Ryker. Did he feel just as trapped as I did? I stared down at my bare ring finger, my hands trembling.
Trapped. This time next week, I’d have a ring on my finger. This time next week…I’d be an engaged woman.
12
JAY
Dan slammed Bellingham up against the boards, both of them snarling insults at each other. Fuck this game. We were losing to Whelford 3–1, it was the final period, and everything was falling apart. Inevitably, Dan ended up in the penalty box, scowling at Enzo Fontana, who was already in the Whelford sin bin with an interference penalty.
“Get your shit together,” Coach Lazovsky snarled the second I was off the ice, pacing up and down while he brandished his clipboard as if he wanted to hit someone with it. “I don’t want you to even think about playing dirty. Do you hear me, Worthington?” His icy eyes shot daggers at my hot-headed teammate. Kane jerked his head in assent.
“Yes, Coach.”
Back on the ice, I managed to swipe the puck from Whelford, passing it back to Neo, who dodged around Fontana, racing down to Whelford’s zone. He flicked out his stick, and the puck flew across the ice to Kane, who smacked it straight into the net.
“Fuck, yeah!” he shouted as we swarmed him,celebrating the goal. Two more. That was all we needed. And to keep Whelford from scoring.
Luck was on our side because Ryker scored just two minutes later after a board battle with Whelford’s defence, making it 3–3.
None of us wanted to go into overtime, and it gave us the motivation we needed, moving across the ice with single-minded determination. Ryker took a shot, but the goalie deflected it. Straight towards me.
Before he had a chance to recover, my stick connected with the puck, and this time, it went in.
“Fuck, yeah! Get in!” I raised my stick, pumping it up and down, a wide grin spreading over my face.
Kane skated over and threw his arms around me, knocking his helmet against mine. “Fucking beauty of a rebound! Whelford are fucked!”
He was right. A few seconds later, the buzzer sounded. We’d done it. 4–3.
“Good work.” Volkov looked around the locker room when Coach had disappeared after the post-game debrief. “We did what we came here for, and now we celebrate.” His gaze met mine, just briefly, before it slid to Dan. Maybe I’d imagined it.Why was he talking, anyway? He wasn’t even the captain. Just because he was the most senior team member here, that didn’t mean he had the right to address us all as if he were in charge of the team.
“Double celebrations tomorrow,” Dan said with a grin. He rubbed his hands together. “Can’t fucking wait.”
“Yes. My engagement party.” Volkov remained expressionless, and I gritted my teeth, the high from the win disappearing instantly. He had no fucking idea how lucky he was?—
“Banks? You okay?” Kane elbowed me sharply, and Iturned to glare at him. He held up his hands. “Just a question, bro. Your face looks like King’s when he’s feeling murderous.”
“I need to fucking fight,” I muttered, sinking down onto the bench so I could remove my skates. Something, anything, to work out this buzzing beneath my skin. We’d beaten Whelford, our local rivals, who loved to taunt us for having to share their facilities. I should be on top of the world.
“You and me both. Wanna go tonight?” he suggested.
I nodded. This…feeling…whatever it was, wasn’t something I could articulate to my two closest friends, but with Kane, it was simple. We fought, we blew off steam, we were done.
I hoped.
“I’ve got to go to the clinic when we’re done here. Midnight at the yard?” I suggested, and Kane held out his hand for a fist bump.
“Get ready to have your ass kicked, Banks. I’ll try not to mess up your pretty face, though.”
“Can you stop fucking calling me Banks? Bad enough when Dan does it. And I’m not the one with the pretty face, pretty boy.”
“Aww, look at you two. So sweet, complimenting each other like that.” Dan threw himself down next to me, slinging his arm over my shoulders. He smirked at Kane. “Glad to see my nickname’s spreading. It’s great, isn’t it, Banks?”
“Fuck all the way off.” I shook off his arm, rising to my feet. “I’m going for a shower.”
Dan caught up with me when I reached the door to the showers, stopping me with a hand on my bicep. “Jay. Wait.”
“What?”
