“Geez, I’m going, I’m going.” She shot Aiden one last look before drifting off into the crowd.
His quiet amusement lingered, rippling on the inexplicable tension between us that hadn’t been there before. Not that first day at the Purple Rose, or the night he’d shown up unannounced. Now though…
“I like her,” he said.
My shoulders drooped with my exhale. “Sorry. I never learn my lesson about taking her places.”
“Well, don’t change habits just yet.” He held up a finger, while digging in his inside jacket pocket with the other hand. Seconds later, his face lit up and he brandished two tickets at me. “Prime seats to my next game. You can make her your plus one to help cheer us on.”
I stared at the tickets, then at him. Said nothing, and made no move to take them either.
“You invited me here,” he said, the lightness in his tone now sounding a little awkward. A little forced. “so I figured I’d return the favor. You can come watch me be invisible up close.”
He waited, smile wavering as the moment drew out.
Finally, I shook my head. “I can’t. I’m swamped with prep for the tattoo convention coming up. Besides, I don’t really like hockey.”
His face dropped, and I hated that it made me feel bad.
7
Aiden
Playing the Seattle Kraken at home was always an event, and the Surge opened with a banger that would mark the rest of our season. Grayson had picked it up quick, cut across the slot without objection, and snapped one past their goalie before I’d even settled onto the bench. The red light flashed and the arena kicked into a roar that rattled through my bones. 1 to 0, Surge.
“That’s what I’m talking about, boys,” Coach yelled, although he looked as surprised as we all were.
Seattle tried to answer on the next shift. Their center carried through neutral ice with speed, chipped it wide, then chased his own dump in. Mason tracked it cleanly, steered the wraparound behind the net, and found Tucker waiting. He scooped it up the instant it hit the boards, and banked it off the glass to Landon at the blue line.
“Oh, here we go,” Shawn muttered under his breath.
And he wasn’t wrong. Landon leaned in fully to his newfound stardom, executing a flawless one-two with himself as he dodged through Kraken’s defense. At one point, he’d created enough space to waste time with a dramatic slice, twirling on the spot with the puck glued to his blade. The crowd ate that shit up,stomping and cheering as he finally handed off to Grayson mid-stride.
Grayson didn’t waste it. He crossed the line, dragged the puck across his body to pull the defender off balance, then slid it to Mason who’d come up on the left. He snapped it short side before I’d managed to blink. 2 to 0, and Seattle was yet to find their legs.
“That kid’s gonna send me to an early grave.” Coach wiped the sweat from his face with the back of his hand. He was talking about Landon, of course, and the rest of us laughed.
“You’re about ten years too late for an early grave, Coach,” Seth piped up, and scored a perfectly aimed slap upside the head that left the bench snickering.
One of the more mouthy benchwarmers, Seth was the one who made watching games play out from here almost bearable. Another reason I didn’t mind him too much was that he played in defense. That left my probabilities of filling in up front mostly unchallenged.
Landon skated past our bench, tapping the glass with his stick. “This is too easy.”
“Until they start hitting back,” Coach called back. “Get your ass out there and focus.”
As it happened, there was no hitting back. Seattle’s coach called timeout. Their goalie crouched in his crease, staring down at the ice.
“Keep your foot on it,” Coach said, voice cutting through the noise. “Don’t let them breathe.”
Next shift, Grayson won the draw nice and easy.
“Back!” Tucker called.
He took the puck at the blue line and sent it deep. Grayson drove the net. The rebound kicked off a pad and dropped into the crease. Landon snatched it up to the deafening soundtrack of his screaming fans, and hacked it over the line. 3 to 0, and we were still in the first ten minutes.
I whistled low. “We’re gonna bury them.”
“I’m more than happy to do a late-night eulogy,” Coach said, his belly shaking with his laughter.
