Page 60 of Hooking the Captain
As I clinked my beer against his, a genuine smile spread across my face. “To winning and whatever else life throws at us.”
We were justone win away from clenching a spot in the playoffs. The score against the Islanders was 0-0, with one minute and twenty seconds left in the period. I could feel the weight of the stick in my hands, and my heart pounded in rhythm with the arena music. The Islanders’ goalie was formidable, but we were determined to break through.
The puck glided across the ice as I sent it to Butcher and maneuvered around an opponent, my focus solely on the net. He passed it to Sexton and as the clock wound down, I spotted an opening. Sexton sent a crisp pass my way, and I seized the opportunity. The puck danced on the blade of my stick as I approached the net, eyes locked on the goalie.
With a swift, powerful shot, I sent the puck hurtling toward the net. Time seemed to slow as I watched it soar through the air. The goalie lunged, desperate to make the save, but the puck found its mark. The arena erupted into a deafening roar as the red light behind the net illuminated.
I raised my arms in triumph, joining my teammates in a celebratory huddle. We had done it; we had clinched that playoff spot we had fought so hard for.
Baylor rushed over from across the ice, his helmet lifted to the top of his head, and I engulfed him in a hug the best I could around all his pads.
“We did it!” I shouted.
“Yeah, we did!”
I had no clue how many saves he’d made throughout the game, but it had been a lot, and I was so proud of him for not letting a single puck through the entire game.
“Let’s go fucking celebrate!”
I didn’t botherto take my truck home. Instead, I left it at the arena and then we all took rideshares to Flanagan’s. Everyone was rowdy and excited and if I didn’t know any better, I might have thought we’d won the Cup and not just made it into the playoffs. Didn’t matter. It was still an accomplishment.
By the time our car dropped us off in front of the pub, everyone had gone inside. We were the last to get a ride, and I was grateful because a thought occurred to me as I sat next to Baylor in the back of the stranger’s car.
Before he could reach for the wooden door, I grabbed his arm and nudged my head for him to step back.
“What’s up?” he asked.
When I licked my lips, his gaze moved to them. “What if we go inside and have a beer and then leave?”
“To go to Chrome?” he wondered.
Chrome was his go-to and mine of late, but the gay nightclub wasn’t where I wanted to go. I had too much pent-up energy coursing through my veins that dancing with someone I didn’t know and then going back to their place wasn’t what I wanted to do. “No,” I answered.
“No?” He cocked his head to the side.
I pulled him to the side of the brick building and away from anyone who could see or hear us. “What about my place?”
He stared at me for a beat and then a slow grin spread across his face. “Your place?”
I smiled nervously and said, “I know we haven’t talked about it, but?—”
Before I could finish my sentence and tell him I was attracted to him, his lips crashed against mine. I backed him up against the building as our tongues tangled together in a heated kiss.
Not wanting to get caught, I pulled back. Our hot exhales mixed with the cold air as we caught our breaths, but before I could ask again about my apartment, he took his phone out.
“I don’t live far. Let’s go to my place.”
18
COOP
Rolling over,I snuggled closer to Baylor. The alarm clock had yet to go off, but I was awake. I hadn’t slept a wink all night because tonight was game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. Everything was on the line since the series against Vegas was tied three games apiece.
Baylor stirred in my arms and rolled over to face me. “Morning.”
I smiled and kissed his lips quickly. “Morning.”
Since the night we clinched a spot in the playoffs, Baylor and I had been seeing each other. It was, of course, on the down-low, but it was also easy. We both had the same schedule and after hockey was over for the day, we went back to either his place or mine and hung out and fucked. We spent a lot of time together and were getting super close.
