Page 176 of Until We Burn
“Do you want some water, honey?”
I nod my head. Diana hands me the glass of water on the nightstand and passes me my anxiety meds. The combination relieves the aching knots binding under my skin. I settle back into the pillows. Diana lays her head on my chest. I breathe in the faded scent of her flowery, vanilla perfume.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she asks.
There’s no words. Just a whirlpool of emotions spinning and swallowing me up.
I don’t realize I’m crying until Diana kisses my tears away. She whispers how much she loves me between every kiss, stirring up the urge to lose myself in her and get out of my own damn head for just a little a while.
“Hey, princess?”
“Yes?”
I gulp. “Would it be weird if I asked for some stress relief right now?”
She smiles, slow and wicked. “Kainoa Mason-Maiau, are you asking me todo you?”
I chuckle faintly. “I don’t think I’m alone in that, am I?”
Diana left the HMG a week ago and I know she’s been worrying about what her father might do to retaliate.
She shakes her head before her words caress my skin, warm and tempting. “Absolutely not.”
Desire burns hot in my blood as Diana kisses up my neck. Her lips hover and brush over mine. Her hand trails beneath my sweats, coaxing a deep groan out of me. She giggles. “We can say it’s for old times’ sake.”
I smile into the kiss. Diana yelps when I hook her legs around my waist. Then she’s kissing me again. My hands draw off her shirt beforethe rest of our clothes come off. Quietly, under the light of the early morning, Diana empties every thought out of my head until all I can feel and comprehend is her.
It was enough to keep me steady and calm by the time the Frozen Four rolled around.
Adrenaline runs high at Niketas Stadium. Built into the middle of the football field is a hockey rink that’s styled like the NHL Stadium Series: the grass area surrounds the plexiglass and the stands stretch up high. Vipers and Griffins fans scream and wave their pom poms, cowbells, and posters that clash around us in a sea of green and red.
Luke, Rowan, and I warm up by passing the puck back and forth. My focus sharpens every sense, every reflex when I catch the words flashing on the bright screens surrounding the stadium.
Frozen Four 2025.
All eyes are on this game. General managers of every major team in the NHL are going to be watching us tonight, which means it’s my last shot to prove a point and fight for the life I’ve always dreamed about.
Memories of Coach Clark’s pre-game speech fuel the fire under my skin.
Like I told you boys at the start of this season, there is no one else like you. Through pain and struggle, you still fought, you still persevered. Tonight, gentlemen, you are going to claim it all!
With only five minutes left in warm-up, Rowan and Luke skate over to me.
Rowan grinds to a stop beside me and bumps my shoulder. “How are you feeling, man?”
Grief weighs heavy in my chest when I look back at the boys. “Tonight is our last game together.”
Their faces fall.
Because Rowan took time off in third year to do a co-op, he and Luke still have two more semesters at DHU. After that, they’re going to play for the Vancouver Phoenix. Any chance of us playing together on the ice past this point is going to become impossible.
I don’t fucking know how time passes so fast that we go from scraped-up kids begging our parents for new hockey sticks to playing our last game together.
Rowan claps a hand on my shoulder with a fierce, unwavering strength. “Look, I know today marks four years since the rumors broke out. But if thisisthe last game we’re playing together, I want you to know I’m proud of you, Kai.”
“So am I,” Luke says. “No matter how many times you and Row decimate my pride.”
“I don’t care if the media or the fucking general managers don’t notice your performance. You’ve worked hard through everything that has tried to keep you off the ice,” Rowan continues. “You deserve to be here, and you deserve to go even farther.”
