43. Natalie

Chapter 43

Natalie

I seeLuke’s mouth move. The game is still going, the other players still going after the puck. But not Luke.

The second Luke moves past his downed teammate, he crashes into the Vegas player, fists already swinging.

When his gloved hand connects with the other guy’s face, the rest of the arena gets to their feet.

Luke gets another hit in before Vegas Guy breaks the hold Luke has on his jersey.

Vegas Guy skates back a foot, then throws his gloves to the ice.

Everyone around me starts shouting and cheering.

And when Luke drops his gloves, I press my hands to my mouth.

He’s facing the other direction, so I can’t see his expression, but I watch his tattooed fist slam into the other man’s face.

Luke takes a hit, and I can’t tell if it connects with his helmet or his face.

I hold my breath.

More fists fly.

A ref finally blows a whistle, but the fight doesn’t stop.

Luke dodges a swing and gets Vegas Guy in a headlock.

He’s lifting his arm to throw another punch when another Vegas asshole slams into him and takes a swing at Luke.

I gasp.

Asshole’s fist connects with the back of Luke’s helmet, then a blur of green and blue flies into the cluster.

I yelp.

The blur is the Sleet player named Hunt, and his battering-ram approach dislodges both Vegas guys from Luke as he crashes through the cluster.

Hunt and the newest guy go down in a heap, fists immediately flying.

And the crowd collectively loses their minds.

Everyone is shouting.

The sound is overwhelming.

Even the players on the bench are making noise—banging their sticks against the boards.

It’s chaos.

Complete mayhem.

The refs finally swarm in, breaking up the men brawling on the ice, moving to stand between Luke and the guy he was fighting with.

I inhale, trying to calm my racing heart.

The players are all talking to the refs, pointing at other players, but eventually the refs get them to back up.

Luke skates backward, then bends to snag his gloves and stick off the ice.

The Sleet guy who was knocked down first, a guy named Wilder, slaps Luke on the back, nodding when Luke says something to him.

Together, they go to help their other teammate pick up his gear. And when Luke turns, I can finally see his face. And the big stupid smile plastered across it.

I shake my head, and my shoulders slump in relief.

I know I said I wanted to see Luke in a fight. But I can admit now that I didn’t know what I was asking for.

That was stressful.

As the crowd starts to sit, I take my seat.

I don’t know all the rules, but I’m pretty sure Luke is getting a penalty for that.

Which means he’s moments away from sitting next to me.