Page 84 of Bad Pucking Roommate

“Oh, hell no.” Niko shakes his head. “Hell,no. We are not losing this game after we’ve dominated two periods.”

“No, we’re not. Find another gear, boys,” Luca tells the bench. “If they win tonight, the momentum is in their favor and we could easily find ourselves in a game seven. Do not let it get to that point.”

Tired yet pissed to have given up the advantage, we get into position for the faceoff. Luca wins it and passes to me, and I skate through bodies on my way to the goal. But their defense is playing too close to the goal to give me a clear shot, so I send a pass back to Niko.

Around and around, we move the puck, taking shots even when there isn’t an opening on the off chance it’ll go in. But nothing does.

We switch out lines to get a breather, finding ourselves back on the ice with only two minutes left. Just like the last exchange they seize the opportunity to drive toward our goal as our first line gets back inthe game. The whole field converges on our end of the rink, and in an effort to clear it out Niko gets a rare icing call.

Back at our end for the faceoff, Luca crouches down, ready to spring into action. As soon as the puck drops, he’s in motion, winning the standoff as he’s been doing all night and flicking it in my direction.

I take off toward the goal, skating faster than should be possible at this late stage in the game. But with most of the field behind me I know this is the moment to seal our win, and I’m determined to see it through.

As I cross center ice there’s only one defender between me and the goalie. Carlson, the guy whose dirty hit sent me into the boards months ago.

I can see in his eyes that he wants to take me out again, but he won’t risk the penalty with a questionable hit. His only option is to go for the puck, and while I could try to fake him out and go around him, he’ll be expecting that. Even if I manage to fool him, it’ll take just a fraction of a second for him to recover, and he won’t be so far out of position that he can’t prevent me from getting a clean shot.

As I’m debating which direction to fake, I sense a tingling sensation on my left. My body recognizes it immediately, and I commit to going right while tapping the puck behind me, right into Luca’s path. No sooner does it hit his stick than he’s fired off a shot, and since Carlson’s locked on me so tight he doesn’t notice I don’t have the puck until it slips between the goalie and the post.

The light flares to life, signaling a goal, and we’re surrounded by our teammates before we can get to each other. My ears ring as the volume in the arena goes supersonic, and the guys whoop right in my ear.

Almost as soon as it starts, our celebration ends, because there’s still a minute left to play. The other team pulls their goalie, and we battle it out with a man down at our end of the rink, until Niko manages tosteal the puck and take it down for a shot on the empty net, sealing our win.

When the clock hits zero our bench clears, the entire team rushing toward us with open arms. Just before they get to us, I find Luca, and he wraps me up, squeezing the air from my already spent lungs. I barely even notice as I return the embrace.

“We did it,” he speaks directly into my ear, so we can’t be overheard. “We did it, baby. Our names are gonna be on the cup forever. Together.”

I barely manage to squeak out a breathless ‘I love you’ before the swarm engulfs us, and we fall to the ground in a heap of ecstatic bodies.

Chapter twenty-nine

Luca

“Are you sure this is what you want?” Justus asks as we pull into Coach’s driveway. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t suspect anything, and I don’t mind keeping things a secret until your contract is up next year.”

It’s been three weeks since we won the cup, and between parades, interviews and the birth of my goddaughter, there hasn’t been time to address my future with the Bulldogs. That ends today though, because it’s my turn to have the cup next week, and I intend to have Justus by my side the whole time.

I can’t do that if I can’t claim him as my boyfriend, though. Well, technically I could, but I have a feeling the truth would come out before the week is up if he’s glued to my side when I take it down to my folks house, or I’m glued to his when we take it to his grandpa’s grave.

“We’ve been through this, babe. We’re more important than another year on the ice. And as much as I’d like another year with youas my teammate, hell maybe even several if my body holds up, I’m not doing the whole closet thing any longer. Either they’re cool with it, and I play or they’re not and I retire. If it ends up being retirement, going out on top isn’t a bad thing.”

“Me being on the road while you’re at home could be.”

“Maybe I’ll just become a groupie who follows the team all over the country then.”

“That could get expensive.”

My boyfriend, ever the frugal spender.

“I think I can handle it.” I snort as I drag him to the front door and ring the bell.

As the door opens I feel Justus’s hand twitch, almost like it just occurred to him our fingers are entwined.Oops.

Coach takes one look at us—not even registering the fact that we’re holding hands—and immediately starts to turn pink. “Fuck,” he mutters as he spins away and walks inside, though at least he left the door open.

Tugging Justus behind me, I follow Coach to his family room, where he’s standing at a wet bar in the corner with a glass of amber liquid in his hand. He slams it back, pours another, and tosses that back as well before lifting his gaze to the ceiling. “Again? What did I do to deserve this?”

“What?” I look at Justus, finding his expression just as confused as mine.

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