Page 44 of No Shot (The Toronto Tundra #2)

Penn

“ Alright, boys. We know the Blades—they ’ re going to play fast and play hard. Let ’ s make sure we keep pushing them all night long.”

There ’ s a grumble of agreement among the guys as we all watch Coach pace back and forth in the center of the room.

“ I want to see us battling it out all sixty minutes. Be aggressive, pressure on the play, and trust each other.” Most of us nod in agreement with a few clapping their hands together.

The Boston Blades are a strong team, certainly one of the most physical in the division. They can play dirty sometimes—hits after the whistle, questionable checking, trying to rile us—but we can ’ t let them. We all have a job to do. I ’ m just hoping I can fucking show up for my team tonight.

“ Starting line tonight… we got Woodsy in nets.” There ’ s a single group clap for Evan, followed by a few pats on his back.

“ Dunner and Brody on our D-line.” No surprise there, they're our power defenseman duo. Another solo clap from the group of us.

“ Making things happen for us up front, we ’ ve got Cap.” His voice booms throughout the room as we get more fired up. Clap . “ Benner.” Clap. “—and Brooksy.” Clap .

I look up at Coach, who gives me a confident nod, and blink twice. Wait, but that ’ s me... I ’ m back on the starting line-up?

As the group disperses, headed to the tunnel for the start of the game, I look to Jack. He seems as surprised as I am, but moves on quickly with a small shrug of his shoulders.

I turn to Cap, who picks up on my confusion right away. His head nudges toward Theo, who ’ s focused on tightening his skates. Cap leans forward, and I join him, resting my elbows on my thighs and turning my head to hear him.

“ Theo spoke to Coach.” I heard… well, at least the end of their conversation. He wanted a change, said he needed support, which means he wants me gone.

“ And?” I pry.

He shakes his head. “ Dunno the details, but the gist is he wanted you back out there with him. He told Coach you were the only one who could read him, and he didn ’ t want to try out any other wingers.”

Holy shit. Confidence pulses through me. I don ’ t know if what Theo said is true—if I can really read him the best—but just knowing he voiced that… I don ’ t know, it ’ s not something you see every day.

“ Listen, man, standing up to a coach and going to bat for you like that? That just doesn ’ t happen, you know that. Took balls. You going to let him down?”

“ Absolutely fucking not.” It ’ s like my hands are brimming with electricity, adrenaline coursing through me.

“ Here we fucking go, Brooksy.” We both stand up, slapping each other on the back in a quick hug before we head out of the locker room.

I walk toward the front of the tunnel, standing beside Theo. Turning to him, I hold out my gloved fist. “ Let ’ s do this.”

He looks down at my outstretched hand before looking back up at me. The corner of his mouth tugs up just the slightest as he reads my energy. I ’ m going to be unstoppable, I know it.

“ Hell yeah.” He bumps my glove with his own.

** *

It ’ s 1-1 with three minutes left on the clock. The arena is buzzing with anxious energy as we try to capitalize on something in the last few minutes of the third period. Out of pure skill, Jack tied it up in the second with a beauty of a breakaway goal.

He ’ s one of the bigger guys on the team, so most would assume that makes him sluggish and heavy on his feet, but he ’ s surprisingly fast for a defenseman. It played to our advantage, and his goal kept us in the game.

We circle up for the faceoff in front of our net, tensing, ready to fight to get the puck out of our zone.

The puck drops, starting the play, and Scott and the Blades ’ center are in a full-blown puck battle, neither able to easily flip it back.

It ’ s been all of two seconds, but it feels like minutes watching their sticks fight for possession.

My eyes shoot to Theo, who ’ s hovering close, ready to jump in and support. In a flash his whole body shoots forward. The kid found an opportunity, a split second where the puck was able to snap free, and he took it. Theo nabs the puck, cradling it expertly in his blade before he circles back.

Max and Jack are on either side of our net, and Theo sends the puck back in a precise pass to Max in order to evade the charging Blades defenseman. Fuck yeah . Time to set something up.

One of the opposing forwards darts toward Max, but he passes to Jack before he ’ s able to close the distance.

Jack reads the play, advancing down the ice around their left winger and passes the puck to Theo.

To say he shoots off like a rocket would be a massive understatement.

He ’ s the epitome of a hockey prodigy, flying halfway down the ice with minimal effort, as I power skate forward with all my energy.

Even at full speed, I ’ m still trailing behind, my lungs burning as I follow him into the Blades ’ zone.

He pivots effortlessly around their forwards, who are scrambling backwards.

It ’ s a two-on-one. My pulse races as I fight to keep up, circling around the final defenseman in our way.

Now it ’ s just Theo and me against their goalie.

His head flips back to me for a half second as I wait for his shot.

He starts to snap back his stick, prepping for a slap shot, but stops short.

It ’ s a fake-out, I know it.

He ’ s going to pass.

To me.

Their goalie ’ s eyes snap between us, but they zero in on Theo, anticipating his shot. Suddenly, the puck flies right to me, an inch from the tip of my blade. The goalie catches our play, but it ’ s too late, his body was turned to face Theo ’ s shot.

I wind back, with a full opening on the upper right side of the net.

A quick breath fills my lungs as the puck flies through the air right into the open pocket. The red light flares to life over the net. I can ’ t even hear the buzzer or the crowd. I'm only feeling the intense wave of relief washing through me.

I power toward Theo, my smile already making my cheeks cramp. We jump into the air at the same time and slam into each other in celebration.

We are so fucking back.