Page 51 of Hot Ice, Tennessee

I was laser-focused again. I watched the puck like a hawk, taking control of every opportunity I got and ignoring the shit the Nashville players said in my ear. My legs were burning like hell in the last minute, and even though we were losing 1-2, we had a chance to score, and the game wasn’t over.

The puck is mine.

There was only a moment for me to intercept Nashville. I moved in, doubting that I was even close enough to connect with the puck. But I went for it, and when the blade touched, I knew I was locked in.

The sound from the crowd changed as I took control. The puck was mine now, and I was going all the way back, in deep.

I searched for an opening, trying and failing to find any few inches of leeway on the ice.

Fuck. Nowhere to go. Nowhere to go.

I tried like hell. I juked and dribbled as my eyes scanned the ice like a bloodhound. I spotted Robbie at the last moment and went his way, positioning like I was about to make a pass.

And then I went for the shot instead. It was a Hail Mary, all the way down into their net.

I watched the puck soar down the ice and…

Miss.

It was another millimeter-close graze, and in another timeline, it would have tied up the game easily.

Now it was lost. Bitter disappointment sank into my bones, knowing I hadn’t just lost the game, but that Mason had been watching it, too.

I didn’t want to talk to anybody afterward.

My blood was hot with frustration, and I went over a dozen different things I should have done differently out on the ice.

I went into the locker room, shoved off my gear, and showered quickly. I tossed on clothes and gave my teammates a few quick nods, heading out.

I wanted to be alone.

I wouldn’t have minded being alone for the rest of my life, honestly.

One-man island? Sign me the fuck up.

I sucked in a deep breath of air as I walked into the seats where the crowd was now rapidly dispersing. I expected Mason to be gone. But I took the long way out of the rink, passing around the area where he’d been sitting.

He was the only one still there in that section.

He was sitting there in the green flannel, and my heart did a little flip in my chest as he gave me a little wave.

You stayed.

Maybe that one-man island doesn’t sound that great, anyway.

Even after the bitter loss. Even after I’d fucked us on having a shot to tie up the game.

And even after I couldn’t even make good on the terms of the thing he’d dared me orbeggedme to do.

9

MASON

Before Jesse walked out and found me, I’d been lost in the chatter of the crowd.

“He is sofuckinghot,” I heard a young girl saying from behind me, and her friend agreed.

“Went to a few games on campus last season just to watch him,” the other girl said. “I would have, like, ten of Jesse Sanocki’s babies.”

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