Page 12 of Breaking the Ice (Denver Stampede #6)

And tonight Dani would be in the stands, right behind my net.

I was probably more anxious about that than the actual game.

I wanted her to like hockey and enjoy watching me play, even though we weren’t really dating—something I’d had to remind myself more than once in the last week, especially after our surprisingly successful date last night.

We’d ended it with me kissing her cheek. She’d said we could kiss for real tonight when we had an audience, and that comment had rankled more than it should’ve.

And then I was mad at myself for feeling that way. This wasn’t real, but last night had been so enjoyable getting to know her, watching her laugh and finding out what made her tick.

I’d also enjoyed seeing Jenzy’s pissy comment on my Instagram post. Fucking idiot was so predictable.

Hopefully, tonight would further drive home the fact that Dani had moved on.

After the game, we were going to get our first real practice hanging out with the team—and in the public eye—at Tipsy. Trial by fire.

It would be fine.

***

I stood in the hallway, ready to lead the guys on to the ice for warm-ups. We’d done all of our chest-bumping goofy shit, and we were so ready.

The music pumped through the arena when we hit the ice.

I did my standard lap around our half of the ice, nodding to Utah’s starting goalie as I passed him doing his own lap, then skated behind my net.

The seats for Dani were empty, and I would have been lying if I said it didn’t feel like my stomach was falling.

Did she decide this was too much? I’d messaged her before I headed out to the arena, just to double-check, and had ended up interrupting her volunteer work at the teen center.

The woman was so fucking impressive, counseling kids at her job and volunteering with LGBTQ+ kids during her free time.

I was already planning to talk to Meredith, our head of PR, about setting something up to get tickets for the kids to come to a game and maybe getting the guys to come with me and volunteer at the youth center.

I wasn’t going to say anything to Dani until I got approval from Meredith, but I knew Cora was ready to help out.

Cora was the sister of one of the owners and also our captain’s girlfriend, and I’d briefly mentioned it to her and Tally after Dani and I had been texting about how she liked to spend her weekend. Cora helped run our team foundation.

“Tucks, you ready?” Micah asked, playfully bumping into my shoulder before I slid into position in front of the net.

“Dani isn’t here,” I muttered.

He leaned in. “What?”

“It’s nothing. Just, Dani was supposed to show up for the game.”

He grinned. “And so it really begins.” Then he took off one glove and did the two-finger motion from his eyes to mine. “Don’t get distracted.”

“Shut up, I won’t. I’m in the zone and ready to stop every puck you let through,” I teased.

“Oh fuck off, man. Sometimes I let them in so you don’t get bored just standing there.”

I chuckled. “Whatever you need to tell yourself, man.”

Skating into position in front of the net, I shifted from side to side in my crease, scraping the ice with my blades.

The guys starting firing warm-up shots on me, which I easily deflected.

I moved through all of the motions that I did for every game, dropping down in a butterfly, lifting my glove to catch a puck, and kept my eyes focused on the guys, on any tells they had before they took their shots.

Moving out of the blue paint, I did another half lap on our side of the ice and then dropped down near center ice to continue stretching, while trying not to look at the seat where Dani should be.

Then I skated to the bench and snagged the water bottle that Booksy held out for me.

I squirted the liquid into the air twice, took a sip, and squirted it once more into the air.

Then I dropped the bottle back into Booksy’s hands and headed toward my net.

Timmy had just finished clearing out all the pucks so the guys could start taking shots again.

Warm-ups ran just like normal, and after twenty minutes, we were heading back down the tunnel to our locker room.

I couldn’t stop myself from looking, but Dani’s seat was still empty. Had she gotten nervous and bailed? I wouldn’t blame her one bit because she hated being on display.

Once in the locker room, I walked over to our goalie corner to chat with Booksy and Stocks before Millsy came in for a final pep talk.

Utah had been playing decent and we wanted to finish out the preseason with a final win, so I needed to stop thinking about Dani and focus on doing my job.

Not that I’d lagged during the warm-ups, but it was game time and nothing else mattered.

***

A short while later, we headed back to the bench and I stepped onto the ice with the starting line, making my way toward where I always stood for the anthem and line announcement.

The lights were dim and I shifted from foot to foot as the anthem was sung.

Then the lights flashed throughout the arena, and I caught sight of Dani in her front-row seat just to the right of my net.

A smile split my face when she gave me a nod, and she smiled back. I lifted my gloved hand and waved, probably looking like a dork but not caring one bit.

“Looks like your girl showed after all,” Micah said, knocking his glove into my shoulder.

“Of course she did,” I stated like I hadn’t doubted her for a second. “Now, how about we win and you make me look good since she’s here?”

He barked out a laugh. “Thought it was fake dating.”

“Doesn’t mean I want to look like I suck in front of her. This is her first Stampede game. We owe it to her.”

“Of course. Wouldn’t want her to have a bad taste in her mouth about the team. She probably already got a bad taste when she had to kiss you.” Then he chuckled like he was amused with himself.

“Josie rubbing off on you too much?”

He winked. “No complaints over here.”

“You two done chitchatting so we can actually play?” Dom called out.

“Tucks’s girl is here. Had to help calm his nerves. Make him look like he knows what he’s doing in that net tonight, okay, boys?” Micah teased.

“Fuck off,” I muttered, but there was no malice in my tone.

“Should we let a few slip past so he can show off his skills?” Timmy asked.

“Just play the game you’re supposed to.” I skated back to my net while they all moved toward center ice for puck drop.

I pulled off my helmet and raked my hands through my hair before putting it back on. Then I grabbed my water bottle, squirted some water into my mouth, and tapped the bottle on the top of the net three times like I always did.

I knocked my stick against each side of my net, banging against the pipes three times each, muttered “we got this” and dropped down into my starting position, my focus trained on center ice.

Tally won the first face-off, sending the puck back to Santa, who deked around one of Utah’s forwards and skated toward Utah’s net.

I glanced up at the Jumbotron and watched the other goalie easily block Santa’s shot, but Sin snagged it, only to have one of Utah’s D check him into the boards.

As they battled at the other end of the ice, I shifted from side to side in my crease.

Standing still wasn’t an option; I wanted to be up and ready to go when they made their way toward me.

Soon enough, the direction of play changed.

Utah had the puck and crossed center ice, heading right for me.

Micah and Timmy fell back, ready to help me defend, and I moved my body, keeping my eyes on the puck.

Micah tracked the Utah forward who currently had the puck, keeping him close to the boards.

They skated around the back of the net, and I shifted my body to mimic their moves.

There was a scramble close to me in the left corner as four guys tried to take possession of the biscuit.

The puck cleared the group, going up the side of the ice toward one of the Utah defensemen, who cradled it against his stick before sending it back to one of his forwards. The Utah forward skirted around Tally and Sin as Micah closed in next to me, barely outside my blue paint.

I dropped to one knee, my blocker out, then shifted to stand again. The Utah forward closed in and took his shot, but I read him perfectly and dropped down, blocking the shot. Timmy managed to snag the bouncing puck and knocked it over to Tally, who started it back up the ice.

As my half of the ice cleared out, I once again grabbed my water bottle, took a sip, tapped it on top of my net three times, and slipped it back into the holder on the back of the net. Then I hit both pipes and got back into position, waiting for the next play.

Fuck, I loved this game.