Clipped by Love (Bellevue Bullies #2) (47 page)

Grinning, I reach for her, pulling her to my chest before I dip her back, dropping my mouth almost to hers as she yelps out. “What a great idea.”

Looking up at me with heat and shock in her eyes, her mouth pulls into a grin before I take it with mine. Ignoring the dirt, the sweat, and her awkwardly flailing arms, I kiss all the tautness from her sweet body. As she relaxes in my arms, her hands coming up to cup my face, I can’t help it.

I fall even more for her.

I almost always get nervous before the first game. It’s just how I work. But for some reason tonight as I sway back and forth in the hall, I feel okay. I feel good about tonight. I’m ready. Baylor sways in front of me with Jace in front of her since we are to be announced by our numbers and positions. As I stare at the back of her helmet, her 50 staring back at me, a grin sits on my lips. She has her hair in a braid, down her back and tucked into her jersey, but when she looks back at me, her red lips are glossy and she is grinning.

“Excited?” I ask even though it’s very visible that she is.

She nods. “Ready to kick some ass.”

“Me too,” I say, tapping her ankle with my stick. “Let’s show them what they are missing.”

She gives me a cute little grin just as the announcer starts to call us onto the ice. When they call her name, she shoots out of the tunnel as the crowd cheers for her, and there is a certain kind of pride that burns in my chest. She’s well-loved around here. Yeah, some girls are jealous because she’s so close to all the guys, but people still respect her. She’s a force to be reckoned with. She makes this team a billion times better, and I couldn’t love her more.

But then it’s my turn.

“And your captain, number fifty-nine, Jayden Sinclair!”

The crowd erupts with cheers as I skate out onto the ice, holding my stick up as the dance girls wave their little pom-poms and my teammates tap their sticks to the ice. I’ve waited for this since I started playing hockey. My first goal was to be a college captain.

I’m here.

Next is the NHL, and then I want to be an NHL captain.

I’ll make it happen.

As I stand with Jace to my left and Markus to my right, the anthem is sung while I look around to find my mom and sister sitting with Angie between them. I was hoping that Jude would be able to make it, but when he got to St. Louis, he wanted to hit the hay, which I completely understand. He’s a busy guy, but at least my mom and sister are here. As I keep looking, I realize I’m looking for my dad. I’m surprised when I don’t see him, but then I’m happy.

I don’t want him here.

“He isn’t here,” Jace says then, and I look over at him. “I told him not to come.”

Thank God. I don’t think I could handle my dad today, especially if Baylor decides to meet my mom after this. Also, I had such a great morning with Baylor, and knowing we are going to win this game, I don’t need his negativity. It’s going to be a good day, just got to win this game. Baylor is shaking with excitement, I like that. She’s ready to kick some ass, and I’m gonna do everything to help her win.

I also want my first win as a captain.

Nodding, I tap Jace’s shin as the whistle blows for us to line up and get this started. I love playing in our arena. This is my second home, and I’m ready to win. When we line up, though, Baylor drops her blade to the ice, waiting for the puck as the guy in front of her taunts her.

“Hey, Moore. Ready to lose?”

“I don’t lose, Rick. I win.”

“We will see about that,” he says, and then the puck drops. But instead of going for the puck like Baylor had, he goes straight through her, knocking her on her ass. I hear the air rush out of her, and then all I see is red. It takes everything inside me not to skate to her, to make sure she is all right. But thankfully, she pops back up as I skate back to keep the offense from rushing into our zone. Cutting left, I poke check the puck from the player who has it, but then another player comes and shoots it toward Shane. He bats it away, thankfully. As I rush to it, I scold myself for freaking out. This is the game. I’m here to do business. I gotta leave our relationship off the ice. As I get the puck under control, I see Jace slam the Rick guy into the boards.

“Touch her again, and I’ll fuck you up,” he promises as the guy comes off the boards, revenge in his eyes.

“Bring it, asshole,” he calls as Jace skates away, going to the bench for a change. Ignoring him since Jace took care of it, I bring the puck up, dumping it into the zone as I go off for a change. As I watch, I try to keep my eyes off Baylor. She’s sitting five guys down and she gasping for breath, but I worry she’s in pain. I mean, the dude went right through her. No stopping. Tearing my gaze from her, I look out on the ice and suck in a deep breath. This is hockey; she knew what she was signing up for. She’s a strong girl. She can handle her own. I know this. She knows this.

But every time I’m on the ice, my concern isn’t the puck, it’s Baylor.

I can’t help it though. Through two periods, these fuckers are making it their main focus to take her out. Tripping her, checking into her, and mowing right through her. And the mindfucking thing is they aren’t getting called for it! The refs are just standing there while she’s taking a fucking beating, but no one would even know. She takes each hit, sometimes without even reacting to it, but me, I’m reacting.

“Ref! What the hell? That’s cross checking,” I yell as I skate by one of them, but he just shrugs. “What, is Arkansas sucking your dick?”

The asshole then blows his whistle. “Fifty-nine, two minutes for unsportsmanlike contact!” he yells, pointing at me, and I’m flabbergasted.

