Shawn hissed through my prodding. “You’re enjoying this.”
“Thrilled,” I said, taping with practiced efficiency. “You’re good. Get back out there and quit looking for fights.”
He smirked and hopped the boards, already forgotten.
The phone buzzed again. I glanced down this time.
Theo:Who’s winning?
I thumbed back without looking away from the ice.Barely started. Aren’t you watching?
A roar cracked through the arena. Grayson won a turnover, Mason already cutting through the neutral zone like he had somewhere important to be.
Theo:Can’t.
That single word landed heavier than it had any right to.
I locked my phone and shoved it deeper into my pocket just as Colorado pressed hard, a forecheck that slammed bodies into glass and rattled teeth. Theo would’ve loved this kind of mess. The thought lodged and stayed there.
“Hopper! A little help!”
This time it was Tucker, glove off, knuckles red. “Got a jam.”
I took his hand, turned it under my flashlight. “You fight a wall?”
“Board won.”
“Clearly.” I wrapped it tight, taped his wrist with a tug that earned me a grunt. “Don’t do anything stupid, or I’m cutting it off in post-game.”
“No promises.”
That was the night in a sentence.
Colorado struck again, a breakaway that had Hunter sliding too far, too fast. The red light flared. The arena erupted. I didn’tlook up. I focused on my tape job, on the ritual of it, on keeping my head where it belonged.
My phone vibrated again.
Theo:Tight game?
I typed back with my thumb while pulling fresh tape with my teeth.It is.
I didn’t add,I wish you were here.He already knew.
Mason answered fast, thank God. A shot from the circle, traffic in front, the puck vanishing somewhere between bodies before the net bulged. The Surge bench exploded, sticks hammering the boards. Mason skated past me, eyes bright, yelling something incoherent.
I grinned despite myself.
“Drink,” I told Grayson when he leaned over the boards. “You’re tight.”
“I’m always tight.” He winked at me.
“Wrong flex.” I shoved the bottle into his hand. “Hydrate. Now.”
Colorado scored again late in the first, a greasy rebound that had me biting down on my lip hard enough to feel it later. By the intermission, my calves already ached from standing, pivoting, and being ready every second.
Theo:You okay?
The question needled.
