Epilogue

Protecting the goal, I watched the puck flit between two Southern Collegiate players. Back and forth. The only thing that was important to me at that moment was making sure the puck stayed far away from the back of my net.

Closer. Closer. SoCol’s center was coming for me, and just as he lifted his stick for a slapshot, Cade barged into him, bringing him down. I couldn’t relax for long because their right winger was right there, snatching the puck before Scotty could get anywhere near it and shooting it in my direction.

I dropped, landing on the ice in a split, feeling the puck hit against my pads. I kept it out, but the right winger was beside me now, pushing up into me, trying to force me to move or make a mistake so he could flick the puck over me. Brooks was by my side, pushing their team out of the way.

When the whistle blew, I relaxed for a second while the refs tried to untangle Cade from a SoCol player, which wasn’t going well since he had him in a headlock. Admittedly, I knew I wasn’t Cade’s favorite person right now, but he would do anything to ensure the goal was tended.

With the break in play, I took the opportunity to look into the crowd and smiled when I saw Madison sitting in the front row, right next to Todd, who just so happened to be dressed as our mascot, Crushie the polar bear. The poor people behind him had no chance of seeing the game.

Madison blew me a kiss, and I subtly pretended to catch it. Yeah, I’d become a sap for her, but it was the least I could do considering she was out there wearing my jersey tonight.

When the ref finally pulled Cade off the opposing player, Cade skated around my net in an attempt to cool down, but instead, he glared at me, annoyed that he had to step in. Getting back into position, Cade brought two of his gloved fingers to his hockey mask and then pointed them at me, in a gesture that said, “eyes on the game, not my sister.”

Yeah. I remembered.

Cade and I had a way to go before we were besties again, and I couldn’t blame him. I slept with his sister behind his back. I’d betrayed him in a way no other person could, and it wasn’t like he could get rid of me. He lived with me; he trained with me. We were going to Atlanta together, whether he liked it or not. He was going to have to put up with me for a long time, and I was hell-bent on making sure I atoned for my sins. I didn’t care how long it took; I was determined to make us friends again.

When play recommenced, Scotty had snatched the puck and taken it across the ice. I took my eyes off the puck for one second, only to see Henry get boarded by one of the SoCol players. I pointed to him, trying to get the ref’s attention for the illegal body check, but no one was watching me, and that was only amplified when Scotty scored.

4-0.

We were winning this game with ease, but that didn’t mean Henry should take a beating for it. He was quick to get off the board and back into the game, but I wasn’t going to stop watching him. We weren’t best friends, or even friends, for that matter, but he was my teammate, and we looked out for each other.

Within the next few seconds, SoCol attempted to score again, but I blocked it easily. I was on fire tonight, which I put down to wanting to impress Madison and my teammates. There was no denying that my game had been poor over the last few weeks because I was trying to keep such a monumental secret. Now that everything was out in the open, I was able to concentrate on what was important. The game. So far tonight, I was proving I was worthy of starting for the Covey Crushers. With eight blocked attempts and only five minutes left in the game, it was my best performance in a while.

Scotty passed the puck to Henry, and SoCol immediately took the opportunity to surround him, stealing the puck with ease. I didn’t have time to see Henry’s reaction because the puck was coming my way. Passing it between each other, there was no way our defense could stop them this time, so it was down to me. When they took a shot, I raised my glove, guessing it was the top left corner, and somehow managed to stop it.

The player threw his stick down, swearing, and just as I was passing the puck to Scotty, I saw it again.

SoCol was charging Henry, and the refs were doing nothing about it. What the hell happened to Henry’s fight from our practice games? As suspected, Coach waited until today to debut him, but that wasn’t doing Henry any favors. He wasn’t playing with his usual cockiness. There was no attack.

Scotty rounded the net, and just as he skated past, I motioned to Henry and then to my eyes. He nodded, getting that I wanted him to watch Henry as he skated toward the puck. The next time Henry was illegally body-checked, Scotty intervened, causing a fight on the ice, which got him ejected from the rest of the game.

