Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

MADDOX

I didn't need adrenaline to get worked up for the game. Just being around Kayden sent my blood pressure sky high. If I had my blocker with me, I would've been tempted to put it over his face. Not that I was a violent person. The total opposite, despite my surly temperament. If anything, when there was a fight on the ice, I broke out in a cold sweat, no lie. Some guys loved that shit. Guess they thought it made them feel powerful. It made me want to puke.

Kayden followed me onto the bus, my constant shadow, chattering away about fuck knows what. The snickers of our teammates got louder as we passed each row of seats.

"Button it, Kayden. Save your energy for the game!" Axel shouted.

Laughter surrounded us.

I whirled around. "Take your own advice, Lund. You gonna score today or skate around looking at your reflection?"

More chuckles, snorts, and hollers.

Axel stood up, but I didn't move an inch. If he wanted to come after me, he could go for it. I hated fighting, but I would defend myself. Then I realized he hadn't been making fun of me but Kayden. Why didn't I ignore the stupid taunt? I was damn good at that. Still, Axel's attitude pissed me off.

Let's be honest, for me, it didn't take much.

Dane, who was sitting across the aisle from Axel, got up, holding his hand in front of the forward.

"Hey! We're on the same team, remember? Can we put aside our egos and think about what we need to do today to win?" Dane asked. "Now, Coach is gonna be here any minute. Chill."

I turned around and headed to the seats at the back of the bus.

My roommate sat, or rather flopped, onto the seat beside me. Swear to fuck, the bus swayed when Kayden sat down. Instead of acknowledging him, I pulled on my headphones and drew back into my world.

But I was rudely interrupted by a nudge to my side. I yanked off my headphones.

"Don't touch me," I warned him.

Of course, the retriever ignored me.

"Thanks for sticking up for me back there."

"I didn't," I scoffed. "I just wanted Axel to shut up."

"Sure, you did. He made a joke about me and you were all protective," Kayden smiled. "That means a lot, Mad. And I'm so fucking happy that we're friends now."

What kind of bizarro world had I stepped into at this school? With this roommate?

"Seriously, did you hit your head in the shower or something?" I asked.

Kayden leaned in close, and I thought for sure I'd get up and leave. But I didn't. I just sat there, trapped in his hazel gaze. He was too close, and I could smell cinnamon on his breath. And another scent that was spicy. Soap? Deodorant? Whatever it was, it was damn good. Not that I should've noticed or anything, but hey, a nice-smelling person, and a hockey player to boot, is rare.

"You and me?" he pointed between us. "BFFs in no time."

Rolling my eyes and biting my lip so hard I tasted blood, I shoved my headphones back on and prayed for teleportation to the rink.

I'm pretty sure Kayden kept talking, but I closed my eyes and ignored him.

When I felt the bus move five minutes later, the relief was palpable. But by the time we got to the venue, I was all but jumping out of my skin again. All I wanted was to get on the ice. The cold air in my lungs, the weight of the pads on my body, and the familiar swoosh of my blades on the ice. When I was in my net, I wasn't angry, or sad, or filled with ‘ what ifs .' The chaos of a game gave me something I rarely had and treasured above anything else—peace.

Everyone filed out of the bus, and I waited for Kayden to leave. But he shook his head and motioned for me to go first. Jesus. The sooner I got away from this guy, the better.

I followed the rest of the team as we headed into the rink. The tension in the locker room was as heavy as it was on the bus. Kayden and Dane joked around, but the rest of the guys looked like they were about to throw up. There was no home ice advantage so nerves were high. And no wonder. Rochester had a solid reputation.

I was the first one suited up in green and gold, and headed for the ice. With the opposing team's hometown crowd packed in every seat, the atmosphere was amped all the way up. The guys from Rochester were warming up, and only paused to give me the stink eye. Good luck with that. I didn't need a talisman to ward off any bad juju. I was the evil eye.

Ignoring the dickheads in blue and white, I went through my motions, my stretches. There was no rushing this part for a goalie. First arms, legs, hip flexors, repeat. Until I was satisfied that I was ready.

