Page 207 of Ice Princess

REBEL

It’sthe final minutes of the playoffs and my heart is at my throat.

Shouts erupt from the entire stadium. The noise so deafening that I’ll be hearing a ringing in my ears for the next two weeks.

But none of that matters.

The clock is ticking.

The game is tied.

This is the Lucky Striker’s last chance to take the number one spot on the leader board.

I can’t breathe.

Gunner cuts across the ice, speeding ahead of the other team’s defense. Beside me, April is screaming for Chance, who currently has control of the puck, but my eyes are on my boyfriend as the defense descend on Chance in a frenzy.

Chance sends the puck skating across the ice.

Come on, Gunner. Come on.

Gunner takes control of the puck in the blink of an eye and skates like a madman to the goal. If I thought it was loud before, the shouts in the stadium are about to tear theroofoff this place.

I’m on my feet and screaming my head off along with everyone else. To my left, there’s a voice only slightly louder than mine and, suddenly, a warm hand wraps around mine.

I look over to Carol, who’s got her eyes locked on her son. I doubt she even recognizes that she’s holding me. I bet she’d be horrified. Sure, she agreed to join my association (and even took all her contacts and sponsors—including Rodney Howard—with her), but Carol still acts a little snooty around me.

It’s in her blood, I guess.

Mom and the Kinseys have come to a settlement agreement, and the Kinseys have already started making payments.

Mom moved out of the trailer and into a small but more expensive home in a modest area of Lucky Falls. She also met with an architect to build an apartment on the property near Darkwell Ridge, which I recently found out has always been a dream of hers.

Gunner and I are happily dating.

Mom never has to work another day in her life.

And I no longer need to suck up to the Lady Luck Society to make real change in Lucky Falls.

The only thing we need now is for the Lucky Strikers to win this game and walk away as the champions of the season.

But that last part is easier said than done.

The opposing team swarms around Gunner like a pack of hungry wolves, doing their best to tear him to pieces. He weaves through them like a ghost. Fakes a pass and turns instead. But they’re just as desperate to be number one and he can’t get past.

A slick pass to Theilan is the best decision in that moment and I watch, heart in my throat until the moment the puck is back in his possession.

Eight seconds.

“Go, Gunner! You got this!” I scream, knowing my voice is being drowned out by the multitudes in the stadium.

Gunner lifts his stick and, without hesitation, he goes for it.

The puck sails through the air.

I hear every distinct beat of my heart. Every hiss of sweat rolling down my face. Every thud of my feet jumping up and down on the bleachers.

Time slows until…

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