And The Furnace absolutely detonated.
The kind of roar that shook through your ribs and flooded straight into your bloodstream. Music blasted overhead while Fury fans launched to their feet so violently the student section nearly looked unstable. I coasted hard past the crease breathing like an animal, adrenaline flooding every vein in my body while their goalie slammed his stick against the post behind me in frustration.
But I barely even registered him.
Because my eyes found Bliss instantly.
She was already on her feet behind the glass, both hands pressed against it while Aura and Charm lost their absolute minds beside her. My jersey hung off her body perfectly beneath the arena lights, MERCER stretched across her chest while her cheeks flushed pink from screaming and jumping with the crowd. Her hair spilled wild around her shoulders, lips parted in a breathless laugh I couldn’t hear over the noise, but I didn’t need to hear it.
I could feel it.
The second our eyes locked, something inside my chest tightened so hard it almost hurt.
Because she was looking at me like I had hung the damn moon.
The thought slammed through me hot and primal enough to nearly make me dizzy. This overwhelming, possessive certainty that somewhere between her wearing my jersey at the bonfire and waking up tangled together in her bed this morning, Bliss Bennett had become stitched into me permanently.
Every hit tonight felt harder because of her. Every stride felt faster because of her. Every goal felt like something I wanted her to see first.
I slammed my glove once against the glass directly in front of her, and Bliss laughed harder behind it, eyes bright andcompletely locked on me while the crowd lost its mind around us.
Then my teammates hit me all at once.
Briggs launched into my back first, screaming nonsense loud enough to echo through the arena while Easton grabbed the sides of my helmet and shook me hard enough my vision rattled.
“That was disgusting!” Easton yelled over the roar.
“You murdered that goalie!” Briggs shouted. “Like legally, we might need representation after that!”
Rider slammed into the pile laughing while Ryan skated in slower, shaking his head once like even he was impressed.
The crowd kept roaring while gloves smacked against my helmet and shoulders, the guys hyped out of their minds around me, but through all of it, I still looked for Bliss first.
And every single time I found her, she was already looking back at me.
The arena exploded so loud my ears rang through my helmet while my teammates slammed into me against the glass. Fans were pounding so hard against it I could barely see, but then the bodies shifted and suddenly there she was again right behind the chaos, hands against the glass, eyes bright, smiling at me like I’d hung the damn moon.
My chest tightened so hard it almost hurt.
Briggs grabbed the front of my jersey while laughing. “Bro is playing like his girlfriend is watching.”
“She is watching,” Easton yelled.
“Exactly!” I shoved both of them off while grinning despite myself as I skated up to said girlfriend.
I slammed my glove once against the glass directly in front of Bliss, breathing hard enough fog curled inside my visor while the arena still shook around us from the goal.
Bliss’s eyes widened immediately.
Then I crooked two fingers toward her.
Come here.
The student section lost its collective mind the second they realized what I was doing. Her family reacted half a second later.
Daniel went completely still. Ryker’s mouth dropped open like he’d been personally betrayed by romance. Knox’s brows shot up, his cop face cracking for the first time all night while Lyon shoved Emmitt so hard he nearly stumbled into the row in front of him. Kellen, little shit that he was, lifted his phone higher and started recording with the focus of a man capturing blackmail for future holidays.
Maybe it wasn’t only for Bliss.
