Cora’s mouth dropped open while the others laughed around her. “Okay, we are not friends anymore.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. I already knew I’d miss these women when Gabe and I were done with our ruse. And I hated that I was sad at the thought.
“Oh look, the next period is starting,” I said as the lights dimmed. “Anyone need a drink?”
Cora moved in close to me and shot the other women a mock glare. “Dani’s the nicest. I’m so glad Tucks found such an amazing partner.”
The other three just chuckled, and Josie sent me a wink. I kind of felt bad that Cora didn’t know the truth, but the more people we told, the faster our scheme would fall apart.
TUCKS
I skated from one side to the other in my crease while everyone was at the other end of the ice. We had three minutes left in the third period, and the game had been tight since the middle of the second when Montreal had tied it up. We were still at one a piece, but I wanted this game over in regulation. I tapped my stick against each post, my gaze traveling across the ice, then to the Jumbotron to get a better view of the action. Tally and Santa had both taken shots on Montreal’s net, but they’d been blocked.Their goalie was a brick wall, but so was I, and tonight I’d had an extra incentive, knowing that Dani was watching.
If we pulled out a win, maybe I could convince her that she was a good luck charm. I quickly twisted my body and spotted her behind my net. She’d disappeared during the second period when I’d been on the opposite side of the ice, and I told myself it was because I wasn’t in front of her.
Which was ridiculous, but it was what I was going with.
I tipped my head toward her, wishing I was tucking that stray curl over her ear that was currently brushing her cheek. Fucking hell, I wanted this woman. My fake girlfriend.
Would she ever date me in real life? Probably not.
I internally shook my head. Now was not the time to think about that. I had a game to win and a fake girlfriend to kiss.
For show, of course.
I snorted.
Keep telling yourself that.
When she met my gaze, I tapped my helmet with my glove and then turned back to focus on the ice, but not before I caught the slight pink in her cheeks and that small smile. Would it be wrong to guilt her into sitting in those seats for every game?
“For the good of the game, right, boys?” I said, tapping my posts again.
Then I did a little hop on my skates and got into position just as one of Montreal’s forwards, Luke Hamilton, snagged the puck and started skating toward me. Lamb skated back toward me on my right, keeping his eyes on Hammy, and Tally and Santa crossed over the center line just after the guy, Sin just behind them. Tally tried to poke the puck away from the Montreal forward but missed, and Fishy skated into my sight line, ready to block the shot.
Hammy had tried to go five-hole earlier in the second period, but I wasn’t going to assume he’d try that shot again. I shifted inmy crease, primed to move into whatever position I needed to in order to stop that puck, and nudged Fishy with my stick when he got too close.
“Sorry, Tucks,” he said, not taking his eyes off the opposing players.
“Get it,” Sin barked out as the Montreal player knocked it to his teammate.
Santa tried to snag it, but the other player cradled the puck on his stick, closer to his body. He deked left, and I tuned out the noise around me, narrowing my focus to where it should be. And when the guy tried to line up his shot between Lamb and Fishy, I was quick to drop into a butterfly and stop the puck.
“Nice try,” Sin called out to Hammy as I covered the puck.
I tossed it to the ref and they all moved to the face-off dot to my left. Tally easily won and knocked it back to Santa. Our first line was gassed from their shift, and with two minutes left, Santa tapped the puck back to Lamb just as they all cleared the center line. Tally, Santa, and Sin cleanly made it to the bench while Dom, Haldy, and Xan took their places. Lamb knocked the puck to Dom, and with time winding down, I rolled back my shoulders, tapped my posts, and hoped they’d get a goal before the final buzzer blared.
But a minute later, they were back in my zone. Montreal’s line was in sync, passing the puck back and forth with my guys unable to snag it away. I didn’t take my eyes off whoever had it, and when they ended up in the corner to my right, with Dom trying to dig it out, I narrowed my focus again.
They skated behind my net, one of Montreal’s forwards too close to my paint, so I nudged him with my stick.
And at that exact moment, Montreal’s center swooped around to the other side of my net, the puck on his stick, and took his shot. I dove to the side and stretched my blocker out at an oddangle. The puck bounced off and Micah cleared it out before Montreal could take another shot.
I popped back up on my feet, ready for the next shot on goal, but we had possession now.
“Sweet fucking save, Tucks,” Micah called out before he skated up the ice. I knew Dom, Xan, and Haldy were exhausted, and they exited the ice as our third line hopped on, skating the puck into Montreal’s zone.
My gaze moved from watching the ice to peeking up at the Jumbotron again, and when Sweets, one of our centers, managed to get the puck past Montreal’s goalie with only fifteen seconds left, I jumped up and down, wishing I could celebrate that goal with my team as the horn blared.
