I should’ve made a joke or changed the subject, done anything but stand there wanting more. Instead, I licked my own lips.Take that, fucker.I headed for the door before he could ask what I was doing.
13/
nico
The arena was packed.The league had turned us into a spectacle, and Kansas City showed up to watch. The lower bowl was full of Condors and Warriors jerseys. In the middle of all the chaos, at least some of it belonged to us.
Throughout the crowd, signs waved.#Packo. #PowerPlayOfLove. #TwoMinutesForFlirting.One made me look twice:#BromanceToRomance. My stomach dropped.
The announcer called us “two rival superstars proving goodwill still exists in sports.” The crowd roared.
The plan was simple: a two-period scrimmage with local high school and college players. Packy would captain Team Green, and I’d lead Team Yellow.
Before puck drop, the event coordinator handed us mics. Packy thanked the crowd and called me his “good buddy,” which set off another wave of chants. Behind the glass in front of us, a group of teenage girls screamed like we’d walked onstage with guitars.
Packy slid his arm around my back when I started speaking. It wasn’t a quick gesture for show; he held on, solid and warm against me.
What the hell is this?
My heart was thundering, but I smiled anyway. “We’re honored to be here. Thank you for supporting the Kansas City Hockey Foundation and giving kids a chance to play.”
The crowd roared again, and Packy took the mic. “The Foundation is doing incredible work. Hockey is the greatest sport in the world, and every kid should have a chance to play. Their opportunities to enjoy the game shouldn’t be limited by what their parents can afford. We’re here to help make that a reality in Kansas City.”
After the foundation president explained how the scrimmage would work, Pack and I shook hands.
He leaned toward the mic and grinned. “Try to keep up, Rossi.”
“Don’t trip over your ego, Paquette.”
We were already dressed in our uniforms, so we headed to center ice for the puck drop.
It took me about thirty seconds to understand these kids could really play. The pace was fast and clean, with crisp passes, smart reads, and no charity. Pack’s team was just as good, and every time he touched the puck, the crowd noise surged. Once, he stripped me clean at the blue line and flashed the same infuriating grin he’d used on me since college. I wanted to wipe it off his face.
The score was tied 4–4 with a minute remaining. The sound in the arena changed to a restless buzz, the kind that always comes before overtime. My line jumped over the boards. Team Green had a shift change too, and when Packy and his line took the ice, his narrowed eyes and pursed lips were all too familiar. He was taking no prisoners.
Thirty seconds later, they had us pinned in our defensive zone. Someone missed a pass, and the puck skittered away against the boards. Pack and I took off toward it at the sametime. We laughed as we battled for it, sticks thwacking, until the puck popped free. Pack got his stick on it first.
Fuck.
He raced toward the goal, and I chased him full tilt. I was close enough to taste the ice spray from his skates. He cut through traffic, deked right, and snapped a wrister top shelf before our goalie could set.
The game-ending siren wailed before the goal horn finished blaring. Game over. Green wins.
The arena went wild. I bent over, gasping, while my teammates clapped my helmet and yelled about effort and heart. Of course I smiled along, even though I’d lost the game for us.
Pack, on the other hand, had been brilliant. Playing against him, one-upping each other, had sent my brain into freefall. This was more than nostalgia for college. It was something new.
His teammates swarmed him. I should’ve stayed back and let him have a moment with them, but I pushed off and skated to him anyway.
Our eyes met as he turned, and the grin he’d been wearing widened. His teammates shuffled backward, giving us room.
“Great game,” I said.
His eyes sparkled. “You too.”
He pushed forward and wrapped me in his arms. I was too shocked to move at first, but then my hands found his shoulders and held on.
“That was fun,” I said near his ear.