With one minute left, we were still up by four, so SoCol decided to swap their goalie out for an extra player, meaning SoCol had a huge advantage against us with Scotty out.

Henry seemed to find a newfound vigor, and with him, Cade, Alex, and Brooks helping me to guard the goal, we managed to last the last few seconds of the game without a hitch.

When the final whistle blew, and we were celebrating our win, I looked over at Madison, who was jumping in her seat, hugging the polar bear like we’d just won the Frozen Four. We were still five wins away from that, but I didn’t care because she was out there celebrating for me, and that was the biggest win I had all year .

I pushed my helmet up, popping my mouth guard out and playing with it in my mouth when Henry came over. He held his hand out, and I took it as we slapped each other’s backs in congratulations.

“Thanks,” he said curtly.

“For?” I played dumb. He knew what I did with Scotty.

“Watching out for me.”

I shrugged. “Didn’t do much.”

“Still, I know you brought it to Scotty’s attention. Surprised Cade didn’t notice. He always wants an excuse to hurt someone.”

“Don’t I know it. What’s going on with you two, by the way? Just a few weeks ago, he was saying he didn’t want you in our dorm, then the next day, you show up with matching black eyes.”

Henry shook his head and chuckled. “It’s an incredibly long story. I’m sure Cade will tell you sometime.”

“I won’t hold my breath,” I whispered.

“But I hope this game proves that I’m here to play and not fuck with the team. Just because I played with a bunch of cheats at SoCol doesn’t mean I’m one too.” I nodded, knowing that I was wrong. “I’m also sorry I was an asshole to you and Madison when I was sixteen. I was young, stupid, and equated being popular with being successful. I’ve learned that’s not always the case.”

“That’s all water under the bridge. We’re teammates now.” It was the truth. I didn’t care about anything that happened in high school, much less Henry’s reasons for being here. As long as he was a good teammate, that was all I wanted.

“Maybe even teammates in Atlanta,” he joked, and I pushed him as he headed to the gate.

“I hope not.”

As the crowd was filtering out, I glanced back into the stands, and Henry followed my gaze, knowing exactly who I was looking at before he found the object of my affection. Madison had made her way to the player’s box and was talking to her brother now. Throwing her head back and laughing, she was at ease with Cade, and I was happy this entire thing hadn’t ruined their relationship. It had been a week since he found out about us, and although it took him a few days to talk to us again, he was now back to normal. With Madison, at least.

“Take care of her,” Henry said, drawing my attention back to him. Okay, we might have bonded over the game, but I wasn’t interested in his advice. “Don’t make the same mistake I did.”

I grunted in response. “On that note, I’m going to go and see her.”

I skated over to my estranged best friend and his sister, or, should I say, my girlfriend, and smiled. Sliding up next to Cade, Madison immediately moved over to me and wrapped her arms around my neck, hugging me. “You played amazing today,” she said. As we pulled out of the hug, she cupped my cheeks and kissed me fully on the lips.

“Yeah, I could have lived a happy life without seeing that,” Cade joked, pushing himself off to the side, making his way to the locker room. “See you later, MB.” Leaving Madison and me together, the rink was quieter now as the crowd had filtered out.

I picked Madison up over the barrier and skated around the ice with her in a bridal carry. Her hands gripped my neck as I kept skating, waiting for everyone else to leave so we could be on our own. She seemingly knew what I was waiting for so she dropped her head on my chest and closed her eyes. Gliding across the ice, her blonde hair flicked with the motion, throwing that strawberry scent around again.

“I still can’t believe you’re mine,” I whispered in awe when the place was quiet.

“I still can’t believe you can hold me with all this padding on.”

I lifted her a little higher, causing her to squeal and then giggle as I switched her position. Her legs were wrapped around my waist now, but I didn’t think she’d be able to hold on like that for long since my pads doubled my size, and her thighs could barely get a grip around my waist. I drifted over to the net, placing her on the top so she could sit.

