Pucked Love (Pucked 6)

“You can open it before we go to sleep since that’s when it’ll come in handy.” He reaches over and picks up the single wine glass, offering it to me before he takes a sip.

I run my fingers through his hair and his head drops back, eyes falling closed. When he’s like this, unguarded and at ease, he looks much less severe. “How are you feeling about the game tomorrow night?”

He runs one hand slowly up and down my thigh. “Truthfully?”

“Unless you feel like you need to lie to me about it to make yourself feel better.”

He cracks a lid and a smile, then lifts his head. His smile disappears and his eyes seem to trace over my face. “Worried.”

“You played really well last night.”

“Not well enough.” He blows out another breath.

“You can only be as good as your teammates allow, though.” I drag my nails down the back of his scalp and goose bumps flash across his arms.

“It’s not my game I’m worried about.”

“Alex is struggling.” It’s not a question. I’ve seen it during the games, and then there’s the conversation Violet and I had.

Darren chews on the inside of his lip for a few seconds before he gives me a reluctant nod. He’s incredibly loyal, and even though it’s the truth, I know all Darren wants to do is protect him.

“He needs to go into this game with a positive frame of mind, and my biggest concern at the moment is that he’s beating himself up over the loss.”

“Home ice advantage should help, shouldn’t it?”

“Theoretically, yes. We have a great team, and Randy is an excellent front line player. Rookie is pulling his weight, and Miller and Lance are holding defense, but Alex has always been the best for scoring, and he’s just not making the shots the way he used to.” Darren drops his head and mutters a quiet fuck.

“Hey.” I take his face between my hands and force him to look at me. His expression is pained, and I want to take that away for him. “It’s okay to talk to me like this. You’re not being disloyal for saying what’s true. I’m sure he knows this and it’s eating at him that you’re the one picking up the slack. I know it’s hard to separate your friendship from the welfare of the team and Alex’s ego, but you might need to start taking some of the shots you’ve been passing.”

“It’s not that simple, Charlene.”

“I know Alex likes to be the best at everything, but surely he must see how it would be better for the team—”

“It’s not Alex; it’s me.”

“That’s untrue. You’ve been incredible out there. I realize I’m biased—”

He presses his lips to mine to stop me. “You don’t understand. Alex doesn’t want me to pass to him. He knows he’s not playing like he used to, and it’s killing him because he feels like he’s letting down his team. He wants me to take the shots, but I’ve been passing anyway, so it’s my fault we lost last night, not his.”

“Why would you pass to him if he asked you not to?”

“Goals get more points than assists,” he says.

As if I don’t know this. “And that matters why?”

He mumbles something else.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.”

“Can we just drop this? It’s a real fucking downer, and that’s not what I wanted tonight to be.” His jaw tics and his throat bobs, fingers tightening on my thigh briefly before they skim up and in. I twist away from his wandering hand and cross my legs so he can’t get between them.

He purses his lips, and I mirror the expression. His sigh is heavy as he trails his fingers down the side of my neck, pushing away the blanket. “Please, Charlene. Not tonight. Any other night.” He drops his head, lips finding the place his fingers just were and gliding up to my ear. “I just want to get lost in you.”

There’s such vulnerability in his words and his tone. I pull back, wanting to see his face, trying to understand the sudden shift, the shutting down when we’re finally making progress.

“I need you to let this go tonight. We can come back to it.” His pained eyes search mine. “But for now, I need this. You. Please.”

“Okay, Darren.” I press a palm to his cheek. “If that’s what you need.”

He kisses me, softly at first, and then greedily. It’s late when we finally make it upstairs to bed. I don’t flail in my sleep. I can’t with Darren wrapped around me like a human blanket.

We’re shifting again, and I worry too much change too fast is dangerous. It creates fault lines and cracks. The kind I’ll get lost in and won’t find my way back out of.CHARLENE

Chicago wins the game against Toronto with Darren scoring the winning goal. He should be happy about it, but he’s stoic instead. I want to chalk it up to game seven being in Toronto, but I’m sure it has to do with Alex.