Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
“Gideon, back to me!” Gray yelled. He panted and received the puck again, and he spun around and fired between his own legs, and Abel caught it and managed to get out of the mayhem. Gray hurriedly skated out of there too, but Darius and Ryan were on him like a Band-Aid.
Good thing Gray was faster.
Holy fuck, had the old-timers changed their approach. They didn’t even bother with positions. Darius and Ryan were glued to Gray, Reese and Madigan were on Abel like a leech, River and Ethan stuck on Gideon’s tail, Case tried to cover Shay, and Avery was their new goalie.
They were pulling some fucked-up football tactics outta their asses too, ’cause the minute someone on Team Darius got the puck, they all rallied to protect that teammate.
That was how they’d managed to score twice. Darius had gotten his goal. So had Reese.
Gray had lost count of the times he’d been shoved up against the boards by his Quinn stalkers. Christ on a dickstick, they got on Gray’s nerves.
“Shay!” Gray passed the puck to Shay as Darius and Ryan descended, but he managed to squeeze between and haul ass once more. Then he arrived at Shay, who was trying to keep Case from grabbing the puck. “Don’t fuck this up, Case,” Gray warned. “Lincoln’s watching you.”
“Oh my God—fuck!” That was how Case lost the puck back to Gray, and he pushed it around in a circle and deked left, avoiding a collision with Reese and Ethan, only to send the puck flying across the ice to Abel. He’d shaken his following for the moment too.
Abel scored.
“Fuck yeah!” Gray bumped his gloved fist to Abel’s, then skated past the benches to take a quick swig of water.
“That’s 11-3 to Team Gray,” Lias called out. “Three minutes left of the second period!”
“Let’s tire them out!” Gray ordered. They were clearly not going to let Boone back out on the ice. He’d spent five minutes out there all in all, and during that time, Team Gray had scored six times.
Abel skated over to Gray, who spoke in between heavy breaths, “They keep coming at us—I’mma wake up with bruises everywhere tomorrow. I’m done making quick escapes to chase the next goal. I’ll fucking show those two how to check someone.”
Abel grinned, flushed and breathing just as heavily. “All right. I’ll start getting rougher with Mad and River.”
Good.
Gideon and Abel took the face-off with Reese and Ryan, and Gray got on the offense as quickly as his skates carried him. He grabbed the puck from Abel, then passed it to Gideon, just before he rammed his shoulder right into Ryan, sending him flying backward.
“Motherfucker!” Ryan groaned.
Gray stopped next to him and stared him down. “You takin’ a nap, baby boy?”
“You son of a—” He cut himself off and scrambled to his feet. By then, Gray was gone.
The next time they faced off was three minutes into the last period. Darius had the damn puck, and he was skating backward toward Gabriel with a merry crew of enforcers crowding him. Reese, River, Ethan, Case, Madigan—even Avery left the fucking cage to protect Darius. And Ryan was circling them to make sure no one on Team Gray got near.
“My God, today!” Gray tapped his stick against the ice and followed behind Ryan. Abel and Gideon searched for an in. “This is the equivalent of bowling with those kiddie bumpers up.”
“You’re just pissy because it’s working,” Ryan laughed, out of breath.
“We’re 12-3, pumpkin,” Gray reminded. “Christ, you’re more disappointing than the ending of Grace and Frankie.”
“Don’t take the bait, Ry,” Ethan growled.
But it was too late. The look on Ryan’s face was nothing short of murderous, and a bolt of adrenaline shot through Gray.
Fine, let’s dance.
Ryan skated toward Gray in a move that sure as hell wouldn’t be allowed in an actual game; he was clearly just going to try to knock Gray over.
“You wanna go?” Gray widened his arms and eased backward, closer to the corner boards. “Come at me!”
“Now, Abel!” Gideon yelled.
It all happened so fast. Right before Ryan and his impressive glare were about to crash into Gray, Abel found a way in and stole the puck from Darius. Gray got out of the way, sending Ryan flying into the boards, and Gray was quick to rush over to where Abel needed him. And Abel passed the puck to Gray, who fired it straight across the ice into an empty net.
Their friends and family cheered and applauded.
Gray laughed breathlessly and bumped fists with his teammates.
Team Darius turned on Ryan.
“Are you happy with the activity you chose?” Ethan snapped. “You think this was a good idea?”
“I’m not gonna be able to walk later,” Darius added irritably.
“I hurt in places I’m not supposed to hurt,” Madigan bitched.
Abel howled with laughter.
“Shut your whiny asses all the way up. Excuse me for having too much faith in y’all!” Ryan yelled defensively. “Trust, it won’t happen again.”