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Alex’s brow is set in a deep furrow, and his pouty lips are ht line He doesn’t even look around; he si crowd as he skates to the bench I want hi here, but I don’t want to draw unnecessary attention to myself So I stare
As the end of the first period closes in, Chicago ties with Philly one-one I have to pee, but I don’t want to leaveit out there, but he can’t seeoalie I can practically taste his frustration The puck is a black blur across the ice as Philly gains control I crane ainst the plexiglass and scares the living bejesus out of me
It’s déjà vu Those pretty, pretty eyes bore into mine the way they did the first time I saw him play They hold shock, surprise, and a whole lot of sexy as his mouth drops open I wave shyly He’s so close; if it weren’t for the dalass, I would be able to touch his sweaty, fuzzy face
Our eyes lock for the briefest lass and bolts down the ice after the puck For the rest of the period, I feel Alex’s gaze on me and meet it often when he’s on the bench He looks hopeful, worried, desperate, and deterh, it's a reflection ofmy hands every time we make eye contact
It’s an intense game with a close score I’m already in celebration oal with two oes insane Fans screaoalie and freak out on the defense Unable to recover, they go into overtier underneath lass as I scream Alex’s name
He steals the puck from the Philly center and flies down the ice I can see ten years of figure skating come into play as he race He dances with the puck, getting in close to the net only to pass to Darren and skate around behind it
Philly’s goalie is focused on Darren, so he doesn’t notice Alex co the shot, Darren passes back By the ti, it’s too late Alex taps the puck; it sails past the goalie’s stick and ricochets into the net
And just like that, Alex scores the goal to win the Cup
The crowd goes absolutely wild, and so do I It’s a high like I’ve never experienced before The Haarressive, enthusiastic hugs Wives and kids meet their sweaty, excited husbands and fathers in the middle of the rink, where the e screens
The Cup, in all itsthe team Alex raises it above his head and skates around the center of the rink, his triurin directed at me A camera is suddenly trained on e screen for the entire arena to see I raise the butt puck, shielding my face, and return his excited smile
Eventually we s the three of us toward the locker room I want to be here, but my stomach is in knots My mom and Charlene flank me in an attempt to protectthe team they don’t notice me Not yet, anyway
A million microphones are pointed at the tea the massive trophy One reporter shoves the mic in Alex’s face
“How does it feel to score the winning goal?”
“It feels good to be able to coht We worked together to make it happen” Alex throws an arm around Darren, who stands beside hi the Cup home”
This is the version of Alex I thought I knew; the one who shares the victory His eloquence and humility are sexy I want this to be the real him, the man I’ve fallen for
He scans the crowd and when he findsHe passes the trophy off to Darren and grabs the microphone from the closest sportscaster To her credit, she tries to hold on It’s corasp