Iced Out (Leighton U #1)(96)

Words…I know I feel too.

And that’s all it takes to understand why he’d give up having Louis as his agent so I could. He believes in me, maybe even more than I believe in myself.

Due to a single reason, so complicated, but so fucking simple at the same time.

Love.

Louis is already stepping away, back down the hall, and I blurt out an answer before I think any better of it.

“I’m in.”

He pauses, giving me a look. “You’re sure? The offer still stands if you need time. There’s no need to feel—”

“I don’t need time, I know this is what I want,” I tell him, a surge of confidence in me like I’ve never felt before. “But I think I have one condition.”

He grins, and it’s the kind that tells me he already knows what I’m going to say.

“I’m all ears.”





Thirty-Four

Quinton

April

“This is it, guys.” I glance between my teammates huddled around me, hanging on my every word before we head out on the ice. “This is what we’ve been working for all season. A chance to bring a Frozen Four victory back to Leighton.”

Nervous energy radiates from every single person in the room, Coach included as he watches me talk to the team. It’s been hanging in the air around all of us since we got on the team bus to make the trip from Chicago down to Indianapolis, only growing in intensity as game time came nearer.

Now, it’s vibrating the entire room, along with everything—and everyone—in it.

Myself included.

Though, when my gaze collides with Oakley’s from across the huddle, I realize the buzzing through my veins isn’t just from the impending game.

“We’re solid as long as we remember we are a team. We play as one, we lose as one. This isn’t the time for showboating or theatrics. I know scouts and agents are probably here, and you might want to make an impression, but they don’t matter right now. Only this moment does.”

Nods and murmurs float through the space, all in agreement.

“It’s time to put it all on the line. Play your hearts out, but most of all, play smart.” That gets a few of my teammates sharing dubious looks among themselves, and I let out a soft chuckle. “I know it’s rich coming from me. But if we play hard and play smart, there’s no reason we won’t go home with that trophy. I believe in us, and you should too.”

It’s true. I have faith, as long as we’re smart, the championship title is as good as ours. It doesn’t matter that we’re the underdogs in this battle, or that this is the biggest test we’ll face this season as a team. Nothing feels impossible right now, including taking home this win.

Sure, I tend to be an optimist by nature as it is, but it’s more than just that. It’s a feeling, seated deep in the marrow of my bones. One that’s been shot up on steroids ever since signing with Louis a couple weeks ago. A belief in this team, and more importantly, myself.

And the guys…they’re feeding off it. Roaring around me, clapping and chanting and cheering to pump themselves up as we prepare to exit the locker room for the rink. A few of my teammates even jostle me around, smacking my pads and shaking me so I get as hyped as they are.

It works, even if I don’t need the adrenaline, I’m ready to bore full-steam ahead, not stopping until the Frozen Four trophy is held over our heads.

When Coach calls out for us to hit the ice, I choose not to lead the charge out, instead staying back to allow myself one second to just…breathe.

Apparently I’m not the only one with that idea, because once most of the guys shuttle out to the rink, I notice Oakley still lingering off to the left of the doors.

“Nice speech, Captain.”

The guy I was six months ago would’ve heard only venom and sarcasm laced in those words, even if there wasn’t any to begin with. But I see them at face value now, and they’re genuine.

“What can I say? I spoke from the heart.”

I close the distance between us, his fixated gaze causing my pulse to thrum beneath my skin. I expect him to stop me when I reach the doors, but instead he just holds it open and falls in step beside me on our way to the ice.

“This is really it, huh? The last time we have to play together?”

His observation causes me to stutter a step, because until he said it, the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. I’ve only been thinking about the team, not myself.

Wow. Maybe I really was cut out for this leadership crap.

“I guess so,” I murmur, the weight of the realization hitting me like a sack of bricks.

“Well, then let’s make it count and go out kicking some ass?” He smiles. “And try not to take that too literally.”

And there it is.

But the thing I’ve realized about Oakley’s little jabs since this whole thing started between us? I don’t actually mind them. They don’t get under my skin or light my insides on fire the way they used to.

They usually make me smile or laugh right along with him.

And this one’s no different.



The first fifty minutes of the game fly by in what seems like a single second, and as I hit the ice for another line rotation, the entire arena seems to buzz with unchecked excitement.