Page 258 of Cross Checked
38
Cade
Game day always felt electric.
But tonight?
Tonight felt violent.
The Furnace pulsed around us in waves of noise and cold air and adrenaline, the arena already half full nearly an hour before puck drop while Fury banners hung from the rafters and warm-up music blasted through the speakers hard enough to vibrate through the concrete beneath my skates. The ice reflected bright arena lights in sharp white streaks while fans packed themselves against the glass, jerseys everywhere, signs raised high, phones already recording before we’d even hit the ice for official warmups.
Usually, game day narrowed and focused me. Everything else disappeared the second my skates touched the ice.
Tonight, everything felt sharper instead.
Because Pip was in this building, wearing my name on her back, sitting right behind the glass.
The locker room was loud before warmups, music blasting while guys shoved gear on and taped sticks and chirpedeach other across the room like absolute idiots. The smell of sharpened steel, sweat, tape adhesive, and pregame energy hung thick in the air while Easton sat beside me tightening the laces on his skates with the expression of a man who had been waiting to annoy me all day.
“You look suspiciously well rested,” he said casually.
Briggs looked up immediately from across the room. “Oh?”
I sighed without looking at either of them. “You fuckers are exhausting.”
Rider snorted from beside Ryan. “So that’s a yes.”
“It’s not a no,” Briggs said thoughtfully. “And honestly, that’s enough for me.”
Easton leaned back in his chair slowly. “Interesting. Because I heard a rumor.”
I narrowed my eyes immediately. “Did you?”
“Mm.” He nodded seriously. “That rumor says somebody finally stopped acting like a tortured Victorian man and spent the night at Bliss Bennett’s apartment.”
The entire locker room erupted instantly.
Sticks slammed against stalls.
Someone yelled “finally” from the showers.
Briggs stood up dramatically, clutching his chest. “Love wins.”
“Sit down,” I muttered.
“No, no,” Briggs continued, pointing at me like he’d discovered fire. “I need everyone to appreciate that this man spent two months staring at Bliss like she personally invented oxygen and then acted confused when we noticed.”
Rider looked over calmly while taping his stick. “You wrote poetry in the group chat once.”
My head snapped toward him. “That is a disgusting exaggeration.”
Easton burst out laughing. “Buddy, you said, and I quote, she makes it easy to understand why men used to die in wars.”
Rider choked on his water laughing.
I pointed at Easton. “Funny coming from a guy who’s mysteriously spent the night at Bliss’s apartment before.”
The locker room turned instantly.
