“Will do,” I confirmed before he walked away. My stomach was in knots at the reminder that more than a high school championship was at stake for Corby tonight. If he played as well as he had all season, he could secure a spot on a professional team.
“C’mon, I want to find our seats so we have plenty of time to get snacks before they come out on the ice to warm up,” Emily urged, poking me in the side to get me moving.
We made our way to the section printed on the tickets. When I realized where the seats were located, I let out a little squeal as some of my nerves eased.
“You’re as superstitious as the guys now,” Emily teased.
“Yup,” I confirmed, making a popping sound on the last letter. “That’s how full-fledged hockey girlfriends roll.”
Sarah laughed and rolled her eyes. “You’re such a dork.”
“At least I’m a dork with a super-hot boyfriend who’s about to win a state championship.” I grinned as I dropped onto the seat directly behind the penalty box. “And he’s going to do it with me cheering him on in the most perfect seat in the entire rink.”
“Hmm, you make a good point.” Sarah edged past me before sitting down. “Maybe I need to embrace my quirkiness more so I can snag a super-hot boyfriend too.”
“I’d be happy to snag a container of nachos and a drink.” Emily patted her stomach with a grin. “And if a hot guy just so happened to bring it to me, I wouldn’t complain.”
Sarah looked over her shoulder, scanning the fans seated around us. “No can do on the hot guy delivery service, but I’ll go to the concession stand with you to get some snacks.”
“Deal.” Emily jumped up, then asked, “Do you want to come with us?”
I didn’t want to risk missing Corby coming out of the locker room, so I shook my head. “Nope. I think I’ll stay here, thanks.”
“We’ll bring some stuff back for you,” Sarah offered, patting my shoulder as she moved past me to get to the stairs.
When they were gone, I pulled my cell phone out. I highly doubted that Corby had his phone out since they’d be leaving the locker room any minute now, but I pulled up our text thread and sent him a message.
Me: Win or lose, I’m so freaking proud to be your girlfriend.
Clenching my phone in my hand, I stared at the open door where the players would enter the ice while Emily and Sarah were gone. The other team skated onto the ice first, and I was perched on the edge of my seat waiting for the Cougars to come out when Sarah set a tray of snacks on my lap. “Thank goodness we’re back in time. The line at the concession stand was bonkers.”
“It also didn’t help that it took you forever to decide what to order,” Emily complained as she sat down next to me.
Sarah tossed a piece of popcorn in her direction. “Some of us like a little variety and don’t get the same thing at every game.”
“Hey, I’m just doing my part to help the Cougars win.” Emily pointed at me with a big smile. “She sits in the same seat as the first game we went to, and I eat the same snacks. We’ve all got to do our part.”
“Well played,” Sarah conceded before ripping open a box of candy and popping a piece in her mouth just as our goalie stepped onto the ice. He was followed by the rest of the team, with Corby coming out last. The guys lined up and bumped his fist as he skated past.
I jumped up and clapped, screaming, “Woohoo! You’ve got this, Corby!”
His head jerked up, and our gazes met. His smile was so big, I could see it through his face shield from across the rink. He pointed his stick in my direction before skating over to a pile of pucks and poking one off the top. He started his warmups, taking shot after shot on the net to help get the goalie ready for the game. When the clock was down to only a couple of minutes, he skated a few quick laps around our side of the ice before sending a bunch of pucks to in front of the bench. Right before the buzzer sounded, he skated over and took a knee to listen to his coach before it was time to line up for the puck drop.
When the ref blew his whistle, Corby skated to the middle of the red line to face off against the other team’s center. I perched on the edge of my seat, my legs bouncing with nervous energy while I nibbled on the snacks Emily and Sarah had bought for me. About halfway through the game, neither team had scored, and I muttered, “This team is a lot better than anyone else they’ve gone up against this season.”
“Yeah, they’re definitely going to make the Cougars fight hard for the championship,” Sarah agreed.
“C’mon, you can do it,” I chanted when Corby hopped off the bench for another shift on the ice. He’d come close to scoring a few times so far, but it was feeling as though a force field in front of the nets stopped the puck from going in.
About a minute later, one of the defenders sent the puck flying up the center of the ice. It was a little to the left of the other team’s goalie, and I figured they’d get called for icing—which I didn’t confuse for frosting anymore. But Corby took off to chase after it, skating faster than I’d ever seen him move before. Right before the puck reached the red line at the other end of the rink, he stretched his stick out and pulled it back. Then with a quick flick of his wrist, he sent the puck flying toward the goalie. I held my breath while I watched the small black object rotate through the air, jumping from my seat when it sailed over the goalie’s shoulder and into the net. “Yes!”
I almost cried with happiness when Corby turned to look up in the stands and pointed at me before he bumped fists with his teammates. Sarah, Emily, and I continued to cheer for him until he was seated on the bench and the ref was getting ready to drop the puck. Corby’s goal seemed to break the seal for the Cougars, and Dean scored the next time he was on the ice. They were up two to zero going into the third period, but the other team scored a quick goal thirty seconds in. The game was closer than any other time I’d been in the stands watching, and I could barely sit still. Each time Corby was on the ice, I prayed he’d score another goal to give the Cougars some breathing room and impress the recruiters who were watching. With four minutes left in the game, he gave me and the rest of the Cougar fans what we’d been waiting for.
One of the other team’s defenders went to pass the puck up to their offense, but Corby got there first. Sending the puck up ahead of him, he powered past the other players until it was just him and the goalie. Then he did some fancy move that tricked the goalie into thinking he was going to shoot to the left when he went to the right instead. The other player didn’t get the chance to correct his mistake before the puck crashed into the back of the net. I jumped up to cheer again, hugging my best friends while I cried. Not much time was left in the game, and we were up by two goals. Corby was playing great, and I didn’t see how the other team could possibly beat him now that the momentum was in our favor.
I blew Corby a kiss this time when he pointed at me and giggled when he pretended to catch it and pressed his hand to his chest. “You hit the motherlode when you found him,” Emily sighed.
“Yeah, I can’t help but wonder why I never signed up to be an office assistant. Then maybe I could’ve met all the new guys who needed tours before any other girl got her hands on them,” Sarah grumbled.