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Whoever posted that video sucks. I hope they’ll be banned from the rink in the future!

It went on like that for ages.

“Wow,” Arne breathed, tears sparkling in his eyes. “Veitsreuth Cougar, though.” He cringed.

“Well, they’re not wrong. Ouch! Misconduct!” I cried when he poked me in the ribs.

“I need to make the most of it. I’m already benched.” With a wide grin, he leaned in and kissed me. “Let’s go home, baby.”

“We should go tell the team.” I checked my watch. “They’re bound to be in the locker room now.”

“You’re right. They should hear it from us. Thanks, Finn.”

We both shook hands with our social media manager.

Hand in hand, we entered the locker room, facing all our teammates in various states of getting dressed after showering.

“Oh, are they finally admitting that they are fucking?” Bo asked Decks conversationally as his face appeared from the depths of his hoodie.

What?

“Oh come on, Raven,” the massive green Troll chuckled. “Everyone realised what was going on. Right?” Bo waved his hand around the locker room. Most of them nodded or shrugged apologetically.

“Seriously?” Arne’s voice came out as a squeak.

“Yeah. Decks and I had a bet on how long it would take you to tell us.” His face faltered, and he palmed my shoulder. “I’m sorry they took the choice from you, though.”

“It’s okay,” Arne answered in my stead. “Keeping this a secret sucked so much.”

“I know. Ollie’s and my situation was a bit different, but it was good not having to hide anymore.” Bo gave us a soft smile. “Happy for you.”

“Don’t get sentimental, old man,” Guns quipped and pulled a functional shirt down over his ribbed stomach, hiding his countless tattoos from view. “Come on, let’s get going.”

“Where to?”

“We’re going to have dinner together and then go to the Pink Chicken.”

“What the heck is the Pink Chicken?”

“A new club. We’re all going, even Guns.”

Our goalie shrugged. “I think we all need a drink or two.”

“Probably just one for you, Guns.” Nik grinned. We all knew our goalie was a lightweight. Give him a second beer and he was tipsy as fuck.

Dinner passed in a haze and before I knew it we were at that new club in central Veitsreuth. Our group of huge ass hunky guys—except for Ollie, who was positively tiny compared to the rest of us—drew the eyes of everyone. I didn’t care. It was finally over. Or only just beginning for Arne and me.

“Be right back.” Squeezing my hand, he left for the bathroom. My eyes lingered on him as he walked away.

Mine.

An anthem-like song started playing. It had been a while since I had a tune stuck in my head, but I knew this was one I would hunt down and listen to until I sucked every bit of serotonin out of it.

There was a wave of euphoria rising in me until I wanted to shout my happiness to the world. A grin tugged on my face. Then muscular arms wrapped around my neck. Arne’s blazing eyes met mine for a moment before he slammed his lips on mine and kissed me hard.

The world went silent for a heartbeat before the deafening music hit my ears again. I grinned into the kiss, hugging my man back. He broke our connection and brought his forehead to mine. His love flooded through the mate bond, and the rising wave boiled over. I lifted him up, spinning on the spot until we were both dizzy.

‘I love you,’ he mouthed, beaming at me.