Page 58 of Risky Play

I wasn’t worried about the game because we beat Maryland the last time we played them. Kiira would be a brick wall in front of the net again, and I’d skate circles around their players. I was confident in at least that.

“We’re gonna kill them tomorrow, right?” Karen asked.

“Hell yeah!” I agreed. “We’re gonna bring it to them.”

“Atta girl, Kennedy!” she cheered.

I was so ready to kick ass in this game. Maryland had to bring the heat, or else they’d be eating my pucks.

Elsa was screaming at us from the bench as I made my way with the puck up past the neutral zone. Karen and Casey were on my wings, but I was fighting Maryland’s defenseman. I deked a shot and passed it to Casey, and she took the opening. It bounced off the post, and then I scrambled in front of the net.

It was a sloppy goal, but it went in, and my teammates rounded on me in a goal celly. I hugged it out with them, glad to make the game 2-1 us, with only a few minutes left in the final period. It was the much needed goal to edge Maryland out.

I skated back to the bench, high-fiving my teammates and getting back on the pine for the change up.

“Good job, Kennedy,” Elsa said to me, and then whipped her head back to study the ice.

Karen nudged me. “Look at you, getting approval from the captain.”

I laughed her off and watched as the minutes ticked by at the end of the game. We ended up winning, and we were all in high spirits. Even the Ice Queen.

We went into the locker room, all of us laughing and dancing at the much needed victory.

“Party at my house, bitches!” Kiira yelled from the center of the room.

I laughed.

“You better be there, Kennedy! We all know your boyfriend’s on the road, so no excuses.”

“Boyfriend?” Elsa asked.

“It’s…new,” I explained as I shrugged off my gear.

“He’s on the road?” she asked, curiosity marking her face.

I sighed. “He plays for the Bulldogs…with my brother.”

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “I went to highschool with a guy on the team. Matt Callahan.”

Matt never mentioned he knew her, even after I bitched about her. Not that I mentioned her by name. But Ty was his best friend so they must have known each other.

“Matt’s a good guy, great hockey sense,” she continued.

“I know. But he’s not putting enough power into his shot.”

She laughed. “You’re right. Well, good luck with that.”

I felt like she meant it sincerely, but I never could tell with her.

I got off my gear and headed for the showers. If I didn’t feel so disgusting, I would have waited to get back to my dorm; the showers at the rink were terrible. After a cold shower because my teammates took all the hot water, I shrugged on clothes and headed out.

My phone buzzed in my hand as I was sliding it into my hockey bag. Seeing Matt’s name on my screen made me answer it and put it against my ear. “Hey!”

“Hey, sweet pea. How’d the game go?”

I beamed at his question. We had texted last night about it while we bonded over our worries about our upcoming games. “Good. I scored the game-winning goal.”

“That’s great!”