Page 4 of Thrown Off Balance

Another player nudges Cody and forces him to break eye contact with me. As soon as the connection is lost, the sounds around me begin to return. It’s like all of my senses return and I'm aware of where I am again.

“Wasn’t that awesome?” Jude turns my head to face him. Excitement is lighting up his features, making me frown.

“Yeah, so awesome,” I grumble under my breath, barely able to resist rolling my eyes.

“That was amazing. I should’ve warned you. Sometimes the players get slammed into the wall and if you aren’t paying attention, it’s startling. Jax and Cody are the best though. They’re my favorite players on the Pythons. I can’t believe we were just that close to them!” Jude drapes his arm around my shoulders and pulls me close. He presses a kiss to my temple and chuckles.

I'm barely paying attention to him. I'm too busy staring at the boy I fell in love with years ago.

Chapter 3

Cody

How is she here? Sloan Weathers is back in Rosewood and I had no clue? She was my entire world in high school. Then her parents moved and I lost her our junior year of high school.

Once she left, I threw myself into hockey. I needed to do something physical to keep my head clear and push my body to its limits. Since I was already on the hockey team, it seemed like the best option. Nothing tests your body quite like spending dozens of hours a week on the ice.

I forced Jax to skate with me. I made him practice just as much as I did. Mom and Dad loved it because they knew if Jax was on the ice with me, there was less of a chance of him getting into trouble with friends.

I swear the hours we put in from our sophomore to senior years are the reason we were able to go pro. I have Sloan to thank for all of that… yet if given the option, I would’ve given all of this up to keep her with me.

“What’s going on with you?” Jax tugs me to the side as the buzzer goes off, signaling the end of the first period. Coach is glaring at me from the bench.

I never have a problem focusing on the game. I leave everything in the locker room and only let hockey consume me on the ice… until now.

“She’s here,” I whisper, glancing over my shoulder at Sloan.

“She? Who are you talking about, man?” Jax follows my line of sight. When his gaze lands on Sloan, I see a flash of recognition flash in his eyes. “Wow, I never thought I’d see Sloan again.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of screwing with my head. I didn’t know she was back in town. Is she living here?”

“I don’t know, but we can figure all of that out later on. Right now, we need to win this game, then we can deal with her. Got it?” Jax grabs my shoulders and meets my gaze.

“Yeah. I get it. Hockey is the most important thing here.” I roll my eyes.

I used hockey to deal with a difficult time in my life, it doesn’t mean I'm as devoted to the game as most professional players are. I played to deal with the loss of Sloan throughout high school and college. I only went pro because Jax wanted to and there’s no way I wasn’t going to follow him.

Jax gets into position for the next face off. As soon as the puck is hit, I take off on my skates and work like the team we’re known to be. Everyone in hockey knows Jax and I work as one unit. When Jax gets benched or given a penalty, I struggle on the ice. I can read his body language and know what he’s going to do before he does it. I'm not sure if it’s the twin thing, or if we’ve just been skating together our entire lives, either way, it makes us unstoppable when we’re together.

The center of the opposing team, Barry, is a sly jerk. He likes to shove and trip players, but he does it in a way the refs don’t notice it’s happening. I’ve watched so many games that he’s played. I’ve studied him and what he does before he goes after someone. Last year, Barry was the cause of another player falling wrong on his knee and it took the guy out of hockey permanently.

I'm not letting him get near my brother.

Hockey isn't everything to me, but it is to Jax. If I wasn’t able to play again, it would suck, but it wouldn’t be the end of my world. I’d get back up and do something different.

Barry glances around to see where the ref is and skates closer to Jax. I know what he has planned. He’s going to skate into him from the back and position his stick to take Jax down to the ice. If he does it right, Jax won't be able to finish the game.

I close the distance between us and slam Barry into the glass. He grunts at the force, he wasn’t expecting anyone to touch him. But the idiot put his sights on the wrong person. I’ll protect Jax with everything in me.

“What was that, Robinson!” He roars, taking off his gloves and shoving me.

“Stay away from my brother,” I growl, stepping closer and putting us toe to toe. I'm not afraid of him.

“What are you going to do about it?”

“Me? Whatever it takes. Maybe I’ll pull some of the crap you like to pull when the refs aren’t looking.” I smirk. I'm trying to rile him up. Anything to get him mad enough to throw a punch.

“Separate!” The ref, Steve, yells, but he isn't close enough to do anything.