Page 54 of One Night with Number Nineteen

Immediately, the Hawks are on me, someone shoving me into the boards.

I grunt as I fight to keep the puck for long enough to pass it off to Leo, who’s working hard to get open.

A gap appears and I kick it over to him, shoving off the Hawks player and skating hard toward the far side of the goal.

Skates crunch.

Sticks crack.

The crowd yells.

Curses abound—one of them trailing behind me as I find a bit of space and Leo fires the puck back over to me.

I corral it, deke around the defender (not Shep).

How do I know this?

Because my next dangle brings me into his orbit.

I drag the puck back with the toe of my stick, sliding it toward my skates and then kicking it up and around, avoiding his stick.

Unfortunately, I don’t avoid his body.

The fucker may not be the biggest guy on the ice, but he’s strong as hell.

Something I experience in the next second as I grunt, fly back, and hit the ice hard.

My helmet bounces against it, sending my teeth crashing together, a jarring bolt of pain ricocheting through my jaw despite my mouthguard.

The crowd gasps and I can’t lie—it fucking hurts.

Especially for one long second when it feels as though my lungs are never going to start working again.

But even as that worry is crossing through my mind, the pressure around my torso eases, my muscles relax, and my body allows me to suck in a breath.

Then another.

Then I’m pushing up to my feet, my mind racing to catch up to the action I’ve missed.

Only several heartbeats of time.

But that’s enough for the puck to have squirted to the corner, for one of the Hawks players to pick it up.

Fuck that.

I haul ass across the distance, throw my body against the fucker, reveling in his grunt, his curse…and the way the puck slips free.

Scooping it up, I drive hard into Shep this time, sending him back a pace.

It doesn’t buy me much time.

But it gives me plenty of opportunity.

Hockey is fucking hard—it’s a brutal sport of blood and inches, fights and broken bones, wars of attrition and shattered spirits.

This moment, however, feels easy.

Natural.