“You aren’t alone. He lives to piss off other players. I have no idea why he’s targeted Greyson so much,” Cece tells me with a frown as she watches the asshole skate back into position.
“I don’t know, but if I ever pass him on the streets, I’m knocking some sense into him. No one messes with my man and gets away with it.”
“We’ll team up,” Morgan adds.
Within the next two minutes, Greyson scores two goals consecutively. He’s on fire tonight. I stand from my seat, cupping my hands around my mouth as I yell. “WOO-HOO!! THAT’S MY MAN! Show them, baby! Give us a hat trick and I’ll give you one of my own tonight!”
Apparently, my screams were loud enough for Greyson to hear. He smirks and shakes his head before refocusing on the game. Everyone around me laughs, except for my father, who groans. “See, these are the kind of things a father would rather never hear his daughter say. You’ve officially ruined hockey for me.”
“First sunflowers, now hockey? Seems like I’m on a roll.” I laugh and drop back into my seat.
“Why sunflowers?” Aubrey questions with curiosity in her innocent little voice.
Before I can answer, Nancy leans in. “Oh, sweetheart. You donotwant to know.”
“You really don’t, and I have no intention of sharing the reason. I’ve already traumatized four people. I don’t need to add to that list.” I shake my head.Nope. Still too embarrassed to talk about that incident.
Fifteen seconds later, Grey scores again, and the crowd goes wild. The team jumps him as hats fly down to the ice. We’re all standing in our seats, cheering, and clapping.God, I’m so proud of my Wolf.
“That’s it, baby! You’re so getting lucky tonight!” I woot one last time, then turn to Nancy and Andrew. “You might want to put in some earplugs tonight.” I’ve clearly lost my mind and have no filter. I’m just so happy for him that I can’t hold anything in.
Andrew bellows with laughter, clutching his chest. “Hey, Lance. You got room in that big old house of yours? I think it’s best we leave the kids their place for the night. We’ll bring the little princess as well.”
My dad joins in on his laugh. “I was just about to offer you that.”
There’s only ten minutes left in the third period, and the Griffins have a nine-to-four lead thanks to Silas, who scored two extra goals. A lot can happen in ten minutes, so we’re not completely in the clear yet, but things are looking mighty good for the boys.
Although things are getting very aggressive on the ice. It’s been fight after fight constantly stopping the timer. I’m guessing the Ranchers sense their chances of winning are getting slimmer and slimmer and aren’t too happy about it.
The Griffins chase the puck into the offensive zone, Clay catching it and slapping it over to Silas. But he’s not in the clear and has no good openings, so he sends it sailing to Grey. Greyson catches it and whisks around the net, then takes a shot from the side, but it hits an opponent’s skate as they try to block it. At the exact same time, Gale smacks into Greyson, making him slip and fall to his stomach on the ice, with Gale landing above him.
The fucker takes his sweet time to get back up, staying on top of Greyson and stopping him from getting off the ground. I slam my fist against the glass. “GET OFF HIM, YOU ASSHOLE!!!”Kids be damned. I’m about to jump out there and rip him off myself.
Finally, he gets up, but not without pushing Grey back down one last time. The minute he’s off, Greyson jumps to his feet. He turns his furious gaze onto Eric as he skates away, then bolts from his spot, chasing after him and purposely slamming his entire body weight against Eric Gale, sending him flying into the boards. The whole crowd cheers on, happy the shithead is finally getting what he deserves.
Another fight breaks out, gloves hitting the ground, helmets flying off as they punch each other. Within seconds they’re rolling on the ice, at each other’s throats as the refs try to break them up. After a few more seconds, the fight is finally over, but not without leaving a splatter of blood on the ground. I lift to my toes, face practically sticking to the glass as I try to see who got hurt.
Greyson passes his hand through his hair, unsticking the sweaty strands from his face. He has cuts on his eyebrow, cheekbone, and lip, with little droplets of blood falling but not enough to cause any real worry.
Then Gale turns, and pride vibrates through my veins. I clap frantically, excitement running through me when I notice him holding onto a bloody broken nose while Greyson beams at me before being taken to the penalty box.
“YEAH, BABY!!!” I shout.
The last few minutes run down quickly. There’s only ten seconds left on the clock, and everyone is getting excited. We’re all standing in our seats, the cheers getting louder and louder. Even the players on the bench are already jumping on the spot, waiting for the buzzer to sound. I watch Noah and Gabe doing little dances of joy in their positions. They all know what’s about to happen.
“Oh my God! They won! They did it. They finally won!!” I shriek, grabbing onto Cecilia’s arm and shaking her as she laughs.
The buzzer finally sounds, and the crowd loses it. Screaming at the top of their lungs, all hugging each other and jumping up and down. The rest of the players jump over the bench, racing off to the rest of their team as they all tackle each other. Lights flicker over the arena, confetti flying all over the place. It’s absolutely beautiful to watch this moment happen. This moment they have all been waiting so long to have.
Shane gets slapped on the back and hugged repeatedly by the rest of the management crew. The smile he wears is of pure joy. Aubrey watches him with exhilaration. She looks about ready to throw herself in his arms. I’ve never seen this look on her, but it looks good.
Finally, the Stanley Cup is brought out onto the ice and placed on a table, waiting to be taken by its new owners of the season, while photographers and reporters move all around. Silas skates over to the trustee standing by it. As team captain, he gets to be the first to hold it. The trustee helps him lift it off the table as pictures are taken.
Silas then brings it over his head and roars with elation before skating around the rink with it, showing it off to all the fans. Next, he passes it to Clay, who does the same, then gives it over to Greyson. Their faces are a picture of pure triumph and ecstasy. It’s a vision I won’t soon forget.
By this point all families make it onto the ice, joining in on the celebrations. With Little Tulip in my arms, I make my way to Greyson, congratulating others on the way. He finally spots us and joins me halfway.
His hand comes to the back of my head as he leans in and devours my mouth, as if he’s been drowning and I’m his only source of air. He’s all sweaty and smells horrible, but at this moment, I couldn’t care less. I’m so excited and turned on, I’d lick the sweat right off him.
