Page 38 of Ruthless Blade

My blade found the rubber first. With a brutal, short flick of my wrists, I whipped the puck toward the top corner of the net before the goalie could reset his feet. It snuck right under the crossbar, tearing into the twine as the red light flashed behind the glass.

The arena exploded. My teammates swarmed me, burying me against the boards in a flurry of gloves and helmets, but my chest was heaving so hard I could barely breathe.

One hell of a game.

Chapter Nineteen

LEXI

My fingers dug into the stadium bench that I left a permanent imprint. Way to go Lex. Beside me, Hazel was on her feet, screaming loud enough that her voice cracked.

The scoreboard read 3-2. Win.

The student section surged forward, beer spilling, hands slamming against the plexiglass, a deafening wall of pure fucking chaos. Down on the ice, the entire bench emptied. The guys swarmed Kayden, throwing their gloves into the air, leaping onto him until he was buried beneath a mountain of hockey players.

They did it. He did it.

I stood there frozen, my heart beating so fast it made my breaths uneven. The excitement from the game left me crippled, my pulse racing at an alarming rate. I couldn’t breathe, there was so much going on.

I need to get out of here.

Hazel clapped, her gaze met mine. “What a game! Aren’t you glad you came?”

More like forced to come.

The mountain of players dispersed, skating around the ice to salute the fans. Kayden skated toward the glass near our section, his chest heaving violently, his blonde hair plastered to his forehead through his cage. Damn. Even I could admit he was hot. Completely untouchable.

He raised his stick to the crowd, his eyes scanning the screaming rows. His gaze met mine, and everything around us vanished. The way he looked at me sometimes, as if I was the only one he needed, crippled me. It made me want something more with him, something more than what we currently had. Every time I put up my walls, he managed to kick them down, reminding me of the feelings I harbored for him.

His blue gaze narrowed, holding my stare through the thick plexiglass. He didn’t have his casual smirk or grin on his face, he was serious, dangerous even. The look sent a jolt straight down my spine, racing to my core.

"Oh my god," Hazel gasped, her voice suddenly pulling me back to reality as she grabbed my elbow.

I frowned, pulling my gaze away from him. Her face had gone completely white. “Are you okay? You’re pale, Hazel. Like white as a ghost pale.”

I touched my hand to her forehead, trying to see if she was running a fever. She quickly moved my hand away and cleared her throat.

"Don't look now," she whispered, "Josh is coming this way."

My eyes widened, and I turned my head in time to see him weaving through the crowd. I had canceled on him and the study group today, because of Kayden. A casual smile rested on his lips as he spotted me. My stomach did a familiar little flip, but not as explosive as when Kayden was around.

"Lexi," Josh said, pulling up in front of us and offering a warm smile. "Great game, right?"

"Hey, Josh," I murmured, trying to ground myself while my pulse raced for a completely different reason. "What are you doing here?”

Hazel’s gaze was looking between the two of us, a little too eager to see what would happen next.

Josh smiled, shifting his weight. "When you bailed on us earlier, we all decided that we needed to get out and be social as well. We can study another day, but seeing as this is one of the last games of the season, we didn’t want to miss it.”

I nodded, and tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. I bit my lip, not knowing what to say next.

That’s when he piped up, “I was actually wondering if you wanted to grab a coffee before our midterm next week? Maybe study together, alone?"

If I were in my right mind, I would’ve said yes. Josh was the guy I wanted in my life. He was calm, steady, and not someone who needed the attention on him. He was a quiet guy, someone I could get along well with.

Yet, I couldn’t get a certain someone out of my head. I couldn’t get my heart to shut up when he was around.

Before I could speak, the heavy metal door to the locker room corridor swung open with a loud, echoing clang.