Page 103 of The Golden Goalie

I laugh as I lay my head back against his chest. “Rico, this is beautiful. I can’t believe I didn’t know you were working on this.”

He kisses the top of my forehead. “I’ve kept this door locked so you didn’t see before now.”

“I can’t believe she’s going to be here soon.”

“She’s going to be perfect,” he says softly.

Chapter 40

Amber

I sit in between Stephanie and Bri and try not to be nervous, when in actuality, I feel like I’m going to throw up. And it has nothing to do with the baby this time. No, this time, it has everything to do with the men out on the ice. I saw Adam out earlier with his team. I’ve been so nervous for this game. Rico told me again earlier not to worry about it, but that’s not possible. I shift in my chair and try to get comfortable as the opening montage for the Green Thunder begins. The excitement in the building is palpable. It always is when these two teams face off. I clap and cheer when our guys are announced, especially my goalie; but it’s hard to shake my nerves.

Bri grabs my hand and squeezes as Aiden heads to the center of the ice. “It will be okay,” she shouts over the noise. I nod, unable to say anything. My eyes are glued to the ice, but she squeezes my hand again. I look over at her and realize she may not be as unaffected as she’s trying to play off. Just like that, my nerves return. The puck drops, and we’re off. Aiden wins the faceoff and sends it hurling to Sebastian. Sebastian weaves around a player effortlessly and sends it to Gunner, who sends it right back to Aiden. They take a shot, but it’s blocked by their goalie. There’s a collective groan in the arena as the other team takes the puck. And then it happens. Adam gets the puck. Aiden is on him in a flash, and he slams him brutally against the boards. Bri’s hand squeezes mine so tightly, I’m sure it’s going to leave a mark. I refuse to look away from the game to check, though. Aiden steals it away and gets away from the wall. Buthe’s hit hard against the glass before he can do anything with it. He battles against the Devils for possession and comes away with it. He passes it off, and I breath a tiny sigh of relief. We’re at our end for a little bit but can’t get a score. And then Adam gets the puck again. Aiden’s on him in a flash and barely misses getting him against the boards before he’s chasing him down again. Gunner comes out of nowhere and slams him against the boards, and Sebastian swoops in for the puck. The crowd goes wild as Sebastian flies towards the goal. He fakes and then slams it into the net, setting off the alarm and the entire arena erupts. Stephanie jumps to her feet, waving wildly as Sebastian points to his ring finger before getting slammed by his teammates.

We get back into the game, and this time it’s Sebastian that gets Adam. I cringe, but Stephanie screams wildly for her man. And that’s how the first period goes. We’re up one to zero, but that’s not really the focus of the game. The hits against Adam have been brutal. So far, we haven’t had any penalties, but I know they’re coming, especially for Aiden if he doesn’t back off.

I turn to Bri during the intermission. “He’s going to get in trouble.”

She shakes her head. “Aiden does what Aiden’s going to do.”

“He shouldn’t be going after him like that. Did you tell him to?”

Bri’s eyes widen. “I told him to stay away from Adam. That’s all him.”

The second period starts out with crazy excitement when we make a goal only seconds in. But then the Devils get the puck. I put my hand on my stomach to try to ease the cramping this game is causing. Rico makes an amazing save, and I can’t help but add my voice to the overly enthusiastic audience. Gunner scores right before the end of the period, putting us up three to zero.

I stand immediately to my feet. “I have to pee. I'm never going to make it for another period.”

“We’ll go with,” Stephanie says. We make our way through the insane crowd, wait in a ridiculously long line, and finally make it back to our seats just as they’re gearing up to start the third period.

If I thought the last two periods were bad, they were nothing compared to the third period. Aiden finally gets his penalty and spends two minutes in the box, putting the Devils into a power play. They skate towards our net, and I hold my breath. One of their guys shoots, but Rico keeps it out of the net. We spend the entire two minutes of Aiden’s penalty at our end, but somehow we keep the puck out of the net. And then Aiden’s back in play. And then, the most terrifying thing happens. The puck goes behind the net, and Rico chases it down. Adam comes flying out of nowhere and slams his head into Rico’s from behind. Rico’s body flips around, his helmet flies off, and he hits the ice. I scream as the arena erupts in anger. Aiden and Gunner come flying in and start wailing on Adam, with Sebastian and Zac right behind. The Devils players join in and it’s an all-out brawl. Even their goalie joins in. I feel like I’m going to throw up as I watch.This is all my fault.I shake my head. I turn to Stephanie, who’s eyes are glued to the ice.

“I need out,” I shout loud enough for her to hear. She must see the look on my face because she sits quickly to get out of my way.

Bri snags my hand before I can leave. “What are you doing?”

I shake my head, swallowing to keep from throwing up. I can’t form the words. “I’ll go with you.” Stephanie joins us as well, and we push through to get to the end of our row. We climb to the top, and then I don’t know where to go next.

“Come on. We’ll just go to the family and friends area,” Stephanie says, taking charge. We make our way there. Thesecurity guard on duty recognizes us and lets us in. Stephanie and Bri both sit in front of the huge screen. I can’t even watch; I’m too sick. They talk quietly between them about penalties and power plays, but I don’t bother to ask. That is until I hear Stephanie say, “Oh shoot.”

I turn around and stare as Rico and Adam circle. “What are they doing?” But I know what’s about to happen. I stare in horror as Rico goes after Adam.

“Wow, I didn’t know the goalie had it in him,” I hear somebody in the room say. I don’t stick around to watch. I head to the bathroom and unload the contents of my stomach. After sitting there a while, I finally stand up and wash my mouth out with some water and wash my hands before making my way back out.

“Is it over?” I ask in a shaky voice.

Bri turns to me. “Hey.” She stands up and comes over to me and rubs my arm. “It’s okay. The game’s over.”

“The fight?”

She smiles. “Rico’s fine.”

“Did we win?”

“Yes. It was a shut-out. Your boy did good. We won four to zero.”

I take a shaky breath and try to settle my racing heart. The door opens and sweaty hockey players begin making their way inside wearing matching grins. I take in the split lips, bruised faces, and shake my head. Sebastian grins and tries to kiss Stephanie, who squeals and pushes his sweaty face away. Aiden gives Bri a kiss, but I wait for my man to walk through. He finally comes through the door. I take him in in an instant. He’s okay. I run to him and throw my arms around him as tightly as I can, which is pretty stinking difficult both with my belly and all his padding. “Hey,” he says in concern. “Are you okay?”

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