Page 155 of Off The Ice

“Enjoy the game,” I tossed over my shoulder as I left, hoping to God that I would never see that man again for the rest of my life.

I’d never taken a drug in my life, but I felt wired as if I’d taken a hit of something. My brain was fried—between the confrontation with my father, the anger I felt toward Maggie for bringing him here, and the cyclone of a mess going on with Cassie, it was a wonder I managed to play the game at all.

I paid enough attention to get by, but I’d be lying if I tried to claim that most of my focus wasn’t on the stands.

Did I see a blond head anywhere? It was hard when so many were screaming for my attention, holding up crazy signs that seemed borderline illegal to be shown in a public setting.

But finally, I spotted her a few minutes into the night. The last time I saw her, her lips had been on mine and everything was perfect. Then she was gone before I had a chance to process how it happened.

She sat beside Maggie in a replica ofmyjersey, with a long white-sleeved shirt underneath. She looked so beautiful it hurt to breathe, even as relief flooded through me.

She really was here tonight. Everything would be fine because I was going to talk to her and make things right. It didn’t even matter if she wasn’t ready for a relationship or any of that. I’d rather have things go back to the way they were before than not have her at all. And if she was here, it meant she wasn’t giving up on me yet.

I played like hell to prove a point to myself and to my father, who was there in the stands beside Maggie. I didn’t need him and never did. But most of all, I played like hell because of thatgirl in the stands watching who held my heart in the palm of her hands.

I hoped she’d go easy with it.

We were unstoppable for the first half of the game, to the point where I was entirely locked in, concentrating only on what I needed to get done in front of me.

The guys and I moved like clockwork, seamless, unstoppable. The rest of the world faded into a blur—just noise beyond the rink. The puck belonged to us, and we made damn sure the other team knew it. Score after score, the crowd roared louder, the announcers raving about how this game would go down in Harbor Wolves history.

But I barely heard them.

I was locked in, breathless, running on pure muscle memory. Somewhere between passes and checks, I remembered why I loved this game. How it shut everything else out. How it let me forget, let me escape, let me feel nothing at all.

Lately, I hadn’t wanted that. But tonight, I let the adrenaline drag me under—just until the game was secured.

Then, somewhere in the third period, as the energy swirled around me, I glanced up for a glance at Cassie, only to come up short.

Fans screamed in every direction I turned, but I ignored them, searching for the one face that wasn’t there.

Where the hell had she gone?

As soon as I was able to look in the direction of where Maggie was sitting, I mouthed the question through the glass.

“Where is she?”

She mouthed back, “Her mom.”

That was all it took to take me out of the game. Like a bucket of ice water dumped over my head, I was done. I skated off, Coach yelling, trying to block my path.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” he shouted. “This game is going down in the books. You’ll see it through to the end!”

“I can’t.” I yanked off my helmet. “It’s Cassie. I have to go.”

“Who the hell is Cassie?”

I met his eyes dead-on. “My girl.”

Whatever he saw on my face made him step back. He clapped my shoulder, letting me pass.

As I stalked down the tunnel, the announcer’s voice echoed behind me.

“Liam Brynn is leaving the game due to a family emergency.”

And then I was gone.

Chapter Fifty-Five

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