A Different Victory

My skates dug into the ice as I pushed myself off hard, the cold air hitting the little skin my gear left exposed, my lungs already burning. I could already feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins, setting my heart into a familiar, chaotic beat. 

I picked up speed. 

“Captain!” 

I looked right just in time as Mason sent the puck flying towards me. 

My stick caught it. 

Perfect. 

I pulled it in and kept moving, controlling it from one side of my blade to the other as I crossed the blue line. One of their defensemen came for me immediately.  

Big bloke. Twenty-three. He lowered his shoulders as we got closer to each other. 

I almost smiled. 

He slammed into me hard enough to rattle my fucking teeth, but I’d already shifted my weight. My shoulder drove back to his, my skates scraping across the ice as I tried to stay upright.

The puck slipped ahead. 

Fuck! 

Twenty-three went for it, but I was faster. 

I pushed off, caught the puck, and controlled it before his stick could reach it. Someone shouted a warning from my left. 

Another white jersey was coming. Two of them. 

Perfect. 

I dragged the puck towards me, changed direction, and slipped through before they could close the gap. 

The crowd erupted. I barely heard them. 

All my focus was fixed on the net. 

The goalie dropped slightly, watching me, waiting to decide which direction I would shoot. 

I moved left. He did the same. 

I smirked. “Got you.”

At the last second, I snapped my wrist and sent the puck flying to the right. It flew past his glove. The red light flashed. The horn blared through the arena, and the place fucking exploded. 

“YES!”

Mason crashed into me first, nearly sending us both into the boards as the rest of the boys surrounded us, slapping my shoulders and helmet.

“You beautiful bastard!” Ethan yelled, hitting me harder. 

Outside the rink, he wouldn't have been this free, but that’s what being in the rink does to you: it loosens something in you. 

I smirked. “I know.”

But the smugness only lasted approximately three seconds before my eyes moved into the arena. They found her immediately. And once again, our eyes were glued. She was on her feet, cheering, not in some subtle way. But in the way you cheer when you care. 

I grinned straight at her. She rolled her eyes away. A laugh burst out of me before I could stop myself. 

“Captain!”

My eyes snapped to Ethan before he caught me.

“What?”

“Are you planning on getting back to the game or flirting with someone in the stands?”

“Piss off.”

His gaze snapped towards the stands. I grabbed the back of his jersey and yanked him around before he could find her. Not like he would know it was her. 

“Eyes on the fucking game.”

He scoffed. “Mine were!”

Prit. 

We moved back into position. But something had changed in me. I could feel that. The exhaustion that had been slowly creeping into my legs was gone. The ache in my shoulder from where twenty-three had hit me had vanished. I could feel fire leaking through my skin. I could feel her eyes on me even though they were a thousand eyes on me. 

And before the game resumed, I knew: I was now going to play to impress her. 

I rolled my shoulders and lowered myself slightly as the referee approached. 

Across from me, their center glared at me. “You look happy, M’Call.”

I tilted my head. “Do I now? I wonder what might be the reason.”

He bared his teeth at me. “Let’s fix that attitude of yours.”

I smiled around my mouthguard. “Give it a go, mate.”

The puck dropped, and I went for his throat. 

Figuratively. 

Mostly. 

~.~

We won. Of course we did. 

As my team celebrated and the crowd cheered, my eyes searched for one person. When my eyes found her, my heart almost stopped. 

She was cheering, but it was different this time. She had the wildest smile I've ever seen on her face. And she wasn't just standing; she was jumping, clapping, laughing like she’d won something, too. And that… that beautiful smile only widened even more when our eyes found each other again. 

I thought she might look away or stop cheering since I caught her like that, but she didn't. She went on, her cheeks flushed with happiness, her eyes bright with a light I've never seen before, crinkled slightly at the corners. 

This time, I felt a different kind of victory in my chest.

“Did you see that?” my eyes asked her, my cheeks aching from how hard I was smiling. “Did you see how marvelous I played?”

“I did see,” her eyes answered. “But maybe try not to look so smug about it, you prick.”

I found myself laughing again. My teammates thought it was because of the outcome of the game. The crowd thought the same. But only my heart knew it was because of the wayward angel who has rocked my world without warning. 

At that moment, with the sound of a thousand cheers and my heart still racing from the adrenaline, I vowed I was going to win her heart. 

I was going to win it no matter what. 

~.~

I couldn't wait for the dinner to be done so I could go home. Not my apartment, but her home. They were waiting for us to have our dinner, but I was just waiting to see her again. 

“I think Jackson was flirting with his piece of heaven back in the arena,” Ethan said, across from me, already stupidly drunk. 

“Yeah, I noticed it too!” Collins, another teammate, added. “He had stars in his eyes!”

I said nothing, and just sipped my beer slowly.

“Tell us about this piece of heaven you’ve found,” Mason slurred from beside me, throwing his hand around my shoulders. The alcohol had made him relaxed and stopped him from being so shy. 

“This one is all mine, mate,” I said as I dropped my beer and picked up my keys. “And you bastards are keeping me away from her.”

I shot up to my feet, and they broke into cheers and roars.

“Go, Jackson! Go find heaven between her legs!”

“Don’t wear her out and let her lose that piece of heaven!” 

“I want to find my piece of heaven too!”

“Bastards,” I muttered as I left the bar. 

There was a smile on my face as I drove to my wayward angel.