Page 59 of Ice Wolf
“No, Lily. He’s not just a man. He’stheman. The most incredibly handsome, smart, and suave hockey player in the world. You are so very lucky.”
Lucky. If only she knew how unlucky I felt. I tried not to curse under my breath, chewing on my inner cheek instead. I was also praying she’d drop the entire conversation, erasing it from her memory banks.
But I knew my best friend. I’d never hear the end of it.
“So what is happening now?” I threw in, deflecting the discussion.
“Try and enjoy a little of the game. Saint managed to snag these awesome seats. You need to enjoy the moment.”
Enjoy? I was freezing to death. I’d obviously not worn enough clothes to combat the icy chill. The seats were so hard my butt was aching. The beverages had been ridiculously expensive. And don’t get me started on how disgusting the hotdogs tasted. Why in the hell was this game so popular?
Now I rolled my eyes, startled as one of the players from the opposing team rushed by, coming so close to the barrier I jumped. He pummeled directly into a Wild Dogs player.
“The fucker did that on purpose,” she hissed and jumped up like everyone else in the stadium did. They were booing, screaming out obscenities.
I finally stood, the crowd behind us pitching forward until I was pressed against the barrier.
“That was illegal!” Vicky shouted.
“Why?”
She was obviously frustrated with me, leaning over since the screaming continued. “It’s called checking another player. See that player? That’s the Enforcer with the Wild Dogs. You do know which team is which. Right?”
“Oh, give me a break.”
“Hey. I didn’t know for certain. He wasn’t in possession of the puck, so the move wasn’t legal. He did it on purpose.”
Suddenly, the crowd’s heady boos turned into cheers. I scanned the ice, finally noticing Saint, gliding across the ice, his stick on the surface. “What’s happening?” His number and The Savage were printed on the back of his jersey. The game was moving so fast that was the only way I knew for certain.
“Yes. Yes. Yes!” Vicky screamed, jumping up and down.
For some reason, I got caught up in the moment.
“This might be it!” she exclaimed.
“What? What are you talking about?”
“He’s going for it. Look at the Savage fly.”
Suddenly, it seemed as if every single person in the massive room had been intentionally hushed. I knew enough to know the score was tied. I’d also heard the Denver Devils were ruthless players, the hatred between the two teams notorious. Saint had told me as much the night before. But that’s about the breadth of my knowledge about the game.
I’d been too busy all day trying to abate the major crisis, fielding calls from my father, the coach, a dozen reporters, and some asshole who’d acted like I’d been slighting him for weeks. Thathad put me in a very cranky mood. This wasn’t the best end to a grueling day.
Even if I was supposed to be all smiles, rooting for my boy toy.
Yeah, right.
“What is happening?” A sudden wash of energy flowed through every muscle and the screaming started again.
“He’s going for a goal. Look at the clock. If Savage makes this goal, they’ll be in first place. There won’t be a curse. Savage! Savage! Savage!”
The curse. Did everyone believe in fairytales?
Everyone was shouting his name. All of a sudden, I was as well, cheering him on when I remained just as clueless as before.
Except I knew this was a defining moment and realized he needed to make the shot. If he didn’t, my job would be nothing but hell from here on out.
Everything was pitched into slow motion as he took the shot. The huge burly guy hovering in front of the net shifted from one side to the other before taking a stance. Now I got it. He was prepared to use everything he had to block the shot.