With my hands on either side of her, I said, “You know you’re the only person I can stand in this world, right?” I kissed her forehead, rubbing her thigh.

“That’s not true. You like Cade.”

“I put up with Cade because he’s Cade. He’s like an annoying brother you know you can’t get rid of, so you have to love him.”

“He is my annoying brother that I can’t get rid of. ”

“Exactly, which is why you’re still the only one I want to spend time with. Everyone else can go and fuck themselves for all I care.”

She giggled at that, throwing her arms back around me as she placed a small kiss on my lips. I could kiss her all day, and it still wouldn’t be enough. She leaned back, pulling me into her so much that I had to hold on to the net for balance.

“Bet you say that to all the girls,” she joked, but that didn’t mean I liked it. Madison knew that she was the only girl for me, so whenever she said something like that, it felt like she was trying to mask some hidden insecurity that I was ready to leave her at any minute. I wasn’t. Now that I had her, she was going to have to forcibly remove me if she wanted me out of her life.

“Erik, I already told you. Outside of games and practice, I don’t want to talk to you.” Scotty’s voice echoed through the rink as he walked out of the locker room with a shaking head and an annoyed look etched across his face.

Madison and I immediately stilled, watching the scene before us.

“I’ve already apologized. What else do you want me to do?” Erik followed closely behind him, but the minute Scotty saw us, he clamped his lips shut. “How was I supposed to know that was going to happen?” Erik said through a clenched jaw.

“Just leave me alone because I need to figure out how to get out of the shit that you started.” Scotty pushed past Erik, who looked at us confused. He hunched his shoulders before following Scotty back into the locker room.

“What was that about?” Madison asked, toying with the hair at the nape of my neck.

“Not sure. Scotty is ticked off about something from his birthday party.”

“And you haven’t asked what?” Madison said, surprised.

I shrugged. “I don’t care.” My gaze dragged down to her lips, and I could already feel myself getting excited. “And we’ve been a little busy.”

“Still. I’d really like to know, so I’d appreciate it if you could find out what exactly happened. You know, to reduce the chances of me putting my foot in it at a later junction.”

“Sure thing.” I knew that wasn’t the reason she wanted to know. Madison loved the gossip, and I would happily supply it once I figured it out for myself.

I took her in my arms again, knowing that I had to take her off the ice. She clung to me tightly before saying, “Dash, I’ve got something to ask you.”

“Shoot.”

“I know everything is new, and we just got together, but I was wondering what’s going to happen between us?”

“You mean tonight? Well, since you’re banned from coming to mine, I was thinking I could take you out for dinner, then we could hang out at yours. I hear there’s a new season of Baseball Wives that is gearing up to be the most ridiculous season ever, and that sounds like something you’d watch.”

“Not tonight. I mean to us later.” She bit down on her bottom lip. “What’s going to happen when you go off to play with Atlanta at the end of the year and I’m still here?”

“Oh.” I slowed my skating down but didn’t let go of her. “I thought we’d just keep doing what we’re doing.”

“Do you think that would work? You’ll be across the country, and there will be so many girls after you.”

“What makes you think I’m looking at anyone else but you? I’ve already told you that you’re all I want, but I’m happy to prove that to you every day if I need to.”

She rolled her eyes. “You don’t need to do that. I guess I just feel a little like you might not need me anymore. You’ll be out starting your own life, and I’ll still be here.”

“Working on yours,” I finish for her. “I want you here because I know you’ll be happy. You can attend every and any game you want, and you can come live with me when you’re on break from classes.”

She grinned. “Live with you? We might want to ease Cade into that.”

“Yeah, because easing him into the idea of us dating worked so well last time.”

She barked out a laugh but then pulled herself high enough that she could leave a lingering kiss on my lips. “I love you, Big Man,” she said so softly that only I could hear .

“I love you too, Madison, and I can’t wait to see where this life takes us.”

“Me, either.” She rested her head against my chest, and I skated with her in my arms until the facility manager kicked us out.

Life couldn’t get better than this.

THE END