Page 40 of Breaking the Ice (Denver Stampede #6)
We’d made it through warm-ups without any issues. I’d stuck to my side, Jenzy had stuck to his, and I’d decided to stretch in front of Dani instead of close to center ice like I typically did.
For two reasons, because again, I was efficient and could multitask. I managed to be smart and avoid Jenzy, all while reminding Dani of just how flexible I was. I hadn’t missed her pink cheeks when I’d finished and turned around to wink at her.
She’d softly shaken her head at me, but I knew she loved it.
***
I tapped my stick on the ice, reminding my teammates that they had fifteen seconds left in the penalty kill just as Micah cleared the puck out and sent it sailing down the ice.
Sin was in the box for a tripping penalty, the eighth penalty of the night, and we weren’t even halfway through the second period.
It’d been a chippy game, and we were tied with the Blizzard at two each.
My shutout hope had gone down the drain six minutes into the first, on a bad bounce that I swear had hopped right over my stacked leg pads.
The last few seconds of our penalty kill were winding down and the Blizzard’s star winger was streaking back down the ice toward me.
My eyes darted between his face and the puck, watching for even the tiniest tell.
He looked ready to snipe it, but instead passed it to his center, who cradled it on his stick, searching for an opening that I had no plans to give him.
The center skated around the back of my net, and I shifted from guarding one post to the next, filling in as much space as I could with my body.
He deked around Micah, who’d been on the ice too long, but all I could do was focus on the guy with the puck.
He dropped one shoulder back and then took his shot.
I stretched out the full length of my body diagonally across my net, and the puck hit my blocker instead of flying in top shelf.
It bounced over the net, banging the back cross bar, and Micah snagged it, clearing it back up the ice again, just as Sin came out of the box, his penalty over.
How Micah timed it perfectly was beyond me, but Sin got the puck on his stick and headed right for Jenzy. I stared up at the Jumbotron and watched Sin make his slapshot, right over Jenzy’s left shoulder and top shelf, into the back of the net.
“Fuck yeah,” I yelled as the goal buzzer blared and my teammates cheered from the bench and the ice.
Fuck. It would have been nice to skate over there for that group hug, especially since it was right in front of Jenzy’s face and where a bunch of our family members, including Dani, were currently sitting.
It hadn’t escaped my notice that Jenzy had looked over to that corner a few times.
I hoped he wasn’t pissing her off. Hell, I hoped she’d gone into the family room they had set up for us so she didn’t have to be near him.
I’d been tempted to bring it up when he’d gotten a bit too close to me during one of the TV timeouts, but there was no reason to extra goad him.
I just had to get through the rest of this period and then I’d be back on her side of the ice, flirting with her and hopefully stopping every puck the Blizzard tried to get past me.
I wanted to keep them at two for the rest of the night.
***
“Dammit,” I muttered a few minutes into the third period as Dom’s shot hit the pipes.
At least he caught the rebound when Jenzy was slow to cover it.
Taking three sips of my water, I put the water bottle back in its holder and rolled my shoulders, still focused on the Jumbotron.
Dom passed the puck to Haldy, who knocked it right back, and then Dom tried his shot again.
And this time, it slipped between Jenzy’s legs and into the back of the net.
I turned to see Dani and the rest of our family members jumping up and yelling as the buzzer blared again.
Four to two, fuck yeah. The game had continued to be chippy, but we were finding our stride and playing lights out.
During the second intermission, more than one of the guys mentioned how extra sweet it would be to beat the Blizzard in their own barn since they typically had our number.
Dom had said we needed to do it for Dani because Jenzy was such a dick, which I wholeheartedly agreed with.
The arena cheered loudly for our team, not always typical for an away game, but a ton of our fans made the short road trip since we were playing the other Colorado team.
Although the energy was electric, I only had eyes for Dani.
She was so damn gorgeous. My body clenched like a total caveman knowing my name was across her shoulders.
It was juvenile that I cared so much, but I couldn’t help it.
And while she was clapping and cheering, she held my gaze and grinned. I couldn’t wait for this game to end so I could kiss the hell out of her.
***
With six minutes left in the third period, I skated over to the bench for another TV timeout.
The score had remained at four to two, but my boys had gotten close to getting another goal in the last thirty seconds.
I’d also had a very close call a few minutes ago when Lamb had been crowded into me by one of the Blizzard’s wingers and I’d momentarily lost sight of the puck.
I’d nudged them both out of my crease just in time to drop my stick down and stop the puck from going five-hole.
“Fuck. Six minutes to go and I almost had that.” Sin leaned his chin on the butt of his stick.
“You were off by a mile,” Jenzy said, skating behind Sin.
“You getting blind? Probably how you missed Dom’s shot last period,” Sin fired back.
“Fuck off, Sin. Dom’s goal was clear interference.”
“You really going to play it that way?” Micah sneered. “That’s just sad, man.”
“What’s pathetic is your goalie taking my girl,” Jenzy said.
I’d been ignoring him until that point, but I couldn’t let this one go.
“Move the fuck on. Dani is my girlfriend. She broke up with you months ago.”
“Please, she didn’t really want to be over. Then you swooped in.”
“You’re delusional,” I said, trying not to get riled up.
But he got in my face, skating in way too close, his cage almost knocking against mine, so I acted on instinct and shoved him.
“Back off. From me. From Dani. Just move on,” I bit out.
“He shoved me. That’s a clear penalty,” Jenzy called out. Was he for fucking real right now?
“That wasn’t a shove,” Tally said. “Get to your bench, Jenzy.”
“Ref, you see that?” Jenzy yelled.
One of the linesmen came over. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. Just having a chat,” I said.
“With his fists,” Jenzy said.
“Let’s play nice, boys,” the ref said.
“Of course he’s blind for you. Just like that bullshit last goal,” Jenzy said.
“You really want to pull that shit right now? Get to your bench,” the linesman replied.
I almost hoped Jenzy would show his ass even more to the official and get himself booted out of the game.
“Jenzy, get your ass on this bench,” the Blizzard coach called out, and thankfully Jenzy finally listened, muttering all the way to his bench.
“You good?” Tally asked.
“Yeah. Sorry about that. Trying my best to avoid him tonight.”
Tally clapped my shoulder. “Believe me, I’ve noticed. He’s a prick who isn’t getting his way and is hopefully going to lose the game tonight. Thanks for not letting him get to you.”
“I seriously want to clock that guy,” Micah muttered.
“Me too. How about we just keep them from scoring any more goals tonight? And maybe every other time we play them this season,” I said.
Tally grinned. “Sounds like the perfect plan to me.”
“Alright, everyone done chitchatting.” Millsy held out his tablet. The rest of the players skated in close, and I shifted to stop in front of Booksy.
“You good?” he asked, handing me a towel so I could wipe my face.
“Yeah. Just need to get through six more minutes and walk away with two points. That’ll be the icing on the cake.”
Booksy grinned. “Jenzy will be pissed as hell. I can’t wait.”
“Don’t jinx us,” I said, taking my three sips from the water bottle Booksy held out for me.
And when the clock ran out a short while later, all of my teammates wore matching grins as we celebrated our victory and kicking Jenzy’s ass. I’d gone in for every helmet tap and hug from the boys, but my eyes kept drifting over to Dani beaming and cheering for me.
I couldn’t wait to get her back home so we could truly celebrate.