Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 65354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
“Hey, Bells. What’s up?” Justin asked as he took a seat beside me to lace up his skates. He glanced at me and frowned. “What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing,” I replied as I shook it off.
“Everything better with Elyse?” he asked, and I looked at him with a quick nod.
“Yeah, we worked it out,” I assured him as Coach walked into the room. He looked tense, and I dropped it as I ran a hand through my hair. He gave us the usual pep talk, but there was more to it since we’d been arch-rivals with this team for a few years. We were both doing well in the standings, and it wasn’t a matter of that. It was the way they tried to squash us every time and used every tactic to get their win.
We were pumped when we got up and headed to the ice. The crowd screamed as we skated out in a line, and I raised a hand to wave to them. Adrenaline flowed through me as I moved around the rink before we went to shoot pucks. I looked over the seats, knowing where the girls would be as I smiled. They were both there with some other girlfriends of the team. Tori was yelling as she raised her hands in the air, and I chuckled. Elyse looked a little taken aback as the other women said something to her, and Tori threw her head back.
I focused on the general crowd and started taking shots at our goalie as I grinned. The opposing team was already out, and I glanced over to see Livingston giving me a dark look. Fuck. He wanted to throw down, and I planned to try to avoid that tonight.
“Someone has your number,” Justin said as he skated up beside me. “How many minutes in the sin bin for you tonight?”
“I’d actually like to play for a change,” I said as I focused on my team. “He’s an asshole, and I don’t want to feed into it tonight.”
“Who are you?” Justin asked in feigned shock as I laughed. We kept taking shots and headed over to the bench when the coaches nodded our way. The puck dropped, and I moved towards it as the game began.
It was a fast game, and I moved through players as I attempted to get a goal. I was rewarded with one a few minutes into the first and watched as the other guys spoke carefully in a group on their end. I was in for it and I glanced up to see Elyse watching me, winking at her as she blushed.
I scraped through the first twenty minutes without any issues and headed back in as the other guys talked about the game. I wondered if I could manage to avoid violence for the rest of the game since I didn’t think Elyse would appreciate it. We were ahead by a goal, so we had that going for us.
The crowd cheered for me as I felt someone hit me from the side, sending me to the ice. Looking up, I saw Livingston smirking at me as Justin moved towards him, saying something in a low voice. I made my way back to my feet, observing my friend as he leaned closer to Livingston. I shot a look at the girls, and Tori was yelling something as Elyse looked on, her face pale. I let out a groan as everyone parted and we got back to the game, but at the beginning of the third, I felt someone slide their stick in front of my skate.
“Fuck.” I gritted my teeth as I pitched forward, not needing to look up. They were all threatened by me, but one guy had it out for me. He was still pissed that his girlfriend tried to hook up with me a couple of years back right under his nose. I declined her offer, and he wasn’t with her anymore, but it seemed to have bruised his ego. I slid into the wall and felt pain shooting through my shoulder as rage flooded me. I looked up and saw Livingston skating away as Justin stopped beside me.
“Tripping,” he said as he helped me up. The refs were there to make sure I was fine, which I was, and we went on a power play. I also assisted with our fourth goal and grinned at their bench on the way to bump gloves with my guys. We had a few words throughout the game, but I kept it at that and decided to get a second assist over fighting with any of them. The crowd screamed, and I grinned. I looked up at the girls and saw Elyse staring in confusion as one of the other girls leaned in to explain something to her.
Coach told me I did well as we left the ice, giving me a curious look. I did a quick interview and showered before dressing to go. I walked to the exit and saw a group of people waiting, smiling as Elyse looked over at me.