Page 48 of On Thin Ice

But Finn didn’t relax. He couldn’t. Hewouldn’t.

His eyes followed the puck, watching it across the ice as he kept his body both relaxed and primed, ready to make his first move if that was required.

But it wasn’t. Not now.

Especially not when Mal slipped between two defenders, and lightning quick got a shot off just above the goalie’s right shoulder.

Elliott’s scream of victory was louder than if he’d scored himself, and he jumped into Mal’s arms as he pumped his fist in the air.

But even though the Evergreens’ second goal gave him a little extra breathing room, Finn stayed ready.

As expected, the puck eventually came back over the line, their second defensive line trying to steal it away, trying to interfere with the play setup.

Finn tracked the puck with his eyes, breath quickening. Trying to predict when and how it would be shot so he could get half a second of extra jump on his reaction.

Luckily for him, their left winger hadn’t learned yet just how much he was telegraphing his actions, and Finn shot to the side of the goal, controlled andincontrol, and shot a leg out, stopping the first shot, then was able to recover without a single millisecond hesitation to take on the rebound.

The puck drifted into the paint, and Finn reached out, smothering it with his glove.

Coach B took advantage of the momentum and swapped lines, and Finn held on to the puck a second longer, before using his stick to bat it towards Ramsey, who passed it onto their third line center.

With their offense’s intent to be aggressive, Finn knew sometimes the puck could get away, but not this time. This time, the Evergreens ended the period with twice as many shots on goal as the Phantoms.

And this time, Finn told himself he wasn’t disappointed when Jacob didn’t jog down the stairs to the ice, to meet him in thetunnel—even as he reminded himself that he’d gotten what he’d needed out of him, anyway.

Even though he didn’tneedhim, he found he wanted him anyway. Still, he settled for Zach kneeling in front of him in the locker room, parsing out the defensive scheme and making sure that Finn hadn’t noticed any holes.

It shouldn’t have felt like settling for Zach to pat him on the knee, telling him that he was killing it tonight, that he’d never looked so dominant in the net, but it did, anyway.

But a surprisingly loud part of him wanted to know not what Zach or even Coach B thought of his performance, but whatJacobthought.

It was annoying and a little frustrating, but Finn was able to bat it away, and re-focus on what mattered now: getting through the last period of the game.

Chapter 8

“KillerperformancetonightbyFinn—who proved to us that he’s only getting better in the net,” Coach said, giving him a solid nod of approval, as they sat in the locker room after the final buzzer, Finn having delivered his third shutout of the season.

Finn lifted a hand, acknowledging the compliment and the resulting cheer.

“Frankly, we’re all coming together, getting better and better,” Coach continued when the noise finally died down. “Also want to call out our offense, for really getting going in the second period. Ell, you had that sweet goal in the first, but you followed it up and didn’t lose the momentum. In fact—you built on it, and that’s what I want to see. What the scouts want to see.”

Elliott looked over at Malcolm, who looked like he was trying not to grin proudly at his boyfriend. “I had the perfect person pushing me,” he said.

Ivan made a vomiting noise. “You guys are disgusting. Save the lovey-dovey shit for the bedroom.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Coach said. “But yes, you’re better when you push each other. When youallpush each other.”

“We’re gonna keep doing it, Coach,” Brody said in that quiet, determined way of his.

“Yep,” Ramsey agreed.

“Good, ’cause the tough part of the season is coming up. We’re second in the conference, but I really want that first seed with its bye week in the playoffs. And I wantyouto have it, too, to rest and recover and to prepare for what’s to come. Let’s agree that we’re attacking each and every game like it matters, because it does.”

The resulting cheer was even louder and Finn nodded, because he too felt like they were playing their best hockey—but they could be even better.Hecould be even better. Sure, he’d recorded the shutout tonight, but there was always another level he could push himself to.

And he wasn’t even doing itjustfor this team, but to prove to the Sentinels that he deserved their time and attention and resources. He was ready to move on from Portland, but they held all the cards.

Morgan had been telling him for months to push them.

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