a love-hate relationship with the bench.
Another forty-five seconds.
“Berg, go,” Fleury called, and he was up and out onto the ice.
Last minute instructions followed the three of them as Wyatt and Theo raced to their zone of the ice. A glance at the clock told him they had enough time to break the deadlock. In a play they’d practiced a million times, Anders handled the puck down the center, dummying left, his usual preference, then flicking it right toward Wyatt, who was waiting for delivery. With a flick of Wyatt’s stick, the puck went flying to the top left corner of the net.
With arms in the air, he skirted behind the net, and Anders nodded, the closest he came to celebration. They’d done it. But the game wasn’t over. As he got within a few feet of the bench, the fresh defensive pair charged on. Bogdan Demyanov, the six-foot-six Denver Rush monster known for his forechecking abilities, skated onto the ice, along with the Rush’s defense-oriented forwards. Fresh legs near the goal were perfect. Plus, most players didn’t want to mess with Bogdan on a good day. When the guy was on a mission, like now, with only fifteen seconds on the clock, it was highly unlikely they’d break even. Alternate captain Logan Johnson finished the line.
When the puck was back in play, Johnson was able to stop it in the center, but Winnipeg wanted once last gasp. Their captain was strong, but Forshev, the Rush’s goalie, was stronger. He deflected the puck while Bogdan took out their left wing.
The sound of the buzzer filled the barn and the fans erupted. Feet slammed the floor, voices roared in support. The noise was deafening.
And Anders had a fleeting feeling that it would have been nice for Olivia to see it, but then relief that she hadn’t. He’d needed every ounce of focus during the game, and he’d had a couple of moments when his mind had drifted back to how it felt to kiss her in her kitchen. How her body had pressed up against his. How easy it had been to slide his hands into the back pockets of her jeans and pull her up against his erection, so she was left in no doubt about how he felt about her.
Even skating around the rink, crashing deliberately into his teammates to knock helmets or roughhouse as they circled the ice to thank fans, he was having an episode of cold feet. This was what he’d worried about. Thinking about her more than the game.
But then, even if he hadn’t seen her and spoken to her and made the agreement that they had, he’d likely still be thinking about her. She was positively unforgettable.
He made his way to the locker room with the rest of the guys in need of a post-game workout, food, and a shower. Once home and settled on the sofa with an ice pack on his knee, popcorn, and a replay of The Lord of the Rings, he checked his phone. Olivia had messaged him ten minutes earlier, congratulating him on the team’s win.
Wait, it was nearly midnight. He pulled out his phone and typed a quick response.
Thanks. What are you doing awake so late?
Pulling together contracts for some events. Nothing exciting. You?
Just got home from the game, getting comfortable.
Oh, sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt.
Anders laughed softly. It had felt a little lonely coming back to an empty house. Interestingly, her message had made him feel a little less alone.
You’re a welcome interruption, älskling.
What does that mean?
Darling, I guess. A term of endearment.
Dots bounced on the bottom of his screen for a moment.
I like it.
He was shit at texting. Messaging someone was about as intimate as a car crash. Abbreviated words, zero grammar, no nuance. Every single person he knew preferred it as a way of communicating, but then, perhaps he just didn’t really like chatting with people at all. But he wanted to talk to Olivia.
Do you need to get work done or can I call you?
Again, dots bounced on the screen and he found himself anxious for her reply. Hell, even Liv Tyler’s fleeting appearance on the TV didn’t distract him from the dots.
Sure.
He dialed her number and rubbed his palm down his jeans.
“Hey,” she said cheerfully, peppier than he felt, although his heart had raced unexpectedly as the phone rang.
“Hey, yourself. Have you been working all evening?”
“No. I stopped to watch the game. How do you think it went?”
How did he feel it went? They