Page 23

Chapter

Eighteen

“I promise, I didn’t sleep with him,” I hissed. The stands were packed for the final Saturday night. The Outlaws had made easy work of the team from Prince Rupert that afternoon, and now they were in the championship game.

Shar didn’t look convinced. “You say that, but I see the way you’re looking at him.”

“I’m just . . . looking.”

“Uh-huh.”

I’d already filled her in when I snuck back to our room that morning. She was skeptical then, too.

I nudged her with my elbow. “It was totally innocent, and, by the way, this was all your idea.”

She unwrapped a cinnamon bun from the concession stand then licked the icing off her finger. “I am pretty proud of that, actually.”

“You should be.”

“I didn’t think you’d actually do it.”

I smiled, watching the warm-up skate and allowing my eyes to flit to the bench every few seconds where Chase, Blakely, and Assistant Coach Kaplan—I’d finally gotten his name—stood discussing something.

Shar and I hadn’t gotten much time to talk since Tim and Bear’s girlfriends had been with us most of the day. But right now, they were still out in the hall buying snacks.

“I think I get it now,” I whispered. “I can see why people would be a little obsessed with sex.”

Sharla gave me an amused smile. “And you said nothing happened.”

I laughed. “No, exactly. We didn’t even kiss, but it’s like . . . I don’t know. I can’t stop thinking about it.”

Sharla handed me a piece of her cinnamon roll. “Just don’t get too attached.”

I scoffed. “Okay, that’s not fair. First you tell me to study?—”

“I didn’t think it would be with Chase! You said, “Not Coach Wilson,” remember?”

“You said, ‘Maybe you should sleep with him and get it out of your system.’”

“I was kidding!” she hissed, then winced. “Kind of. But I didn’t think about the fact that you’d probably get so emotionally attached. He treats you like you’re supposed to be treated, and you’re like a baby chick who’s imprinted.”

I rolled my eyes. “I felt that way before last night.”

“That’s true.” She pulled off another strip of frosted cinnamon goodness. “I feel better about that, actually.”

The arena lights dimmed slightly as the anthem started, and I rose with the crowd.

Pressure the left side. Disrupt their top line’s breakout. Exploit the weak-side rotation on the penalty kill.

We had a plan, and now all we needed to do was execute.

Have you thought about coaching? Blakely’s question popped into my head, and though I‘d dismissed it the first time, now it had a bit of sticking power.

Was that even something women did? Was it possible to run numbers for a team?

Do the analytics? I made a note to research that when we got back to Douglas.

Not that I would consider going that direction, but it was interesting.

The Outlaws had prepped for this game, and from the first puck drop, it showed.

Our guys came out flying—tight forecheck, crisp passes, smart rotations.

Bear neutralized number 17’s rushes twice in the opening period, using his body like a wall.

Axel, who’d been inconsistent through fall semester, was skating with total confidence.

“Did you see that redirect?” Shar yelled, jumping halfway out of her seat as Rory tipped a blue-line shot and sent it screaming past the goalie’s blocker. “That’s one of yours, right?”

I grinned. “We moved Rory up to screen on the power play. That goalie gives up high rebounds.”

They were only down 1-0, but at the start of the second, Clearwater shifted into desperation mode. They leaned into heavy hits and tried to force turnovers in the neutral zone. They battled it out, but the scoreboard didn’t change.

Sharla disappeared to go to the washroom for a bit in the third. Something wasn’t agreeing with her stomach, but she returned just in time to see Tim make an exceptional save on a backdoor shot.

The entire third period felt like a knife fight in a snowstorm. Blakely started double-shifting Axel and Rob, and Clearwater was gasping by the fifteen-minute mark. But then a loose puck bounced off a shin pad, Number 17 caught a breakaway, and it was a tie game.

“Are you kidding me?” Shar groaned, burying her face in her scarf.

“They’re losing coverage off the draw,” I said, half to myself. “We need to slow the pace.”

Chase must’ve seen it too because during the next whistle, he pulled Nick aside. The next line out dumped the puck instead of carrying it, forcing Clearwater to regroup. Maddeningly simple and effective. We got at least four solid shots on goal but couldn’t finish.

The buzzer blared with the score still tied 1-1.

Overtime.

“They’ve got this,” Shar whispered, squeezing my hand.

I nodded, my head starting to spin. What if Rob and Axel were too stretched? What if Axel started second-guessing himself? What if?—?”

No, thank you.

I focused on the feel of the chilled arena air. Sharla’s hand clasped around mine. The solid bench under my thighs, and suddenly I was back in my body. Present.

Maddeningly simple and effective.

I stared at the bench as the boys filed out of the tunnel, willing Chase to look up. It took a minute or two, but then his eyes lifted. When they stopped on me, I gave him a huge smile and a thumbs-up.

“Is that a—is he blushing?” Sharla teased.

“As if you can see that from here.”

The puck dropped for overtime, and the tension in the arena crystallized. This was the home team, and we, as Outlaws fans, were in the minority.

The Outlaws played it smart, keeping their shifts short, never letting Clearwater control pace for more than a few strides. Bear was gassed, bent over his stick on the bench. Axel took a heavy hit and looked a little rattled. But Rob—Rob was a different animal in sudden death.

