Page 18 of Traded

Down at the nets, Ethan turns as if he can hear her, his eyebrows raising. Katie flushes as she blows him a kiss and he shakes his head, grinning. “Still my number one, Cross!”

By the time the first period ends, neither side has scored. Carter’s shoulders are high with frustration as he heads into thelocker rooms, and I wince at the lashing waiting for the team as Katie and I risk the horde at the snack stand for popcorn.

A brutal open-ice hit on Austin Navarro by Liam as the second period sparks the first real scrum of the night. Gloves don’t drop, but only because officials manage to get between them first. Leaning forward, I groan with everyone else as Liam’s attempted hit goes wide.

“You’re so bloodthirsty.” Katie’s cheeks are full of popcorn.

“And you’re just thirsty,” I retort. She laughs as Liam and Austin are yanked apart, Liam smacking his stick into the ground before he skates off.

Late in the second, Ethan wins a battle behind the net and feeds Jonas in the left circle.

“Come on,” I mutter. Everyone else is yelling, and my nails dig into my palms.

Jonas snaps the shot high blocker side, directly into the net past Mackenzie’s head.

Goal.

I’m screaming so hard my throat burns.

The Aces answer five minutes later when Boone wins a faceoff, sliding it to Katie’s next mountain adventure that plays opposite Liam. Dimitri Yukov blasts from the point, and the puck deflects past Benji a split second too late.

One–one.Shit.

Boone doesn’t celebrate. He turns and lifts his visor as he heads for the bench, finding Carter and smirking. Carter looks away, but his jaw could cut through glass.

Katie whistles. “Boy’s playing with his life. Does he know that?”

“Believe me, he knows.”

Third period feels endless. Everyone’s temper is running thin and the score’s still even.

Katie fumes when Ethan gets two minutes for tripping Yukov, Ethan slamming into the penalty box and tearing off his helmet.

“Are you kidding me?” I yell at the ref with my hands cupped over my mouth.“He tripped over his own fucking ego!”

There’s no way he can hear me, but I’d swear the mountain glances my way.

Dylan joins him less than a minute later, along with Austin Navarro from the Aces who skates for their own box. Boone yells something I don’t catch as he skates past, and Navarro shrugs.

My knee starts to shake as I watch the clock. Even Katie is quiet, both sides too focused on the countdown to waste oxygen yelling.

With less than a minute to go, Ryker forces a turnover in the neutral zone and shovels the puck forward. Carter gets there first, but Boone closes from one side, Yukov from the other.

Fuck—fuck.

Carter drives between them. Boone slams into him hard enough that I wince, but he doesn’t lose the puck.

He cuts inside instead, pulls the puck and shoots—

The puck rockets past Mackenzie’s glove and slams into the back of the net.

Thousands of people jerk to watch as the clock hits zero and the final buzzer sounds.

Two-one,Titans.

My arms jolt into the air, torn between shock and worry as Carter skates back with his hand gripping his shoulder. “Hell yes!Titans!”

The Furnace explodes, blue towels whipping the air in circles as Mike yells out the replay over the crowd and music. Jonas, Ethan, Ryker and Liam rip off their helmets, the team converging on Carter in a scrum of celebration as Katie and I jump up and down, the floor beneath us shaking.