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The crowd roared and Trick raised his stick in triu because it had happened so daood to be up by a goal that quickly, but there was a lot of ti the ga it out for another few minutes, they came off the ice for a break, and Litman and Sayers took over It was hard not to be out there, but these guys were just as good And when Detroit took the puck down to their end, the Travelers defenders kept theh Trick held his breath the entire time Fortunately, Litain But going up one goal just wasn’t enough

When he and Drew made their way back onto the ice, he was deterain A little too deter penalty and had to sit in the box, giving Detroit a power play

Goddamnit Stupid ive Detroit an advantage He divided his ti like hell Detroit didn’t score on his penalty

He knew his guys, knew they could hold theh and they spent nearly the entire twoat the Travelers’ end of the ice When Kozlow shot the puck to the Detroit end with only fifteen seconds left in Trick’s penalty, he hoped it was enough

The last five seconds felt like an eternity, but he was out of the box and back on the ice, and Detroit hadn’t scored He didn’t even have time to feel relieved about that, because they were in a battle with the clock Tiame, and Detroit was relentless in their attack But the Travelers’ defense was solid, and by the time the puck caa with Detroit’s defenders, and Trick saw an opening He slid the puck to Dreho slotted it in behind the left post for another score

This game was all but over There was a ht hard for it, but ti, they celebrated hard They’d fought for this win against a really tough opponent, and the victory eet

In the locker roone bottles short of a massive celebration And okay, ular-season win But they’d gotten a monkey off their backs, and it had meant a lot to them Now they couldthey were that good

After ot dressed, and he and Drew met Carolina and Stella outside the locker roo Stella to coht actually care about him, which he knew damn as next to impossible

Drew turned to him "So, how about the four of us--"

"Actually, I have plans for you tonight," Carolina said, tugging on his ar my man hoed knowing smiles

"Can’t turn down an invitation like that," Drew said "Sorry, you two"

Trick’s lips curved "No problem See you later"

Stella waved "Bye Love you both"

He took Stella’s areway toward the exit, then flagged doaiting car Once inside he turned to her "Okay, as that all about?"

"What hat about?"

"You and Carolina"

"I have no idea what you’re talking about Clearly she wanted to spend soht’s victory" She scooted closer to him "And I think we should do the same Go to your place, order soue with her Obviously she had so she and Carolina had both cooked up He was going to play along "Sounds good totakeout Thai food at his place, and Stella even opted for a beer, though she complained she’d have to work it off later She’d taken off her boots and he’d kicked off his shoes, the two of theed on his sofa

He stared down at her feet, wondered if they hurt after all those hours she put in They had to He knew all the hits he endured took a toll on his body Hers had to do the say into your job without suffering the consequences "I don’t know I’ve seen how hard you hen you dance Seems to me you burn off a lot of calories"