Page 95 of Breakaway

Shaking it off, I moved to the side while they changed the goal and placed obstacles around the arena. The ref explained the rules, detailing how we would be graded this round.

“There’s a score for each efficiency in skating around the cones, hitting the targets, and the time to get through the course.”

Nodding that we understood, I was motioned to go first. The buzzer blared, and I took off, skating around the cones with my stick, making sure not to cut the edges too close. I knocked one over at the end but kept going, hitting the puck and skating around the obstacle to the next puck. I made three and missed one as I crossed the line at the end. Breathing hard, I skated over to the side where Reed was.

He gave me a big smile and handed me the water I was after. I drowned it down, not caring that it dribbled down my face. Wiping it off with the back of my hand, I gave it back to Reed. He smirked at me, making butterflies flutter in my stomach.

“What?” I asked when I couldn’t take it any longer.

“It’s hot watching you skate. I thought seeing you coach was a turn-on, but seeing you out on the ice as the crowd cheers your name… fucking orgasmic, Hen.”

My face heated as I let his words sink in. I’d never had a guy tell me they thought my skating and playing were hot before.

“Yeah?” I giggled, the nerves and adrenaline getting to me.

“Oh yeah. When you dropped onto the ice to stretch, I thought I would embarrass myself by coming in my pants.”

“What? Why?” I asked around with a chuckle.

“It looked like you were humping the ice. I’d never been so jealous of a sheet of frozen water before.” He smirked, my cheeks flushing even more.

“Whatever.” I waved him off as I returned to the center as Dakota gloated, letting me know he’d outscored me.

“It’s tied! It will all come down to the breakaway shootout challenge!”

Not ideal, but I’d known it could come down to this. It was why I’d been practicing with Maks and Susie all week. I just had to score three goals, and I won it. Three goals had never carried so much weight before.

Three goals, and I showed Dakota he wasn’t as good as he thought.

Three goals, and I proved hockey wasn’t just for men.

Three goals to redeem myself.

I wasn’t weak. I wasn’t inferior. I wasn’t less than.

Hope bloomed in my chest, and I gathered that feeling, using it to fuel my muscles. As long as I had hope, I could beat any foe. That was what hockey was all about.

Dakota and I faced off in the center of the ice, our eyes locked with one another. He held so much hatred I almost felt bad for him.

Almost.

But I didn’t.

He’d made his choices and continuously picked himself over anyone else. Dakota was nothing but a pretty boy with a bad attitude who’d been led to believe he was special just because he could skate.

And now I was going to prove he wasn’t.

The puck dropped, and the arena disappeared as I watched it flip over itself in slow motion. I watched Dakota tense, one skate moving in the direction he was preparing to go. Cutting in early, I slapped the puck out of the air before it hit the ice and skated around him in a perfect breakaway. While I could feel him on my tail, I knew I had the shot. I didn’t think; I just let my body take over as it struck the puck and sailed it into the goal.

The cherry on top lit up, the light spinning around as the goal made it in. Dakota sprayed me with his ice as he stopped inches from running into me.

“Real mature,” I huffed, rolling my eyes.

I turned my back on him and skated to the middle, ignoring his grumblings. The ref gave him a sharp look but didn’t say anything. He dropped the puck, and Dakota got this one, heading for the opposite goal. I reached out with my stick but was too far away, and he scored before I could stop him.

“Get used to that feeling. You’re going to be feeling it a lot,” he boasted as he pumped his stick in the air.

The crowd was quiet, giving me life as I returned to the center. The puck dropped again, and a fight between our sticks as we fought to secure it. Remembering his weakness, I took a chance to strike from the left and managed to wrestle it free, spinning and skating with it toward my goal. The puck soared across the line, giving me one up on him.

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