Page 61 of Penalty Box
Grayson dumped the puck into the zone, and Mason flew in after it. Faster than anyone else out there. He didn’t even flinch when a Kraken player tried to cut him off. He droppedhis shoulder, spun around the guy, and toe-dragged the puck so smoothly I barely saw it move.
Then he flipped it. Between his legs.
Between. His. Legs.
The arena lost its mind. The puck kissed the top corner of the net, crossbar and down, so fast the goalie never stood a chance.
I covered my mouth with my hand. Not out of shock but because my body responded in a way it shouldn’t. Not when I’d shut him down, ready to walk away for good. Warmth curled through me, low and fast. My thighs pressed together as I watched him glide past the bench, tapping his stick twice against the boards, like it was nothing.
Brilliant was one thing, being cocky about it just made him hotter.
When the buzzer sounded, the Surge was five goals ahead of Seattle’s one. Grayson had two assists, the fourth line even got in a goal, and my dad looked smug as hell.
But it was Mason my eyes kept drifting to. And how I was quickly losing the ability to pretend I didn’t want him.
*
The mezzanine was quiet. Just the hush of post-game winding down and the occasional thud of equipment being wheeled below. The dim lights cast long shadows over the concrete floor, making it feel like a turning point in a spy movie when the elevator doors slid open.
“Figured you’d be halfway home by now,” Mason said, voice rough from the game. “Imagine my surprise when you texted me.”
If only he knew how much it had taken for me to do that. Typing out those words went against whatever better judgment would be in this situation.
I leaned against the railing, eyes locked on the darkened rink below. “How’d the interviews go? If you weren’t a firm favorite already, tonight kinda sealed it. I bet they couldn’t shut up about your goal.”
“Which one?” A crooked smile curved his lips.
“You show off like that in beer league, they ban you for being a menace.”
He laughed under his breath, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Wasn’t trying to show off.”
“Liar.”
“Okay, okay,” he said, dropping his gym bag before he came to stand next to me. “Maybe I was showing off a little.”
The silence that followed was charged, like we were standing on the edge of a fault line, waiting for it to crack.
Then, softly: “You’ve been avoiding me.”
I bit the inside of my cheek as I tried to decide on the best response. “I’ve been busy.”
It wasn’t a total lie, and did the least damage.
“You never told me what that meeting was about,” he said. The pivot nearly gave me whiplash. “The one you rushed to the other morning.”
“You remember everything, don’t you?”
He shrugged, hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Only the important stuff.”
“Policy review,” I replied, pretending I didn’t notice the other layers loaded into that simple statement. “They wanted us tosign a document saying we understood the importance of staff conduct off the ice. They’re getting stricter about… boundaries.”
“Boundaries,” he echoed, eyes locked on mine. Heat rose up between us, same as in his garage the other day. “So… what does that mean, exactly?”
Heart in my throat, I stepped closer. “It means I probably shouldn’t do this.”
Then I kissed him, fists curled into his shirt as I pulled him into me. His hands were on me in seconds, gripping my hips, mouth opening against mine with a deep groan. Our bodies pressed together, greedy, not thinking about anything but how much we needed the contact. How we were starved for it. Every line we’d try to draw in the past blurred into nothing. There was only this moment and wanting the same thing— each other.
Mason’s back hit the wall, and I pushed up on my toes, tongue tangling with his, hands sliding under his shirt. The warmth of his bare skin made me gasp.
