The people around them began rallying their voices in anticipation of something that Quinn couldn’t see, and Bea joined them, slowly rising to her feet. When the crowd erupted into a frenzy, Quinn jumped up so he could see what the fuck just happened, only for a barrage of hats to go sailing over his head and land on the ice.
“Hat trick!” Bea screamed, grabbing Quinn’s shoulders and jumping up and down. “First for the team this season!”
The Jumbotron showed a zoomed-in image of August with his helmet off, skating toward the bench. It was truly impressive howbighe was compared to the other players on the ice, and even more impressive was how nonchalant he was after doing whatever a hat trick was.
Theannouncers were still talking as people came out to collect the hats off the rink, reviewing August’s stats while keeping the camera on him. He wasn’t doing anything interesting, just drinking his water and brushing his fingers through his sweat-soaked hair, but the Bigfoot fans were going feral.
“He’s using green tape again,” Bea said, like that wasn’t the most random remark she could have made.
Quinn could see the green tape on the end of his stick, but he wasn’t sure what it meant. August abruptly disappeared behind a player that he was fifty percent sure didn’t belong to their team, and the crowd began to clamouragain.
What the fuck was happening?
“That’s Jett Fraser!” Bea said, as if that explained everything.
Quinn pinched the bridge of his nose to relieve the pain in his head. He needed to learn more about this sport if he was going to keep watching it.
Chapter 14
August
“You’re a fucking stud, eh?”
August’s head shot up at the sound of Jett’s voice, shocked that he had crossed the redline to talk to him. Niko was there too, elbowing the shorter man in a half-hearted attempt to push him back to where he came from, but Jett refused to move.
August glanced around at his teammates, but since Jett was only talking and not being aggressive, they continued with their equipment checks and left them alone.
“You decided to show up and play hockey tonight, Snow?” Jett rested his arm on the ledge of the rink wall and tipped into the box, grinning like a fiend. “Good job, buddy. I know I’m not supposed to say that, with you guys being the enemy and all, but I appreciate how fun you’re making this cup rematch for me.”
Niko looked torn between wanting to punch his former teammate in the mouth and jumping the wall to hold August back if he decided to fight.
There was no reason to fight. August had said worse things about himself this week, so in his current state, Jett’s chirp had the same effect as a puppy yipping.
“You talk a big game for someone with no goals on the scoreboard,” said August. “It’s a shame the Sunbursts traded their only talented player to us.”
Jett shrugged and laughed. “I’ll have three by the end of the second period.”
August purposely took a drink, staring Jett down, making him wait patiently for his response. “Then I guess I’ll get three more by the final buzzer.”
Jett straightened, golden eyes glittering at hearing the challenge. “Going for the double hattie? I see how it is, Gusty. I’ll make sure to stay on my toes.”
“You could stay on your toes all day, and you still wouldn’t get any taller, Fraser,” August chirped. “Go ask your coach to teach you something.”
Beside him, his fellow defenceman, Simon Skarsgård, cackled into his glove. August was rusty in the banter department, but the way Jett’s mouth dropped open told him that he had done a good job.
“Killinger! Back over the line!” The ref called, holding his whistle in warning. They had finished cleaning the hats off the ice, and it was time to play.
Jett gave August a wink and smacked Niko on the ass, gliding over the redline to join his captain for their briefing before the puck dropped.
There were still five minutes left in the first period, and August had tons of gas left in the tank. He knew even with a three-point lead, the Sunbursts were capable of coming back and winning by a landslide, so they couldn’t afford to slack.
And yeah, he was on a heater right now. The migraine he’d been battling for the last week refused to go the fuck away, but it hurt less whenever he heard the sound of the goal horn blast through the arena.
That gave him an excuse to go out and do it more.
The whistle blew, and the puck hit the ice, wrangled away by the captain of the Sunbursts, Ryan Bracken. Jett wasflyingdown the ice, and August cringed when he thought about the playoffs last season and the memories of being sent out against Jett’s line every time.
The speed Fraser could achieve was terrifying, and even without Niko on the other wing, he was going to be a pain in the ass to play against all year.
