Chapter 33

Stephanie

I try to slow my racing heart as we walk back into the practice rink area. So many thoughts are pinging through my head right now. “You sure you still want me to play?” I ask.

Sebastian gives me a look. “Yes.”

“I just need to put my skates on real quick.”

“I’ll wait.”

As soon as my skates are on, we walk over and step out onto the ice. Just like before, it takes me a moment to get used to it. Sebastian waits right beside me as Gunner and Aiden skate over to us. “So who’s the new guy?” Aiden asks with a nod, and dread fills my stomach. I glance over and see William skating.

“He’s playing in the game?” I ask.

“Apparently,” Gunner says, not looking too happy.

Rico skates over. “Hey, what’s happening, and why is some random dude here?”

I want to groan out loud. I will be having a nice long chat with my father after this is done. “Apparently, he’s our new team attorney,” Sebastian says, not sounding too happy.

“I’m sorry. This is my fault, but I’m going to get it figured out.” They all face me.

“How is it your fault?” Aiden asks in his low rumble.

“He works for my dad.”

“Her dad owns his own firm,” Sebastian explains.

Rico frowns. “I still don’t understand—”

I decide to just put it all out there and answer the questions now. “I’m pretty sure my dad worked out a backdoor deal somehow to get William on board as your legal counsel. It”s an aggressive move against me dating Sebastian.” Sebastian wraps an arm around me and pulls me close. Even though I’m wearing skates, these guys all tower over me. They’re all muscle and strength, and yet I don’t feel threatened by any of them. I glance at Aiden. “Where’s Brielle?”

“Bathroom,” he says and looks toward the door, watching and waiting for her.

Somebody blows a whistle. “I’ll talk to Coach after this and figure out what’s going on,” Gunner says. “For now, we’ll keep an eye on him and make sure he keeps his distance.”

I breathe a sigh of relief at the fact they don’t seem to be mad at me. “Thank you.”

The guy with the whistle waves us over, and we head to the middle. My eyes take in the people playing. Obviously, all the Green Thunder guys are; they have to. All the coaching staff is out here too and some of the trainers and others as well. Then there’s an assortment of adults, most of them guys. There’s a few brave women as well, and of course, there’s William. I don’t look over at him as the guy who is refereeing the game explains how it’s going to work. They divide us into four teams. A collective groan goes around when the ref puts Sebastian, Gunner, Rico, and Aiden all on one team. I get to be on that team, obviously, and Brielle too. Together, we make a team of six. Sebastian winks at me, and I have a feeling he worked his magic to make that happen. I watch Aiden skate over to the side and take Brielle’s hand. She’s better than she was; still, I wonder if she’s going to get run over in this game. Who am I kidding? I’m going to get run over in this game!

The ref tells our team we will be playing first, so we move to the side to make a plan. My eyes find Brielle’s wide ones. I glance over at the other team and see that they have Zac, Dylan, Scott, a guy I don’t know, and William. Of course. I’m not worried, though. We have the best guys on our team. “Okay, what’s the plan, guys? Want me to score all our goals?” Brielle asks, rubbing her hands together, which almost causes her to fall over. Aiden steadies her with a hand on her elbow.

Sebastian grins. “I think we’ve got it, Elle.”

She frowns. “Well, what am I supposed to do?”

I can tell all the guys are trying and failing not to smile. “Should we put them on defense, by me?” Rico suggests.

Aiden shakes his head. “No because one of those idiots is liable to plow into them. I’ll stay back with Brielle on defense.”

Gunner nods. “Let’s go.”

I turn to Sebastian. “So that means—”

“You can play center, Aiden’s position,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Ooo does that mean she can shove people and check them into the boards?” Brielle asks. “What?” she asks when everybody looks at her.

“You do realize I do more than just check guys, right?” Aiden asks dryly.

“Of course, Babe. Sometimes, you punch them too.” She laughs, and tries to get away from him, but he grabs her around the waist and pulls her into his arms, silencing her laugh with his lips.

“Well, they’re going to be no help,” Rico says. “I’m off to the net.” He fist bumps us and heads over to the net.

“How come he’s wearing padding and a helmet when none of the rest of you are?” I ask curiously.

“Because this might be a game for fun, but we need him. He doesn’t need to take a puck to the head,” Sebastian explains.

“Got it.”

The ref blows the whistle, and we head to the center. “You do realize I have absolutely no idea what to do, right?” I ask Sebastian. He skates behind me and puts his hands on my shoulders.

“See that net?” He points to the one in front of us. “Put the puck in there.”

I shake my head. “Wow, thanks, Hart.”

He moves so that he’s in front of me. “Did you just call me by my last name?”

I lift my chin. “I did.”

He grins. “I like it.”

“You’ve got face-off,” Gunner says to Sebastian.

Sebastian skates over to face off with Travis. Sebastian grins at him and gets into position. “Ready?” he taunts.

