Page 187 of Game Misconduct
Dean’s absence doesn’t even feel satisfying. It just feels...quiet.
“Sloane, you made it,” one of the board members says as I enter, smiling too hard. “Big night.”
I nod, lips tight. “It is.”
I make the rounds like I’m not hollowed out. Shake hands. Smile when I have to. Pretend like I’m not scanning the ice every few seconds for a glimpse of him.
And then I see him.
Maddox.
Helmet on, visor low, jersey stretched tight across his shoulders as he circles the far side of the rink like a predator locked in.
Every part of him looks like he was built for this moment—sharp, strong, dangerous. The crowd chants his name before the puck’s even dropped.
And I stand there, arms folded, pretending I’m just another executive watching her player prepare.
Not the woman who kissed him in the dark.
Not the woman who fell in love with him too late.
Someone laughs behind me. “Think he’ll announce it tonight?”
“Retirement? Hell, I’ve been hearing that rumor all week.”
My stomach sinks.
He hasn’t told anyone. Not officially. But Coach Holt informed me of Maddox’s intentions.
I stare down at the ice, pulse throbbing behind my ribs. Maddox skates to the bench, jaw set, and my throat tightens.
I don’t know what tonight is going to bring.
But I know one thing for sure.
I’m not ready for goodbye.
The game moves like a blur, but I don’t miss a single second.
Every time Maddox hits the ice, my spine goes rigid.
I feel every blow he takes like it lands on my own skin. The sound of a body slamming into the boards. The whistle slicing through the noise.
His name rising from the stands like it belongs to them.
Because it does.
They love him. Even after everything.
The scandal. The fallout. The tension that’s followed him like smoke.
He’s still theirs.
And he plays like it.
Aggressive. Controlled. Beautifully brutal. Like a man with nothing left to lose and everything still worth fighting for.
The board members beside me cheer when he slides into a split save and smothers the rebound before the winger can pounce, their laughter cutting through the suite like static.
