Page 76 of Off The Ice

I raised my brow at Maggie.

“What happened to ‘it’s hockey’?”

“Shut up,” she said, unwilling to discuss the matter further.

When the Harbor Wolves won, the team collapsed into each other, hugging their teammates in victory.

I felt as jittery and excited as if I were one of the players, pride blooming in my chest for the guys down there on the ice. Number 26 most of all.

I watched as he celebrated with his team, understanding on a deeper level now just what this sport meant to him. He deserved this.

I screamed his name, clapping foolishly, my voice getting lost in the roar of the crowd.

And then, for a moment, my breath caught, freezing me where I stood.

Because everyone in the stadium was looking at Liam Brynn.

But he was only looking at me.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Liam

In my career, we’d won hundreds of times. The feeling never faded or dulled, but tonight, it feltdifferent.I was proud we played like hell if only to show Cassie what hockey could be like.

It was her first game, after all,I told myself when an inner voice of reasoning started to ask why it mattered. Of course I wanted to give her a good impression of the game.

And in my opinion, we’d delivered on that account.

That inner voice was starting to get annoying as hell, though.

Especially when it started bringing up pretty valid points when I went looking for Cassie and Maggie after the game ended.

You have interviews to give. You don’t have time for this.

But I knew that Maggie was never patient enough to stick around after a game while I did the media obligations. And I wanted to see how Cassie liked it.

You’ll see her at home.

It didn’t matter; I wanted to see her now, and no amount of reasoning could talk me out of it. Before I could get roped into an interview, I slipped out of the locker room, promising Brody I’d be back in a few minutes to fulfill any obligations to the team that were required of me.

And then I ran through the arena like a bat out of hell, headed straight toward the exit I knew Maggie usually took.

Without my gear on, I was able to blend in a bit more, wearing only a hoodie and joggers as I maneuvered through the crowds trying to make their way out.

It was mayhem, and I was thanking every God that might exist that no one gave me so much as a second glance. Of course they wouldn’t expect me to be here, rushing through thousands of people to try and find one girl.

But I was.

Why?

I saw her several feet away from the exit, finding it impossible to miss a blonde in a variety of pastels among the blue and gray jerseys that filled the lobby.

“What, you guys bailing out on me so soon?” I called out loud enough for them to hear.

I watched as they both turned at the same time.

“I must not have played as well as I thought.” I laughed at the bewilderment on Cassie’s face.

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