“Are you kidding me?” I yell.

“Go!”

“Fucking bullshit,” I mutter as I skate toward the box.

Sitting down, I throw my stick down and then my gloves in complete frustration. This is bullshit! Leaning on my legs, I suck in a deep breath, looking up at the clock to see how much time we have left. Nine minutes. I get comfortable and allow myself to cool down a bit. But once I look out at the ice, my blood pressure rockets through the damn roof.

The Bullies are doing great, sending the puck out of the zone. But when it gets caught in the boards, Baylor rushes the puck, looking back to see where Jace is and also to find Kuntz and McMinn. But then two guys come in, squishing her between them as they all three fight for the puck. Jace comes over, trying to get the puck while Kuntz and McMinn watch the goal. But then I see one of the guys digging his elbow into Baylor’s neck, and I fucking lose it.

“Look at this shit!” I yell at the ref who is standing by the box, but he is ignoring me. “That’s allowed? He’s basically choking her!”

Baylor doesn’t take it though, she’s throwing elbows too, but she isn’t getting anywhere. Finally, Kuntz rushes in and checks the guy in the chest with his stick, but the other guy gets the puck, sending it up to his forward, who has another player with him. Before Kuntz can get back to man the net, McMinn is alone and the one player does a sick pass through McMinn’s legs to the other player, who sends it over Shane’s shoulder to the back of the goal.

Fuck.

Opening the box door, I skate toward the bench as Coach yells, “Sinclair! What the hell? That’s on you!”

“What? They are beating the shit out of Moore, and no one is calling shit,” I yell back, and I feel her gaze on me but I ignore it. “I’m not gonna stand around… No,
we
aren’t going to stand around while they hurt our teammate.”

Grabbing me by my jersey, he yanks me up to the tips of my skates. “She can handle her own. You worry about you and that fucking puck, or I’ll sit your ass on this bench so quick, you won’t know what happened!”

“We are a team! I look out for my team,” I yell back, my voice breaking a bit.

I’m out of breath and I’m fucking pissed. Rage is in his eyes, and I know mine mirror his. I don’t know if he is really that mad at me or mad at the situation. I’m sure it’s the latter because when he lets me go and shakes his head; he then bends down to check on Baylor as I take a seat beside Jace, who is between us.

Leaning on the boards, she calls over to me, “I got this, Sinclair. I’m good.”

“They are gunning for you,” I snap back, looking over at her. She looks tired and her lipstick is smeared.

And it isn’t my fault.

“They are. It’s bullshit and no one is calling shit,” Jace says, sucking in deep breaths.

“I’m fine, guys, I swear,” she promises. “Everyone always guns for me, but I can take care of myself.”

“But you don’t have to,” I roar back, and her eyes go wide as mine bore into hers. “We are a team.”

“But it’s costing us. If I need you, I’ll holler for you,” she says, and I shake my head.

“No, that’s bullshit,” I bellow, venom in my voice. “I don’t know who you’ve played with before, but on this team, we look out for our own.”

“Fucking right,” Jace adds, and most of the guys all nod.

Nodding, she swallows hard before looking back at the ice. My blood is boiling, we are down by a goal, and I swear, one more person touches her, I’m going for blood. I’ve played rough games, even dealt with my fair share of guys trying to take me out, but this is beyond anything I’ve ever seen. It’s like they want to hurt her, which I can’t even fathom. Yeah, she is fucking amazing and she can skate circles around most of these dicks, but really? Their jealousy is that bad that they want to hurt her?

What the hell?

Obviously though, these guys weren’t raised like me because as Baylor’s line and mine hit the ice, they gun for her again. They pin her against the boards, and I watch as she fights for the puck. I sink my teeth so hard into my mouthguard, I’m sure my teeth are gonna shatter. But I stay back, watching as she fights, and now, she’s being just as ruthless as they are, which makes me proud. When she gets the puck under control, she sends it out just as Jace is rushing the net. But he drops it back to Markus, who somehow puts it to the back of the net, tying the game.

As all of us join up to congratulate each other, she nods. “See! They are so worried about me, if we stay in position, we can catch them off guard. Way to go, Markus.”

That doesn’t seem right to me, though. She’s basically suggesting we use her as bait, and I don’t like that.

She may be as strong as an ox, but I have to protect her.

Lining up again, Baylor wins the puck when it drops, sending it back to me, and I send it to Kuntz as we skate past the blue line. When he sends it back to me, I look up to see her hauling ass to the net, her stick is down, her eyes are on me, and she’s ready. Sending it up quickly, I fully expect her to send it to the back of the next.

But what I didn’t see was the two-hundred-pound defenseman.

And then everything happens so fast.

I’m not sure what he hits her with, his shoulder or elbow, but she goes flying back like she weighs nothing, hitting the ice hard, her helmet sliding against the ice. I spot Jace and Markus waling on the guy, and then all of a sudden, the benches clear out and it’s utter chaos.

But the only thing I can see is that Baylor still hasn’t moved.