Page 37 of Puck Me Secretly

I was in fucking sensory overload. My mind didn’t seem capable of keeping up with the sensations that assaulted me down to my toes.

I gasped when he lifted his mouth and stepped back. His blue eyes, with blown pupils, lingered on my mouth.

“I should go.”

“What?” I sounded as stunned as I felt.

He didn’t answer and without saying another word, he turned and walked out of the office.

My fingertips fluttered to my lips. Max had kissed me. It shouldn’t make me this happy, but I couldn’t stop my heart from zinging with joy. We didn’t have a future. He was a player, and I was the GM’s daughter and there was no possibility of pursuing anything between us.

But my stupid heart didn’t care.

That night,I crawled into bed with my laptop. I would watch the one video I had been avoiding since I had heard about it. The video of the famous fight between Max and Joseph, his old team member.

This fight was the real reason no one cheered for him. This fight is why thousands of people judged him by withholding their praise. I needed to watch it.

It took less than a second to find it. It was the most viewed hockey video with over 19 million views.

I clicked play. The video footage was raw. A cameraman from a known sports news station, ran his film, while he waited for players to come out of the locker room.

Off camera, you could hear reporters talking about the game.

A faint shout.

And then another shout.

Voices yelling. Muffled. A fight from behind closed doors.

The reporters all stopped talking.

The cameraman shifted the camera to the door of the locker room.

Something banged against the door.

The shouting got louder. It sounded like a complete brawl.

The excited murmurs of the reporters.

The door flew open. In a blur, two hockey players tumbled out.

One was Joseph Flanynk, and the other was Max. Both still in uniform. Both wore their skates.

Joseph got a wild punch that connected with Max’s face.

Max’s head snapped back and blood splattered. His lip split.

Max’s face was a mask of pure rage.

He all but lifted Joseph up off his skates and body slammed him into the cement floor. He lost his own footing and landed on Joseph.

Reporters hustled out of the way, blocking the camera.

The door yanked open and three more players piled out.

Someone lifted the camera and moved closer.

Max was on top of Joseph. He hit Joseph with a savage violence that shocked me.

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