“Jenzy, get your ass on this bench,” the Blizzard coach called out, and thankfully Jenzy finally listened, muttering all the way to his bench.
“You good?” Tally asked.
“Yeah. Sorry about that. Trying my best to avoid him tonight.”
Tally clapped my shoulder. “Believe me, I’ve noticed. He’s a prick who isn’t getting his way and is hopefully going to lose the game tonight. Thanks for not letting him get to you.”
“I seriously want to clock that guy,” Micah muttered.
“Me too. How about we just keep them from scoring any more goals tonight? And maybe every other time we play them this season,” I said.
Tally grinned. “Sounds like the perfect plan to me.”
“Alright, everyone done chitchatting.” Millsy held out his tablet. The rest of the players skated in close, and I shifted to stop in front of Booksy.
“You good?” he asked, handing me a towel so I could wipe my face.
“Yeah. Just need to get through six more minutes and walk away with two points. That’ll be the icing on the cake.”
Booksy grinned. “Jenzy will be pissed as hell. I can’t wait.”
“Don’t jinx us,” I said, taking my three sips from the water bottle Booksy held out for me.
And when the clock ran out a short while later, all of my teammates wore matching grins as we celebrated our victory and kicking Jenzy’s ass. I’d gone in for every helmet tap and hug from the boys, but my eyes kept drifting over to Dani beaming and cheering for me.
I couldn’t wait to get her back home so we could truly celebrate.
Chapter 21
DANI
“How sweet was that win last night? I swear Roger was crying in his Wheaties or whatever the hell he eats in the morning,” Belinda said as she plopped down in the chair opposite my desk the following morning.
“What? Oh yeah, it was a great game. Wait. You watched?” My last client and his father had just left, and I was trying to get through my emails before the next one showed up in thirty minutes. But I guessed my emails could wait since Belinda obviously wanted to chat.
“Of course I did.” She flashed me a smile. “I’ve watched all the games.”
“You were not a hockey fan last season.”
“My friend and amazing coworker is dating a hockey player, so you bet your ass I’m watching.”
I chuckled. “Fake dating. And you didn’t watch when I was dating Roger.”
She quirked a brow. “I never liked Roger or thought he was perfect for you. And are we still doing that nonsense?”
“It’s not nonsense. I mean, it is, but yeah, the ruse is still going.” I ignored her comment about Roger.
“Dani, you know that’s not what I meant.”
Yeah, I knew. But I didn’t feel like acknowledging it. Last night had been another amazing night with Gabe, and not just because of the Stampede beating Roger’s team—fucking hell, that’d been beyond sweet.
Gabe had filled me in on Roger being a dick during that last TV timeout. He hadn’t wanted to, but I pestered him until he told me. I wanted to smack Roger across the head. His stupid, thick head.
“When are you going to tell that man that you’re in love with him?”
“Excuse me? I’m not.” Her eyes narrowed. “What? I’m not. There’s no way. It’s been less than a month, and he’s just helping me out. We’re friends.”
“Who fuck.”