“He wants this,” Shar murmured.

You could see it in every push of his legs. He circled high in the zone, eyes scanning like a sniper, waiting for that one seam to open.

I saw it the second he did.

Rory forced a turnover at centre ice and fed it through a narrow gap, perfectly timed. Rob caught the puck on his backhand, dragged it around the defenceman, and snapped it just under the bar—far side, blocker high.

The arena groaned, and we tried not to be asses with our tiny celebration, but Shar screamed loud enough to make my eardrum twitch.

Rob dropped to one knee, arms spread wide, and the rest of the bench spilled over the boards to swarm him. The Clearwater players circled back to their bench, and I wasn’t uncompassionate. It sucked losing at home. We had plenty of experience with that.

“Holy shit. They’re going to go to nationals, I just know it!” Shar bounced on her toes.

The team formed a line to shake hands, and Chase stood at the end. He leaned in to say something to Rob, who was beaming, sweat-soaked and wild-eyed. And then, almost like he felt my gaze, he looked up to the stands.

This time, he didn’t drop his eyes or grin. He just held up the papers on his clipboard, pointed at them, then pointed at me. You, he mouthed, and everything inside me stalled.

Shar nudged me. “I think he’s a little impressed.”

I blinked back the tears welling in my eyes. “I don’t know about that.”

“Just own it, Maddie. And write the hell out of that essay for the Rhodes.” She threw her arms around me, and my heart felt like it was going to burst. Maybe I didn’t know exactly what lay beneath my constant analyses, but it felt damn good to see that it was good for something.

That I could help people and use it for more than just pulling out A’s on tests.

“C’mon, let’s get down there!” Sharla yanked me toward the stairs.

I had to hand it to Clearwater. Even though they lost, their team stood at attention as the trophy was presented and our boys whooped and smacked their sticks against the ice. The teams intermingled, passing around compliments and congratulations.

Shar and I screamed ourselves hoarse with Kelsey and Emily, Bear and Tim’s girlfriends. Twenty minutes later, we leaned against the concrete wall near the arena’s main doors, waiting as the players filed out with their sticks and bags slung over their shoulders.

Shar rubbed her gloved hands together. “Kelsey found a bar five minutes from here that supposedly does poutine nachos and karaoke.”

I laughed. “That sounds deeply unholy.”

“She said there’s a neon moose.”

Kelsey nodded excitedly, holding up a flyer with the name “The Tipsy Bullwinkle” headlining the top of it.

“Clearly, we have no choice.”

The doors ahead of us opened wide, and the Outlaws spilled into the lobby, clean-faced, shaggy haired, and cocky. The smell of cologne followed them like a weather system. Rob spotted Shar and rushed forward, scooping her into a hug.

Rory grinned at me as he passed, then veered off to meet one of the Clearwater girls he’d been eyeing from the ice. Atta boy. Tim and Rob were still buzzing from Rob’s overtime goal, shouting something about getting a timestamp tattooed above his ass cheek.

Then Chase stepped out with the coaches, his team jacket slung over his arm. Blakely and Kaplan flanked him, both looking too tired to function. Kaplan made a beeline for the shuttle while Blakely scanned the crowd and nodded at Axel.

“You boys coming out?” Axel asked, cradling his stick across both shoulders like a baseball bat.

Blakely grunted. “My bones are creaking.”

“You need a little oil to grease the hinges, then, eh?” Rory teased.

Blakely waved him off, heading after Kaplan, and all eyes turned to Chase.

He hesitated, just for a second. “I’ve got an early wake-up call, bud.”

Axel frowned. “How early?”

“Planning to leave around four thirty. Need to be back in Calgary by the afternoon.”

Right. He hadn’t come on the bus with us. My chest seemed to hollow out.

We hadn’t made a plan—I hadn’t said anything—but I’d been thinking about going up to his room tonight.

I’d imagined, actually fantasized, about his hand tracing lazy lines on my skin.

About his voice in the dark. But if he was leaving that early, maybe that wasn’t what he wanted.

Then Chase looked over before clearing his throat, “I’m mostly packed.

Should have plenty of time for a good sleep. ”

My heart sped. Plenty of time.

I tucked my hands into my coat pockets and tried not to smile like an idiot.

“Next time, then,” Rory said with a grin, slapping Chase on the back.

He grinned. “Good game out there, boys.”

As he walked to the shuttle, I turned to Shar. “I think I’m going to head back.”

She tried to keep a serious expression but failed miserably. “You seemed really tired during the game.”

“Yeah. Exhausted.”

Rob scoffed. “Wait, you’re not coming out?”

Axel threw up his hands. “Maddie girl?—”

Shar threw up her hands and silenced them. “Nope! You will not pressure her. She’s been helping you all weekend and deserves to cozy up and relax.”

Axel grunted. “But we were going to do Endless Love.”

“I’ll do it with you, bud.” Rory sidled up next to him, pulling the blonde he’d just met along with him.

They were going to have a blast, no doubt. But I already knew where I was going.

And for the first time I could remember, I didn’t overthink it.