Luc took control of the puck and quickly skated along the boards. Without looking, he knew no one was close behind him. He had a clean breakaway to Calgary’s net… until his skate slid out from underneath him. He felt the slight pull of someone’s stick hooked around his ankle, taking him down to the ice. The puck shot out from his stick into the corner behind the net. Looking up, he caught the sight of the Calgary player’s numbers.
Without much thought, he stuck his own stick out, hooking the calf of that player. He stumbled more than necessary, taking a dive onto the ice. Whistles blew, stopping play, but no penalties were called. Either they didn’t see either of us, or the refs are cancelling out Joffrey’s tripping call on me with the hook I attempted on him. Either way, at least we’re both still at full strength. The stripes hadn’t been calling penalties all game, and this play wasn’t any different. It just so happened to benefit Luc this time.
After Luc got up and brushed some of the ice shavings off, he looked up and found Kassie in the stands. She was in the third row, section 108. Her light pink ball cap helped her to stand out from the crowd. The desire to win always made him shake it off and get back up, but today the drive was a little stronger. He didn’t only want to win, he wanted to win in front of Kassie.
Luc lined up for the face-off. Tyler shot the puck to Torin, who took the puck wide, avoiding the Calgary players.
Luc was open and wanted the puck. He tapped his stick on the ice, calling for the biscuit. Kassie was right there, and he really wanted to make this shot while she was here to see it. It was an ego thing, but it felt like everything at the moment.
When the puck hit his stick, everything went quiet, to him anyway. He blocked out the yells and the cheers, as well as the boos from Calgary fans. The only thing that mattered was making this goal.
Concentrating on the goalie and how he was positioned, as well as how he was moving, Luc chose the right corner. Skating towards the net, he faked left, and as soon as the net minder slid left and down to his pads, Luc shot right. The puck slid between the edge of the goalie’s leg pad and the right bottom corner, into the back of the net.
SCORE!
The noise of the crowd cheering infiltrated his ears. The goal horn and the goal song blared. Pumping his fist in the air, Luc didn’t focus on anyone but Kassie. She was jumping up and down, waving her hat in the air, cheering. The fans screamed and called his name, but the only thing that mattered was the excited look on her face.
Before skating around the net and to his teammates, he pointed to Kassie, hoping she understood that he had made that goal for her. The fact that she was sitting there in his gear, cheering him on, made him feel like he’d already won, regardless of the score at the end of the game.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Kassie
Kassie held tight to Luc’s arm as they made their rounds through the team Halloween party. She swore that she and Luc had had their photo taken twenty times within the last hour. That didn’t include the tons of selfies Luc had taken of them both, or the ones where he shoved his phone at whoever was standing around them and had them take their picture. Maybe it was their sweet Superman and Supergirl costumes, or maybe it was just the fact of them being together in public that folks were over-excited about.
This was one of the first big team events she had accompanied Luc to. She didn’t expect anyone to care who she was or that she was even there. Except everyone did take notice, and she realized all the photo ops were definitely because of who she was there with, and not what they were dressed like.
Kassie detoured off their route to take them right by the bar. She downed a shot of whatever the bartender gave her, and grabbed a Jack and Coke to take with her.
A single guy that she wasn’t familiar with waved at Luc and passed by him, giving a fist bump. He was dressed like a banana. It was creepy and funny all at the same time.
Before she could ask Luc who that was, Trina approached them with a big smile on her face. She was decked out in a chef’s hat and white t-shirt that had an image of an oven with a bun cooking inside. The shirt read, “bun in the oven.” Clever. Kassie had already seen Sam, decked out in a matching chef’s hat and white t-shirt, with a black apron with the words “bun maker” on it.
“Trina, do you two ever get tired of being so adorable?” Kassie asked. “You’re like the perfect couple.” Her words were filled with sarcasm, but she wasn’t lying; they were so cute.
Trina’s face darkened. She grabbed at her belly for a second, then let out a little breath.
“Tri, you okay?” Kassie asked.
“Yeah. Oh, yeah, fine.” Trina kept her hand on her stomach, but forced a smile. “I just wanted to ask you how it felt to lock down the team’s most eligible bachelor?”
“Excuse me?”
“Kass, you’ve been the talk of the party all night. No one ever thought there’d be a girl out there that could get the Rock-Star to finally settle down. Then you came along. I don’t know how you did it, but kudos, girl! You’ve got that boy under your spell.”
Kassie ruffled her brow. “I hope that’s a good thing?”
“Absolutely! Just look at him.” Trina pointed to Luc, who was now a few feet away, grabbing them bottled water. “He radiates happiness. He needed someone like you. Sam says all he ever talks about is you. Kass, he is really head over heels, and it’s so sweet!” Trina practically squealed. Then she sucked in a hard gasp of air and grabbed at her belly again.
“Tri, are you sure you’re okay? Do you need me to find Sam?” Kassie was concerned by how Trina was acting.
“No.” Trina waved Kassie off. “I’m fine. It’s just gas, or maybe too many chips and dip. But I do have to run to the bathroom again, excuse me. I swear these days my bladder is the size of a pea. Thank goodness this costume is simple and easy to get off!”
Kassie thought about what Trina had said. That was why there had been so many photos taken of her and Luc together. “Wait! Trina, does that mean—” But Trina was already halfway to the bathroom.
“Mean what?” Luc looped his arm around her back and pulled her close. He held his phone out in front of him and snapped a selfie. “Say cheese!”
“Apparently, there have been lots of photos of us taken tonight. Besides you and your selfies,” Kassie said, as Luc messed with his phone.
“Yeah, I noticed. Hold that thought, and say Supergirl.” Luc snapped another selfie, only this time he planted a kiss on her cheek in the photo. He fiddled with his phone for a second before continuing his thought. “They always take a lot of photos at the Halloween party. It’s kind of a big deal.”
Dom came up beside them. “Talking about all the pictures?” He was decked out as one of the Suicide Squad characters, while Hailee was the girl with the crazy makeup and funky hair.
Luc flexed his Superman muscles that were actually his muscles, accented with only a little padding. It was kind of sexy that he didn’t need all the padding that came with the costume. “Yeah. Kass said there have been lots of pictures taken. I was telling her they do that all the time. We’re just used to it, and it’s kind of fun now.”