Page 178 of Voices

“Thank you, TJ.”

The guy chuckles. “Thankyou, Shane. Good luck at the Frozen Four tomorrow.”

Shane reaches for his phone with a slightly shaky hand.

“Did that just happen?” Matt’s shocked face looks up at Shane.

“Yeah. It did.” Shane leans back on the couch, looking down at the now blank screen of his phone.

“What happened.” Four sets of eyes snap up to meet mine.

“Hey, baby. I didn’t even hear you come in.” Shane tilts his head back so he’s looking at me upside down, making his smile look like a frown. “How was therapy?”

I stand so I’m looking down at him, my hips touching his head.

“Good. What was that call about? You guys look stunned.”

Shane grabs my hips as his upside-down smile grows.

“You know how I’ve been getting calls from NHL teams who are interested in me?”

I nod.

“Well, that was the Tampa Bay Thunder.” His smile brightens.

“That’s the team you want to play for, right?”

“Yeah.” He sounds like he’s about to cry even though he’s still smiling.

I lean down so I’m right above his face. “You did it, Superstar,” I whisper before connecting our lips.

Lily pulls into the parking lot at The World Skate Center in St. Louis, Missouri. We stayed the night at the same hotel the team was at, so I was able to spend the night and morning with Shane, keeping his mind, and other things, busy.

We easily find our seats behind the player’s benches along with a sea of other students wearing black and gold.

“I’m so excited!” Lily bounces in her seat, spilling her popcorn everywhere.

“Me too. Matt said the Porter Devils have a strong defense that hardly lets any goals get to their goalie, but their top scorer is injured so that gives us a slight advantage,” I shrug. “I’m not sure what any of that means, though.”

Lily laughs and ruffles my hair. “I don’t either, but this is a championship game which means it’s going to be a battle!”

And a battle it is.

I spend the first period following Shane skate up and down the ice. He blocks a few shots and almost scores but when they go to the locker room the score is still zero to zero.

The second period is faster with harder hits. Guys are slammed against the glass, penalties are handed out, and trash talk is heard between benches. By the time the clock hits zero, the other team has the lone goal.

Halfway through the third period, Asher steals the puck from the other team and flies to the other side of the ice. He skates around the net and quickly passes the puck to Matt. I don’t even see the puck touch his stick before the back of the net moves and the lamp lights up behind the goalie.

Everyone in our section jumps up and cheers as the guys surround Matt on the ice.

The game is tied at one with just under two minutes left in the game.

“I’m so nervous.” Lily stands up and bites her nails as the guys get ready at center ice.

I stand up next to her and slide my arm through hers. She smiles and leans into me.

The puck is dropped and when Benji loses the puck, he chases the Devil player and shoves him in the lower back with his stick, resulting in a cross-checking penalty.

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