Love In Moments (Love Distilled #2) - Scarlett Cole Page 0,45

as they charged the direction of the puck. Faster than the defensemen, they chased the puck around the back of the net, bringing the play back to the front of the goal. As the goalie fell to his knees to block the shot, Anders flicked the puck into the air, right into the back corner of the net.

This time, Anders skated away from the goal in her direction, coming to a halt in front of her section. While his teammates slapped his helmet, and piled onto his shoulders, he raised two fingers and one eyebrow in her direction.

Relief surged through Olivia when those around her cheered and screamed, assuming it was simply part of his celebration, because the idea they might all turn and look at her was unnerving.

And, sweet baby Jesus. If he continued to look at her like that, she might explode in her seat. As it was, she sat in a confused state of highly aroused and slightly appalled that watching a hockey game could get her there.

For a woman who had struggled to orgasm, it appeared that Anders could get her halfway there with a plexiglass screen between them. If he didn’t get to three points, she’d have to go home and make do with her vibrator for company. Again.

When the teams came back on the ice for the third period, it was clear Florida had been given the mother of all pep talks by their coach. They came out fighting, scoring their first goal in the first two minutes of the period, the second in the fifteenth minute.

Olivia wasn’t any kind of hockey expert, but it looked as though some of the Rush players were getting frustrated. Karl was put in the penalty box, but the Rush held it together and didn’t let Florida score.

Olivia glanced at the clock. Less than a minute left.

The numbers seemed to click down in slow motion. Anders’s line skated back onto the ice, along with a rotation of defensemen. Fresh legs on all of them for the last forty-two seconds.

Florida made a play, but Karl was having none of it. Olivia watched as Karl body checked one of their players out of the way. The puck flew around the back of the goal and was picked up by the player on Anders’s right. When the puck made it to center ice, Anders took it and zigzagged toward the net. He was ahead of the two players who flanked his wings, and with determination flicked it toward the net.

The goaltender collapsed on the ice, the puck smothered beneath his oversized pads.

The woman next to her reached out and grabbed Olivia’s arm as she focused on the huge monitor. People stood, half suspended between cheering and fear that the goal wasn’t allowed. The referees huddled around a monitor as Anders circled the ice. He circled past a young fan, hammering on the glass near the bench and reached for a puck to toss to him.

He wasn’t always the surly hockey player people knew him as.

The referee skated onto center ice, but Anders never turned to watch. He stood facing her direction, but with his eyes focused down toward the ice.

“Upon further video review,” the referee began.

Olivia’s heart caught in her throat. There were twelve seconds left on the clock.

“The puck completely crossed the line. We have a goal.”

An excruciatingly loud horn went off in the arena as the crowd jumped to their feet. But Olivia’s eyes remained on Anders as he looked up at her, his bottom lip between his teeth. “Three,” he mouthed, and grinned as his teammates crowded him and blocked him from her view.

9

“That last play was something else,” Karl said, as he pedaled next to Anders. “I mean, I think Wyatt was waiting for you to flip it to him. Hell, I think Florida were too. Which is why you caught all of them off guard.”

Anders half-listened to Karl’s thoughts on the game. Just as he’d half-listened to their coach, and half-listened to the offensive coach, and half-listened to his trainer.

“I saw a shot and took it. No more complicated than that.”

His only objective was to get to Olivia.

But that wasn’t how a hockey game ended.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t just shrug off his uniform, hand over his skates, and get the hell out of there. He blazed through his mandatory post-game workout. Usually, he loved the routine of it. Seeing what the athletic trainer had written on the board for him. It gave him time to process the