Travis grins back. “Born ready.”

The puck drops, and then it’s game on. I literally stand there for the first few seconds. “You gonna join the game, Babe?” Sebastian asks as he skates past me.

“I can’t even see the puck; it’s here and gone before I can even get to it.”

He laughs and winks. “I’ll get it to you.”

I watch him skate towards our net. He teases Brielle; I know that because I can see him grinning and her shaking her head. “So this is what does it for you, huh?”

My body tenses when William closes in on me. I start skating the other direction, trying to get away from him. He stays right with me. I frown at him. “How do you know how to skate?”

He grins. “I played college hockey.”

My jaw drops in surprise. “Really? You?”

He gives me the look I’m sure he’s spent hours perfecting in the mirror. It’s a smile or sort of a smile. To me, it just feels empty. “Not what you were expecting?”

“I just didn’t know you could wear anything besides a suit,” I toss out as I skate away.

“Stephanie,” Sebastian calls out. He slides the puck my way. It’s a gentle pass, but I still panic.

I hit it to Gunner before somebody comes at me. I grin when it actually gets to Gunner. Then I’m skating towards the goal because this is actually really fun. The other team gets the puck, and I wait for Aiden to clear it and send it back our way. The puck suddenly bounces off the wall near me, and I go for it. Another guy is coming, I can see from my peripheral; but I don’t focus on that. I line it up and send it to Sebastian. He grins at the pass and shoots and scores.

I throw my hands up in the air. “Score!”

Sebastian skates over to me and grabs me and kisses me. “Great pass!” I beam at the praise.

“Wait for us,” Brielle calls as she slides into our group. Aiden comes in right behind her. She high fives me. “Good job!”

The ref blows the whistle. “Go team!” Brielle yells and heads back to her spot. With a last grin at me, Sebastian skates to the middle to face-off against Scott this time. They both trade insults, and then it’s game on again. I go after the puck every time it’s near me. I get a couple touches with it, but not a whole lot. Then it comes near me again. The only problem is that William is the one going after it. I decide to get there first. I reach it and send it to Gunner. I can’t help the smug smile on my face as I skate past William.

“Not what you were expecting,” I throw out his own words back to him.

Soon after that, Gunner sends the puck to Sebastian as they race across the ice. “Steph,” Sebastian shouts and sends the puck to me, nice and easy. I skate forward with it and then send it back to him before anything can happen to it. He surprises me by sending it back to me. “Shoot!” he shouts.

I don’t second guess it, and I line up my shot. Several things happen at once. I shoot the puck towards the net at the same time somebody crashes into me and somebody else altogether shouts. I fall backwards, unable to catch myself and hit my head on the ice. Hard. I blink, trying to assess the damage. There’s shouting, and I blink again. I see Sebastian and Aiden at the wall, and Rico is there as well and maybe Gunner? I’m not really sure. My head hurts.

“Hey, are you okay? That was a hard hit. We all heard you smack your head.” I blink up at one of Sebastian’s teammates. Travis maybe? Or Zac? I can’t say for sure. I hear more shouting, and I’m not certain what’s going on. I look over and see coaching staff now pulling on Sebastian and Aiden.

I squint because the bright white of the ice hurts my eyes. I close my eyes against the brightness. “Hey, stay with me,” Travis/maybe Zac says. And then somebody new drops next to us.

“Hey,” the new guy says. “I’m Eric. I”m going to check your head, okay? That was a pretty nasty hit you took to the back of your head.” I close my eyes for a moment. “Can you open your eyes? Look at my finger.” He has me do a few more things, and by now my teeth are chattering and my head is killing me.

“Can I pick her up?” a worried sounding Sebastian asks. “She’s freezing.”

“Yes, just be careful with her head.”

And then Sebastian is right there. “Hey, Baby, I’m going to get you off the ice. Ready?” I nod and immediately regret it. He picks me up and holds me close to his chest. “Where do you want to go?” I hear the other guy say a few words, but I tune it out. I turn my head into Sebastian’s shoulder. “What is it, Love?”

“My head,” I manage to get out.

“I know.” His voice is terse. “We’re going to get you some pain pills and get you someplace where you can lie down.”

“Can you just take me home?” I whisper; it hurts to do anything more than that.

He kisses the top of my head. “Not yet. You’re in the best care here right now; we’ll figure out what we’re dealing with and then get you home. I promise.” I can feel that we’re moving, but I keep my eyes closed.

“Is she okay?” I hear Bri ask.

“We’re going to get her checked out,” Sebastian says in a voice that sounds strange to my ears.

“Is William still alive?” Brielle asks. Her words confuse me, but I can’t really think about it. It hurts too much. He says something, but it’s lost on me. I just bury my head, trying to will the pain away from this headache that seems to be getting worse by the second, not to mention the pain from the back of my head.