Power Play - Brittney Mulliner Page 0,10

of the guys smiling and nodding in one direction. I followed their line of sight to the row just behind our penalty box. The Pride was standing and clapping, waving at their men. Elena and Kendall sat next to Sydney and Dad’s twin boys. On their other side was Colby, Lucy, and … I almost slammed into Erik.

“Watch it,” he snapped at me.

I shook my head and focused on the drill. What was Taylor doing here? Why was she sitting with them, and why was she wearing a Storm jersey? I couldn’t see whose number it was from this far, but the white stood out in stark contrast to the rest of the women’s black.

Lucy and Colby must have invited her, but why?

I couldn’t think about that right now. I couldn’t afford to be distracted, not tonight. Now I understood why some of the guys complained about the Pride, how intrusive they were. How they couldn’t mind their own business. It never affected me. Not until now, at arguably one of the most important games of the year. What were they thinking? Were they trying to psych me out? Punish me? They were sabotaging their own husbands, their own team.

When it was time to head back to the bench, I went through the motions, standing for the anthem and cheering as the first line was announced. My eyes found her again. She was leaned over, listening to something Lucy was saying. She looked so natural with them, even with that ridiculous jersey on.

I’d only ever seen her in mine.

That memory was like a kick to the gut. Was this my punishment? Having my past mistake, my deepest regret, thrown in my face? Seeing what could have been if I wasn’t such a selfish coward?

She looked like she belonged. With the Pride. In my life.

I couldn’t see it when I was drafted. I thought I was saving her from this. A life of having a traveling husband. One who could be traded without notice, causing her to uproot her life over and over.

No, that wasn’t the only reason I left her behind. But I couldn’t admit that, even to myself.

She threw her head back in laughter, and my heart sunk. She was supposed to be living out her dreams, creating art, and married to the man of her dreams. I still didn’t know what she was doing here. Why Raleigh? What had happened in the last four years? What changed?

It was none of my business. I didn’t deserve to know about her life since I chose to walk out of it, but my old feelings were bubbling to the surface since I saw her. I cared about her and wanted her to be happy.

If she was, I doubted she would have thrown her drink in my face. That wasn’t the move of a content person.

I couldn’t reach out to her though. Not until the series was finished. Noah was right. I had to focus on what was most important. In a week or so, I could ask for her number and see if she would speak to me. I could wait that long. I had to.

“Third line. Get ready,” Rust called out and I threw one leg over the boards. When Colin stepped off the ice, I jumped on and sprinted into position.

The score was zero-zero but there was plenty of time to change that. I turned and waited for Grant to come down the center with the puck.

“Here,” I called and he passed it to me without needing to look up. We’d run this play until we could do it with our eyes closed. I took it around the back of the net and passed it to Brandon Cullen, the resident dad on the team. He was exactly where he needed to be, and he backhanded it onto the net before the goalie had a chance to block.

The alarm sounded, and I slammed into Dad, clapping him on the helmet.

“Yeah!” I cheered as Grant joined in, then Jones and Lance.

We skated to the bench and hit gloves with the team before taking our spot behind the boards.

“Nice play.” Hartman nodded to us as he passed, and I smiled.

No one could say I wasn’t focused. We pulled that off flawlessly. I couldn’t get complacent, not until we widened the gap in the score, but at least I’d done my job.

Things were getting more aggressive on the ice. The Storm wasn’t happy with our goal, and I heard the chirps and threats