“Are you sure you can’t stay a few more minutes?” she whispered in my ear, dragging her teeth down the lobe.
“Mm.” I squeezed my eyes shut, humming as she smoothed her hands down my back, teasing my waistband. “Angel,” I groaned, wishing I weren’t already running late. And with LA traffic, you really never knew how long the drive would take.
I grabbed her ass, pulling her so she was flush with me. Letting her feel just how hard I was for her. I plundered hermouth, ravishing her lips. She moaned, arching her hips against mine.
My phone chimed, and I cursed the time and the reminder that I had to leave. “I don’t want to go, but I have to.”
She smoothed her hands up my back then down over my shoulders until she was clutching my shirt in her hands. “I guess I’ll just have to give you a proper thank-you tomorrow night after the game.” She dragged my lips to hers for a searing kiss.
“I guess you will,” I said, forcing myself to take a step back before I was even later. I pressed down on my cock before throwing my bag over my shoulder.
She walked me to the door, and I pulled her to me, kissing a spot on her neck just behind her ear. “See you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” she whispered before letting out a long sigh.
I hate saying goodbye.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
As I suited up for the game, I couldn’t help but be excited. Bryn would be in the stands cheering for me. I wasn’t sure I’d ever been more jacked up for a game.
Gabe clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Ready to go out there and dominate?”
I nodded. “Let’s do it, Goldie.”
Kovi blasted through the locker room in only his compression shorts and some athletic tape after visiting the trainers. Other guys were in various states of undress as we geared up to play Seattle. The game started soon, but before that, we’d take to the ice for warm-up and stretches.
Coach entered the locker room once we were dressed, a small sheet of paper in hand as always. “Tonight, we’re going to go out there and play whistle to whistle. Focus on the details. Execute.”
All the players started chanting, “Execute! Execute!”
Coach held up his hand. “Okay. Starting lineup. We’ve got Gabe.”
Everyone clapped once and called back, “Yeah.”
This continued as he read down the line, until Coach said, “And Fizzy between the pipes.”
The team roared, and I could feel their energy surging through me as I stood and led the team down the tunnel toward the arena. The stands were already filling in, and as I skated onto the ice, I searched for Bryn. I’d purchased her tickets close to center ice, close to the floor, wanting to be able to find her in the crowd.
I finally spotted her and stilled when I realized what she was wearing. A bright-blue Hawks jersey with the number thirty on it—mynumber.Holy shit.A surge of pride and possessiveness had me nearly falling to my knees on the ice.
I placed my hand over my heart, feeling the significance of the moment. When I skated closer, I realized that her jersey, like mine, also had a black circle with the number six on it in honor of Derek. I rubbed at my chest to ease the pang there, sadness mingling with joy.
I’d had no idea that she’d planned to wear my jersey, and it struck me hard. That she was here with me, cheering me on, with my name and number on her back. It wasn’t something I took lightly, and I wanted to gather her in my arms and hold her.
I would, after the game. But for now, I had to settle for the fact that Georgia was sitting next to her, with Kylie on the other side. Bryn’s eyes met mine, and I double tapped my chest over my heart. Checking in. She smiled and double tapped over her heart in response.
After that, I found it easier to focus. And as we proceeded through the warm-up, I started to get more into the zone. By the time we returned to the ice for the start of the game, I was ready. Amped up.
The crowd was just as fired up, and it was going to be a good game. A challenging game. The home team always had an advantage, so I tried not to let it get to me when Seattle scored a goal midway through the first period. We continued to struggleto get any shots on goal. Seattle was determined to win, but we were just as motivated.
The second period was just as tough as the first. Seattle’s offense was on fire tonight, weaving past our guys to get within close range of our goal. Kovi and Boone stayed on them, but Seattle still managed to score a second goal. A fake shot that pissed me off because I should’ve known better.
Fortunately, with minutes until the end of the second period, Gabe scored a goal with Kovi assisting. Gabe went down the line of the bench, high-fiving our guys. And when the buzzer went off a few seconds later, the score was two to one in Seattle’s favor.
During intermission, I toweled off and hydrated, taking a minute to rest before the final period. Coach gave us some pointers, and then we retook the ice. I stood in front of the net, scraping the ice with my skates to give me more friction and control. I checked the net, making sure it was secure, tapping the goalposts for luck before performing a series of stretches.
As soon as the period started, you could feel the way the aggression and intensity had increased. Seattle was eager to close out this game with a win, but we weren’t going to give up. Handy scored a sick goal, tying up the score.
