Chapter 23

Today's the day. The championship game against the Knights. Ace's team.

After the night I spent with Aspen, I'm more than ready for it. Lifting my eyes from my phone, I watch her as she dances around in my kitchen. She's wearing nothing but one of my oversized t-shirts, her panties, and a pair of ankle socks. Her hips sway to the song she's humming as she flips pancakes over my stove. Her thick blonde hair is pulled up into a messy knot bun that bounces around on the top of her head.

If anyone could make chaos look good, it's her.

"Come eat," she demands, pointing the spatula at me.

Pushing myself off the couch, I make my way over to the large island in the middle of the kitchen and take a seat as she places a plate filled with pancakes in front of me.

"This looks great, baby. Thank you."

"Good, eat up. I'm going to go shower and start getting ready." She presses a soft kiss to my cheek.

"Showering without me?" I whine, placing a hand over my heart.

"Well, we both know if I showered with you, neither of us would be washed and ready in time for your game." She winks before turning and making her way down the hall.

She's not wrong.

My lips pull into a smirk as I take my first bite of pancake. Delicious. God, she can cook too. I won the fucking lottery. I replay the night before in my head as I eat, and as much as I enjoy every minute of all of it, I find myself concerned about how today will play out. Facing Ace and her dad is going to be hard for her. Defending us to the people closest to her won't be easy. I just hope she knows I have her back.

When I'm done eating, I take my plate to the sink and quickly wash the morning's dishes. Just as I finish up, Aspen makes her way back to the kitchen, her hair still damp as she dries it with a towel. She's wearing my jersey. My number and name are on her back.

I lean back against the counter, raking my eyes across her body. "Makos colors look good on you."

"I think so too," she smiles as she makes her way over to me. "Personally, I'm growing quite attached to the name stitched across my back."

"Oh yeah?" Wrapping my arms around her, I pull her into me and she giggles as her arms wrap around my neck. "Don't worry about today, okay? I will handle my dad and Ace. You just keep your head in the game, and you bring home that trophy, babe."

Cupping her face, I tilt her chin up to me and softly press my lips against hers. "You have no idea how much it means to me when you tell me to kick your brother's ass."

She grins and brings her hands to rest over mine. "I mean, he's due for a bit of an ass-kicking, and besides, that trophy would look nicer in here than in his room."

I am head over heels for this chick.

It's the third period.The Makos have been dominating the game so far, to no surprise, but the Knights just scored a lucky shot against Stanley, and he's pissed. With the score tied and the clock running out, shit is getting intense on the ice. It's been easy to avoid Ace and his shit, but now both teams are heated and desperate, meaning I have no choice but to face him . The ice is only so big and I've felt his eyes on me since the first whistle blew.

Standing across from me at center ice, Ace stares at me through his mask as he clamps down aggressively on his mouthguard. I smirk, knowing me being with Aspen has this effect on him.

"I think Anderson's gunning for you, Cap," Rice shouts from my left.

I laugh. "I don't know what he's more mad about, the fact that his baby sis showed up in Makos blue, or that it's my name on her back," I reply cockily. I turn my sights to where Aspen sits in the crowd and blow her a kiss that she returns.

"You and my sister are done, Lexington. I'll make sure of it," Ace shouts.

"Will you?" I ask, placing my stick on the ice as the ref readies to drop the puck. "I guess we'll see about that, won't we?" I wink.

"Stay the fuck away from Aspen. She's too good for you."

"Now that I'll agree on, but I have no plans to stay away from her. She wants me, Ace. Accept it."

The puck drops, and I knock it back to Rice, who takes it straight into the Knight's zone.

Ace is hot on my ass, blocking me from helping the guys. Rice passes it to Armstrong, who's made it to the front of the net, but his shot is blocked by the Knight's goalie, and he sends it across the ice back down to the Makos zone. Ace skates up behind me, checking me into the boards as he makes his way down the ice.

Fucker.

I chase after him and come up behind him, high-sticking him. The end of my stick catches him right under his helmet visor, hitting him in the mouth. His mouth guard falls to the ice and the refs blow the whistle. Stunned, he raises his hand to his mouth before spitting crimson on the ice.

"You motherfucker!" he snaps.

I laugh, "Well, actually, I'm a sister fucker. Tell me, Ace, how's your sister"s pussy taste?"

"Fuck you, Lexington," he roars as he skates over to me.

"I mean, I've tasted it too, and fuck if she isn't the sweetest thing. She road my stick all fucking night. It's still coated in her juices," I say as I stand tall before him.

The guys on the ice are circling around us, the refs trying to take control of the situation before shit goes down. But it's no use. I know exactly what I'm doing, and by the way his face is turning red, I know I've won. He drops his gloves, so I drop mine, and then chaos breaks out.

It's Makos versus Knights everywhere on the ice. The crowds are screaming and encouraging the fight. My fist slams into Ace's face and his into my gut. I grab his jersey tightly in my hand, holding him right where I want him as I feed him shot after shot. He wobbles on his skates and his helmet falls to the ice.

I slam my fist into him one more time before the ref yanks me off of him and Ace is pulled back by one of his team members. By the look of him, I definitely broke his nose. A steady stream of blood leaks out and down his jersey as he picks up his gloves and stick and skates off the ice.

"Penalty box for you, Lexington," the ref says as he escorts me off the ice.

"Aw, come on, it was just a bit of fun," I smirk, lifting my eyes to Aspen. She smiles at me and nods before glancing over to where her brother is heading off the ice for medical attention. The ref signals to the announcers a five-minute timer for misconduct and high-sticking and Stanley hands me my gloves and stick.

"Don't worry, Cap. We got this," he assures me before heading back into his net. The glass door closes and the teams take their places in center ice for the puck drop.

Minutes feel like hours as I watch the timer hanging above center ice.

The crowd is screaming and cheering, banging on the glass to hype up the boys and keep them motivated during the power play. It's announced Ace is out for the remainder of the game due to injuries. Good.

We got this.

The Makos have the puck, and they're headed down the ice to the Knights zone. The buzzer sounds, signaling my penalty is over. The end of the power play announcement blasts through the loudspeaker as the ref opens the glass door. The game timer is counting down: less than thirty seconds left of the game.

I head back out on the ice just as Mathers is skating by with the puck. He passes it to me and skates off to get another angle. I stick handle the puck back and forth as I approach the net. The Knights goalie sizes me up, preparing for my shot. Swinging my arm back, I line it up and make him think I'm going to shoot. He falls to the ice to block it, but I don't shoot, instead, I pass it back to Mathers, who passes it to Rice in the front of the net. Swinging his arm back, he takes a shot and sends the puck flying into the net right over the Knights goalie's head.

GOAL.

The crowd erupts in loud cheers. I skate around the back of the Knights net, throwing my stick up in the air, roaring as Rice and Mathers skate into me. Blue and silver confetti falls from the ceiling, coating the ice in Makos colors. The Knights toss their shit around the ice in rage as they face defeat and kiss the win goodbye. Coach and the rest of the team make their way out to the center ice, patting us on the back as photographers and scouts join us in celebrating our win, but there's only one person I want to celebrate with.

My girl.

In the crowd, my eyes find Aspen, cheering and screaming with excitement as she dances around with her friends while wearing my jersey.

My life is fucking perfect.