Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 105679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
But I try to shake off these fizzy feelings. This is the time when I blot out the world, the buffer between daily life and game time. I zoom in on what lies ahead—winning this match—but as soon as that thought enters my mind, another skates in after it—it’d be fun to keep celebrating wins with her.
Focus, man.
As the pre-game warm-up ends, I head to the players’ bench without looking back.
I can’t spend this much time thinking about her.
I’m not on the ice for the face-off against Colorado, but I laser in on the moment when the puck drops. Stefan wins possession, and I train all my attention on the game, watching my team like a hawk as they chase the puck down the ice, Stefan passing to Brady, who aggressively takes a shot on goal in the first thirty seconds.
But the Colorado goalie’s glove knocks it down.
When it’s time for a shift change, I jump over the boards and fly down the ice with blinders on. There’s only room in my head for the game.
I’m in the zone during the first period. Focused, fast, and formidable. This is what I do best. Shut out the world. Been doing it my whole damn life when I get in the rink, and I’ll do it tonight, dammit.
As the period draws to an end, I slam a powerful shot on goal. But the goalie blocks it again.
Jaw clenched, I skate off, annoyed I didn’t break the scoreless drought, then more annoyed when my attention strays to the stands yet again and finds that giant gray fluff ball clambering down the aisle and onto the ice, ready to fire a T-shirt cannon.
Fuck, she’s cute. My irritation burns off, replaced by something…soft as I look her way. I want to introduce her to Ryan and Bryan. To tell them that we’re fake married, but shit’s getting real.
What. The. Hell.
Now is not the time to linger on feel-good thoughts of Ivy. Game time is never the time to linger on thoughts of a woman. Or a future with her.
Or anything but my mission this year—stay.
As Coach prowls the locker room, his resonant voice demanding attention as he talks about how we played too complacently in the first period, my focus slips back to her once again. How did I go from resisting Ivy a few weeks ago to feeling all swoony when I see her before a game? To wanting her to meet my family?
Running into her with Stefan made my stupid heart skip a beat.
I was so fucking excited to see her. She brought a smile to my face, and I hate smiling before games. I hate showing any emotion before games. And during them too.
In college, my nickname was The Iceman for a reason. I shut out the world. That’s what I have to do again.
I can’t get too comfortable here in San Francisco. The team is changing its identity. Hell, they’ll probably toss me out as quickly as they toss out names. That means I can’t be the easygoing guy in the halls, hanging with his girl and his buddy. That’ll lead to complacency.
And that will see me traded.
The rest of the game is a blur of skating, shooting, and missing. I don’t put a point on the scoreboard for the Avengers. None of us do. Colorado glides off the ice with the victory, handing us our asses in an embarrassing shutout.
Fuming, I stalk to the locker room, pissed at myself. It’s one game, and there will be more, but I don’t have wiggle room as the new guy. Just because I had fun in Vegas, just because the guys called me Hayes, just because they dared me to get married for fun, and just because Jessie invited Ivy and me to her event doesn’t mean I’ll get a contract beyond this season.
My goal is to stay with a team, not to stay with a woman. I didn’t come to San Francisco for romance, and I can’t get caught up in one.
As I leave that night, I turn my phone back on. A message from my dad pops up. Something about Cora. Of course.
It’s a reminder though. I can’t be like him.
My mom is the real iceman, leaving without looking back. Good thing we’re heading out of town for a few games. I need a breather. I pack alone that night, and I leave the socks behind.
34
NOT CAPTAIN FOR NOTHING
Stefan
Since we fly to Detroit in the morning, the three of us agreed to take the night off from our festivities.
Shame. But the sex reprieve gives me a few minutes to pop into The Great Dane before it closes. I like to check it out while customers are here to make sure the vibe feels right, like it did when I ate here with Ivy and Hayes.