Page 123 of Home of the Brave

I held my breath as East took possession, and Taz charged toward Josh. He had the breakaway, with no defense to slow him down.

But Josh did it.

It was an impossible save, but he got it in his glove, and the final buzzer sounded.

I let out an enormous sigh, feeling like I’d been holding my breath for hours. I wasn’t sure my heart could handle this.

Cambrie took my hand in hers as overtime started; three on three and the tension in the arena soared to an all-time high. It was a battle of the best. Neither team was willing to concede. Then it happened.

A penalty. East on the power play, and I squeezed Cambrie’s hand. This was it. I couldn’t watch.

I lifted our hands to my face, and Cambrie hugged me as Reeves got the puck, turned, and shot.

Josh blocked again!

I screamed and cheered, but there wasn’t time to celebrate since DiFranco recovered the puck and was down the ice toward the East’s zone. He aimed, didn’t have the shot, and turned around the net, shoving it in the corner and scoring.

The crowd erupted.

Cambrie and I hugged, jumping up and down and screaming.

I turned toward the ice as Josh left his net and came right up to us. He lifted his helmet enough to smile, then turned to congratulate his teammates.

“That was amazing!” Cambrie squealed.

“Did you see that save? I don’t even know how he did it.”

She shook her head, smiling. “I meant him coming and seeing you before going to his teammates.”

I paused and let that information sink in.

He came to me first.

“I think he likes you, babe.”

I was in a daze as a carpet was rolled onto the ice and the Stars and Stripes Cup was walked out. Tyson lifted the trophy, and the crowd went wild once again, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Josh.

When it was his turn, as the first star of the game, he thrust the cup into the air, then looked right at me. I clapped, and Cambrie cheered next to me.

This was the greatest feeling in the world.

Even though I wasn’t the one on the ice, and my life was sort of an undecided mess, as I stared at Josh, I couldn’t help but feel hopeful.

The wait nearly drove me mad, but finally, hours later after all his obligations were fulfilled, Josh found me outside. He ran up to me, lifted me off my feet, and spun until my stomach hurt from laughing.

“Congratulations!” I held onto his shoulders as I waited for the dizziness to subside.

“Thank you.” He bent forward and kissed me. “I’ve been waiting all day to do that.”

I smiled up at him. “You were absolutely amazing.”

“That was an intense match. I’m glad we pulled through.”

I squeezed his shoulders and lowered my hands. “This isn’t an interview. You don’t have to give me the media-trained answer.”

He chuckled. “It was ruthless, and I’m mad I let them score so many times, but I did impress myself with those last two saves.”

“Much better,” I teased.