“Boom, what?” she screeched. “You didn’t even hit the post.”

He looked at the net and then to her. “Yes, I did.”

“You liar! You did not!” she yelled, and she was about to go on when he shot her a big grin.

“Fine, I didn’t. But I should get a point for the awesome batting I did,” he suggested and she shook her head, taking the puck out.

“I don’t give charity goals,” she shot at him and he laughed.

“Such a badass,” he teased and she grinned as she went to the line.

“I score, I win,” she reminded him and he shrugged.

“Won’t happen. I’m gonna stop you and then score three in a row,” he proclaimed and it took everything out of her not to laugh, but he just looked so adorably hot. His brow was furrowed, his breathing hard, and he had sweat dripping from his beard. But the best part was his intense gaze. He wanted to win, and she was so sad to disappoint him, but he was going down. She knew it wasn’t fair. He’d had practice before they hit the ice, but it wasn’t her fault he’d challenged her. She doubted he would ever make that mistake again.

Grinning, she slap shot the puck, whizzing it past him and knocking into the boards.

“What the hell?” he called. And as she knew it would, it caught him off guard, so she rushed, catching the rebound and then lifting it off the ice to hit the crossbar. “Now, that’s not fair! You distracted me!”

Giggling, she shrugged as she pulled off her helmet, shaking out her hair and then taking her mouthguard out. “Told ya I’d win.”

He shook his head. “You already did that move though!”

“There are no rules for repeat moves. It worked the first time, and I figured it’d work the second.”

He glared. “You know I’m worn out from practice too. You wouldn’t have beat me if I was at full strength.”

“Of course not,” she said, trying not to smile.

“Plus, my core hurts. You made me do a billion crunches and seven billion burpees,” he accused and she shrugged.

“Helped with your slap shot though. So in the long run, you’ll be thanking me and you’ll forget about your little bruised ego.”

“You’re being condescending, aren’t you?” he asked, coming toe-to-toe with her, his eyes locked on hers.

“Just a little. I won fair and square.”

His face twisted in shock. “The hell you did! You did some cutesy shit that no one does and caught me off guard.”

“You’re full of it! I’ve seen plenty of people do that in the NHL. You’re just mad that you got beat by Khaotic Kacey!”

Looking up at the roof, he laughed from his gut. “Are you really busting out that wack-ass nickname? You aren’t Khaotic Kacey, you’re crazy!”

She scoffed. “Hater.”

“Brat,” he said, taking her by her jersey and pulling her to him.

“Sore loser.”

“Show-off,” he shot back before his mouth came down to hers.

“I don’t kiss losers,” she muttered right as his lips came to hers.

“Well, you’re in luck, ’cause I love kissing chaotic, crazy winners who make up stupid nicknames for themselves,” he said with a grin before capturing her mouth with his. She wanted to laugh, but there was no laughing when Jordie Thomas’s mouth was on hers. Dropping her gloves, she wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. He nibbled on her bottom lip and she felt his gloves hit the ground before his hands snaked into her girdle, grabbing her bottom. “I also love sex with said person I just described.”

“Well, you’re gonna have to wait, because I am not having sex here.”

“No one is here though,” he said, thrusting into her.

“Whatever, this place isn’t empty, for one. And two, who wants to have sex in an ice rink? That’s so unbelievably dumb. What if your ass sticks to the ice? Or, by God, your dick! I would die…and so take pictures to post on Facebook,” she said, dissolving into laughter as his face filled with horror.

Removing his hands from her body, he shook his head. “And the moment is dead.”

“Good, make sure it stays that way. You don’t disrespect the ice by fucking on it.” She scoffed and he laughed.

“But it’s combining two of my favorite things: hockey and you.”

“We’ll play,” she shot at him as they picked up their gear. “And I’ll keep winning.”

“What the hell ever,” he barked as they skated toward the bench. “But on a serious note, why didn’t you keep playing? You’re good, baby,” he said, smacking her shin with his stick.

She smiled. “Thanks, but you know I reached the end goal for me. I wanted to win the gold. I did, and that’s it.”

“You know I’m sorry for not being there. I watched on the TV though, drank a lot for you.”

She rolled her eyes. “You should have stopped at the you watched part.”

He shrugged. “Maybe, but really, you should have done more with it. Like, go into the NHL.”

“I never thought about going into the NHL ’cause I didn’t think it was possible, but Baylor Moore proved that wrong.”

And boy, did she. She was all over the media, and she was a little rough around the edges, so of course, Kacey liked her. She was nice enough, but driven. She played her heart out and had truly embarrassed all the naysayers. With a daddy like star Bruins forward River Moore, it only made sense. But still, it was so cool to see a woman in the NHL. Kacey was probably more excited than Baylor was about the first game. She just hoped it opened the door for other little girls who wanted that as their end goal.