Coach’s speech was exactly what we’d needed, but I knew this feeling was because of Sage. Having one person in a sea of thousands who had unwavering faith in me was like a magic salve over the cracks in my form.
My skates dug into the ice, the puck under my stick, my mind sharp, focused, ready.
It was my turn to stoke Grayson’s fire. “What do you say we crush these fuckers?”
“In twenty minutes? I thought you’d never ask.”
We went for it.
From the opening faceoff, we played with a force that Nashville couldn’t answer. Grayson cut through the middle, puck on his stick, me flanking him on the wing. I intercepted a backhand pass, spun, and fed it back to him in stride. He ripped a shot at the net that forced the goalie to scramble, and I was right there waiting to pick up the rebound.
One touch snapped it past him. First goal of the period. 3-3.
The small faction of Surge fans made enough noise to make it seem like we were in Frost Bank, but I barely heard it over the engine of my own adrenaline. We kept the pressure, forcing turnovers, cycling the puck with Tucker and Cash holding the blue line. My confidence grew with each successful pass, each quick read.
We fired on all pistons and it was fucking glorious.
Midway through the period, I stole a cross-ice pass, skated wide, cut into the slot, and wristed a shot over the goalie’s shoulder. 3-4. Surge finally in the lead.
The guys swarmed me, helmets bumping, sticks clattering, grins everywhere. Grayson’s eyes met mine across the ice, a quick nod, and we were back in sync like we always had been. The partnership that had made headlines, now electrifying the final period of a game we were set to lose.
In the dying minutes, the puck pinged off the boards and bounced free. I intercepted, head up, and saw Landon breaking toward the net. A crisp pass, and he buried it to seal the deal. The arena erupted, our bench exploded, and I found Sage again in the crowd, cheering, waving, a grin on her face that made the world narrow down to just her and that single moment of sweetest victory.
*
I wanted to celebrate with the team, really I did, but the adrenaline and chaos made me want one thing more: get out of the locker room and find her.
I ducked out through the back, letting the team’s shouts fade behind me, skates clattering against the concrete hallway as I headed straight for my hotel. Once inside, I tossed my gear ontothe floor and collapsed onto the bed. My fingers were shaking as I grabbed my phone and dialed her number.
My jaw tightened after the third ring and I killed it right before her voicemail got me. I almost tried again, but a soft knock at the door stopped me.
“Hey, slugger.” Sage gave me a cheeky grin.
It was real. I hadn’t imagined her out there in the stands.
“I don’t play baseball,” I said, still a little dumbfounded that she was standing right in front of me.
There was no smartass comeback. Just, “Shut up and kiss me,” as she flung her arms around my neck.
Our lips met, and everything that had been eating away at me the past few weeks melted into oblivion. Her hands tangled in my hair, and I caught her waist, pulling her closer. The heat of her pressed into me, and I realized how much I’d needed this, needed her.
28
Sage
The door slammed shut behind us, and then we were a tangle of hands and heat, stumbling through Aiden’s hotel room like we’d both forgotten how to walk straight. My heart thrummed in time with his pulse, or maybe that was just me noticing him everywhere, every inch of him, finally on me after all the bullshit distance and chaos.
I pulled him down, our lips colliding again, teeth and tongues and sparks. The wait had been long enough. My hands roamed, unbuttoning, tugging, fumbling. Every layer of clothing an excuse, every touch a promise.
“God, Sage,” he breathed against my mouth, and I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out because it was ridiculous how right it felt, and also how long we’d been idiots about it.
“I’m done being stupid,” I said, between kisses, letting my words spill out against him. “Done pretending like I don’t want the best thing that’s happened to me in the longest time. None of it—none of the outside shit—matters. I just want this. I want you.”
His hands cupped my face, and the laugh in his eyes mirrored mine. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hearthat,” he said. “I’ve been stupid too. Almost lost the only thing that makes everything else make sense.”
I smiled against him, letting the warmth of his chest seep into me. “Don’t let it happen again.”
We fell onto the bed with most of our clothes still on, and all the rest of the world disappeared. Kisses became desperate, hands groped frantically, and every brush of skin was a declaration of what we meant to each other. Rather late than never, the certainty I’d been holding back for so long finally spilled over.
