Pucking Strong: An MM Workplace Hockey Romance (Jacksonville Rays Book 4)

The whistle blows, and the crowd roars in outrage. My heart races, my breath heavy in my chest. I saw the whole thing like it was happening in slow motion. Number thirty-two on the Golden Knights has been goading Lindberg all game. He’s a young hot head, fresh off the draft, and Lindberg just scored on him. Again. In a fit of petulant rage, the kid shoved Lindberg after the play, sending him face-first into the boards. His helmet hit with a crack, and Lindberg went down to the ice.

Now the kid is standing over him, shouting something as the ref skates in. But I’m closer. Surging forward, I drop my glove and punch the kid right in the fucking face. My hand instantly burns with the pain of the contact, the muscles clenching tight. The kid drops to the ice, scrambling to get back up as blood flows down his chin. “Bro, what the fuck!”

“Play fair or get the fuck off my ice!”

“Bro, man, fuck you!” The kid swings at me, and I duck.

I lose my footing as a second Golden Knight comes crashing in to defend his teammate. I trip over Lindberg’s legs as I’m pressed into the boards. With a growl, I elbow whoever is behind me.

The whistles are going crazy now as the refs swoop in. Jake grabs me by the arms, pulling me back. A Knights defenseman does the same to thirty-two.

“I’m gonna kick your ass, man,” he shouts at me. “Try me! Fucking try me, man!”

“Go back to the beer leagues, you piece of shit!” That’s all I can get out in English before I switch to Swedish, profanity pouring from me like a fountain.

“Hey,” Jake growls in my ear, skating me backwards. “It’s done.”

“Did you see what he did?”

“I saw. The punk was asking for it. But stop while you’ve got the upper hand. He’s the one who looks like an ass, not you.”

The whistles are still blowing as the linemen try to pull Novikov off the defenseman who hit me into the boards. He has him pinned down on the ice, grappling with him.

“Lindberg!” I turn in Jake’s arms, looking for my injured teammate.

“He’s fine,” Jake assures me. “Just got the wind knocked out of him.”

I glance up, catching the replay footage on the jumbotron. The crowd watches too, screaming and pounding the plexiglass. Their thirst for bloodlust knows no bounds. Not for the first time, I feel like a gladiator in the Colosseum. This is a dangerous sport and accidents happen. Would they even care if we died? Is that how I might meet my end? To their thunderous applause?

I didn’t fight that kid because I wanted to. I fought because behavior like that can’t be tolerated. He could have seriously injured Lindberg, taken him out of the game. If a broken nose encourages him to play fair, I’ll break his nose every day of the week.

There’s not enough time on the game clock for me to wait out my penalty, so the ref sends me back to the bench with Novy. Coach Johnson doesn’t even spare a harsh word for us. The Rays are up, and he knows exactly why we did what we did. Down the wall, that punk-ass kid marches into the tunnel to the jeers of the Rays home crowd, holding a bloody towel to his face.

The game still ends with a Rays win. My job done for another night, I make my way down the tunnel, back to the dressing room. As I’m untying my skate laces, Lindberg sits next to me. “Hej.”

“Hej, hej,” I say. “You okay?”

He nods, placing a hand on my bare shoulder. “Thanks.”

I just shrug. “You’d do the same for me.”

“That was a solid punch,” says DeGraw from my other side. He doesn’t speak Swedish, but he intuits what we’re talking about. “The EMT said you broke his nose.”

“Good,” Lindberg mutters. With a heavy sigh, he shakes his head. “He’s my replacement.”

“What?” says DeGraw.

“When the Rays traded for me, the Knights took that kid and gave him my center position. He’s the new me.”

“Which is why he thought he had something to prove tonight,” says DeGraw. “Instead, he proved the opposite.”

Lindberg glances up. “What opposite?”

DeGraw smiles. “There is no replacing you.”

Fresh from my shower, I’m slipping back into my suit when Teddy appears in the doorway of the changing room. He looks around before rushing over to my side. His anxiety instantly sets me on edge. “Teddy, what—”

“Help me.”

My heart stops as I reel him in. “What happened?”noveldrama

“I need you to help me. Now. Come on.”

He tries to pull me forward, but I twist my arm free, reaching for my dress shirt. “I’m half dressed, mitt hjärta. I will come,” I add. “But just tell me what’s wrong.”

He lowers his voice, clearly trying to avoid being overheard by the other men in the changing room. “Okay, so Poppy totally just screwed me over. I need you to come run interference for me with Novy.”

“What?”

“She’s in early labor, and she took his keys so he can’t chase her to the hospital and, like, get in an accident or park his car in the ambulance bay,” he explains with a wave of his hand.

“Well, that sounds sensible.”

“Yeah. Only she gave his keys to me.” Reaching in the pocket of his jacket, he pulls out a set of car keys.

“Shit.”

“Right? Apparently, I’m the only one on staff she trusts to handle him.”

I shrug into my dress shirt and work the buttons closed. “What do you need from me?”

“Help! Hold him back if he tries to hit me. Or, you know, get between us and take the hit for me.”

My fingers pause on my middle button. “You want me to fight Novy because his partner is in labor?”

“God—no—I want you to stop him from fighting me.” He presses a hand to his chest, fingers splayed. “I am your husband, Henrik. For better or worse. That was in our vows, right? They were in Swedish, so I don’t even fucking know. But you should know that most wedding vows come with a ‘for better or worse’ clause. Well, this is the ‘for worse’ part.” He shakes the keys at me. “You can protect your teammates out on the ice all you want. Off it, you have to protect me.”

His panic is charming. It’s all I can do not to sweep him in my arms and kiss him right now. “Novy is a grown man,” I say with a shrug. “Surely he’ll see reason.”

“He’s Lukas Novikov! Did you see him out there? You punched a man once, Henrik.” He holds up a single finger to emphasize his point. “Novy tackled a man to the ice, straddled him, and wailed on him for a full sixty seconds before three grown men had to pull him off. If he’ll do that to protect a teammate, what do you think he’ll do to get to Poppy St. James?”

I consider for a moment, arms crossed in my half-open dress shirt. “Fair point.”

“Thank you.” He drops his hand to his side. “Now, finish getting dressed, and get ready to defend my honor. I know I look tough, but I bruise like a peach.”

I smile as he hurries away. If I weren’t already married to Teddy, this outburst would definitely convince me to give it a try.