One by one, the rest of the Sutton Cougars filed out onto the ice, including Kayden. He skated past me and winked. Winked, that fucker. I bit my lip, hard, to keep from reacting. Thank fuck he couldn't see my face. I almost cracked another smile. I gave him the finger, but it wasn't effective with my blocker on. Still, I'm pretty sure my hand gesture told him everything he needed to know.

The air filled with the smell of junk food and sport sweat; the crowd getting noisier the closer we got to game time. It was all white noise to me at this point, until Coach Banning called us over to the bench for the usual pre-game scuttle. I ignored most of the hurrah speech and kept moving around on the ice to stay limber.

"… and remember, there's no second place in hockey. Rocher, Rowland, Ethan, St. Pierre, Melnyk, Moss, you're up."

We lined up, waited for the national anthem to play, and afterward, passed the other team in greeting. There were lots of ‘ fuck you 's' and ‘ kiss my ass ' whispered low enough for the refs not to hear. I didn't make eye contact with any of the opposing team. I tuned it all out.

Pulse-pounding rock music blared from the speakers as I skated down the ice, heading for home. When I turned around, Kayden and Silas were in position. At that moment, I didn't care if Kayden annoyed me. If he protected me here, now, I was good. Strangely enough, though, I had a weird sense that it should be the other way around. There was something na?ve about Kayden. His friendliness was something that other people could, and probably would, exploit. Why that should bother me, I had no idea. My brain didn't always work in a logical way, so I let those thoughts go. Not that I needed to be thinking about him at all.

I tapped the bar one last time and got into position.

Axel faced off against Rochester's Grant Healey for the puck. When Healey got possession, I knew this was going to be one hell of a game.

Kayden

Rochester had a kick-ass team, and that's how the first period went. We got our asses kicked.

Their best forwards—Healey, Louis, and Rokick, were hungry as hell and all over us, every play. Thank fuck Maddox was as good a goalie now as he was in practice, otherwise, we'd be down 5-0. Healey's faster than I anticipated, faster than last year, that's for sure. He's only gotten bigger and better. And he's already scored the first goal of the game.

I couldn't deny it, the shot was beautiful, bar down, over Maddox's left shoulder. The shot was so fast that there was nothing Mad could have done to save it. Nothing that I could tell, anyway.

When Coach called for a line change, Maddox kept pacing, tapping his bar, and ignoring everyone else. He was probably spitting fire under that mask of his, and I didn't dare go near him. As much as I was teasing him earlier, I knew that when the game started, there's no fucking around. I wanted to win as much as him.

I skated towards the box and passed Julian and Finn. I wished I was on the same line as one of them. Silas was doing alright, but he barely spoke to me, and he hesitated on a few plays, which got me wondering. He'd been off for a year—no idea why—and it seemed like he was still finding his groove.

So far, we were down 1-0 and even though there was plenty of time left to play, the pressure kept ramping up. The hometown crowd roared for their team and booed anytime we so much as got close to Rochester's net.

"Come on, Rowland! Lund! Let's get numbers on the board!" Coach yelled.

Jace got control of the puck, flying down the ice with an aggression that surprised me. He blew past Rochester's offense with speed and skill. And Axel wasn't far behind. But Rochester's defense wasn't to be fucked with. Until Jace pivoted, surprising them. He passed to Axel, and Axel took it the rest of the way.

The shot was low, but a beaut, sneaking right through the five hole. When the buzzer sounded and the ref signaled goal , everyone in our box popped up, yelling and screaming.

"Yes! Did you see that?" I shouted at Ethan. "Holy fuck, what a goal!"

"Axel delivered!"

I was happy for Axel, even if he did talk out of his ass half of the time. Most of all, I was happy for our team. At least some of the pressure was off Maddox. Not that he seemed bothered by the weight of anyone else's opinion. Not what I've seen so far.

I looked across the ice as Julian skated by Maddox. Words were exchanged as Julian bent over, hands and stick resting on his knees, his mouth running a mile a minute. I loved to talk, but my teammate wasn't far behind me.

But of course, I was too far away to know what Maddox was saying in return.

Then, I heard it. Julian's laughter. So loud that it echoed over the din of the crowd. For a reason I couldn't explain, the sound irritated me. What the hell were he and Maddox talking about?

So much for our goalie hating everyone. Turned out, it was only me.