Clayton is charging down the ice with the puck. He can score as long as no one gets in his way. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a guy going at him from the side.
Holy shit, he’s going to take him out.
Pushing off harder, I skate toward them. Before the guy can nail Clay in the back, I get to him, taking him down right as Clay takes the shot.
The horn blares through the arena, letting me know he made the goal but it was waved off. I lift myself up off the ice as the ref slides up to us. Before he can even say it, I start heading toward the penalty box.
Once inside, I scan the crowd and find Cora. She looks right at me and mouths,are you okay?
I wink at her right as Coach bangs on the safety glass on my other side. I turn toward him and see that he’s glaring at me.
“Pay attention to the game, Cooper. You can flirt with your girlfriend later.”
“Yes, Coach.” I turn back toward the ice.
“Oh, and Cooper. Good job protecting your captain,” he mutters.
Smiling, I look up at the clock and watch it count down. We just have to hold them off for a little longer. Players go whizzing by, heading straight for Wyatt.
“Come on, come on. Block. Block. Fucking block, Scott,” I mutter under my breath.
The player from St. Mary’s pulls his stick back and shoots. The puck takes off like a bullet, heading right for Wyatt. Somehow, by the grace of God, Wyatt blocks the shot, right as the final buzzer sounds.
My fist shoots up into the air. “Yes!”
Leaving the sin bin, I head back to the ice. “Good game,” I say to one of the opposing team’s players.
“Fuck off,” he mutters as he shoulder checks me.
“They are so sweet and kind, aren’t they?” Beckett says as he comes up next to me.
As we skate back to the bench, I find Cora in the crowd again. She shoots me a thumbs-up, and she’s smiling from ear to ear.
God, she’s beautiful. And mine. All fucking mine.
I blow her a kiss, making her cheeks turn pink.
“Come on, man, flirt later,” Beckett says as he elbows me in the ribs.
“Yeah, yeah.”
As a team, we leave the ice and head toward the locker room.
“All right, boys, gather around,” Coach says.
All of us sit down on the benches and give Coach our full attention.
“I don’t know what the hell they did to improve so much from last year, but we definitely underestimated them, and we won’t be doing it again. You boys played well tonight, and we might have snuck by with the win, but we might not be so lucky next time. You should all thank Scott over there for protecting the net,” he says, waving a hand toward Wyatt.
Wyatt tucks his chin against his chest, avoiding the attention, something I’ve noticed he does often. It makes me curious why he plays at the collegiate level if he likes to keep to himself so much.
Coach continues his talk, praising and critiquing some of us, but I tune him out. I’m ready to fall face first into the bed at the hotel and pass out.
Too bad I can’t sneak Cora into my room. I know her, Grace, and Peyton all got a room to share at the same hotel.
Maybe I can keep my eyes open for just a little while and hang out with her in the lobby or out by the pool.
“Are you coming out with us tonight, Cooper?” Beckett asks when Coach walks away.
