blonde hair in loose curls around her face, a bobcat painted on one cheek and the number seventeen on the other. Bright red and yellow eyeshadow frames wide blue eyes that excitedly stare next to me as she waves and slaps one hand against the glass a few times before pointing to the sign above her head.
“Looks like you got an admirer.” Laughing, I nudge Greyson and motion to the woman. He turns slowly, reluctantly moving his attention away from the game. When he reads the sign that says, “I wish I only got two minutes for hooking.” Grey laughs with me, shaking his head. When the woman notices his attention on her, she screams and fumbles to turn the sign around. I hear the annoyed groan from Grey as we read “Greyson, I’d let you puck me!” Glancing at him, he shakes his head as his smile turns pained while he waves to the woman, making her freak out even more.
“Does she actually think that will work?” I laugh, turning my attention back to the game after one last glance at Lilly.
The next two minutes pass in the blink of an eye and I move on mostly muscle memory as I take the ice again. We’re winning three to two right now, but there’s still thirteen minutes for that to flip in the Cougars favor. I haven’t missed the fact that Josh has not once been on the ice at the same time as me. Whetherthat was Coach James or Coach Owen’s doing or just pure coincidence, I don’t know.
Being on the ice now, I try to focus on keeping the puck away from our net as one of the Cougar players skate toward Dean with the puck. With a side glance, I watch as Landon falls back slightly to adjust to the angle they’re coming down the ice at. Moving to fill in the gap comes by instinct as I notice the player with the puck heading toward Landon’s side of the rink. One of the reasons Coach had pushed for the six of us to hang out and bond was for this moment right here. None of us need to say anything out loud to know what move is about to go into effect.
The Cougar player gets closer to the net and passes it to the player on his left, only for Reid to intercept the shot. He moves quickly, dodging the forward that’s on his heel and passing the puck toward Carter. Without needing to say anything, he watches as I wraparound the net to meet him. Passing me the puck in a sly move that the Cougar on his tail doesn’t catch, I circle around and glance toward Greyson across the rink. Inhaling deeply, I hit the puck and set up a perfect tape to tape to his stick.
A blur of blue and red slams into me before I can even see if the puck made it to him to take the shot. The wind leaves my lungs as I’m smashed against the glass. When the weight of the person doesn’t leave me immediately, I twist, shoving my stick between us to force them off me. Thinking whoever it is must have just been moving too fast and didn’t slow down. I flex my shoulders and turn to see Grey taking the shot. Just as he hits the puck into the net, I’m shoved to the side and slammed against the glass again, where they hold me.
For a moment, I almost think it’s Dean crashing into me to celebrate the goal. But when I turn my attention to say something to him, my blood runs cold.
Staring at me through the visor of his helmet, nostrils flaring as he glares at me, is Josh. Briefly, something akin to sorrow flashes across his features before the scowl sets back into place.
“What. The. Hell.” That’s all I can manage to choke out as he pins me in place. The sound of horns and screams become muffled as I turn, not wanting to give him my full attention as I shove him away. Blood pounds in my ears as I frantically look over his shoulder toward Dean. He’s smiling and hugging Reid as they both turn toward me, their smiles immediately evaporating when they see who has me cornered. Josh shoves me against the wall again with his stick, forcing my attention back to him.
“I’m fucking talking to you!” My brows furrow as I scoff at him.
“Was me leaving the team not a clear enough statement thatIdon’t want to talk toyou.” I shove him off me again, forcing myself up to my full height on my skates as I push off the wall. I pride myself on always keeping my head in the game, it’s like a switch that I can turn on and put a barrier between life problems and hockey. But considering I’ve already been on edge because of him, this shithead is really testing the strength of it right now. Shaking my head, I move to go around him. As I try to pass, he snatches my arm and I rip it away, turning to get into his face as I seethe.
“This is not the fucking time or place.” I’m borderline fuming, my blood thrumming as thoughts of Sarah start sneaking through my game day barrier. He doesn’t let me skate away. Instead, he slams his stick into my skate and pulls my foot from under me. On my fall to the ice, I at least have enough thought to reach out and grab his jersey to pull him down with me.
