Breaking Away Read online

  Leaning back in her seat, she threw a handful of popcorn in her mouth as they watched the boys warm up. Phillip skated with ease, doing wide circles around the goal, his hair moving in the wind he was causing, and Reese was finding it hard to remember how to chew popcorn. He was just too damn sexy. Heart stopping even, all decked out in his Assassins’ gear. He looked bigger, stronger, all padded up and on his skates. Reese found herself only watching him. Man, he was a sight to watch.

  “God, he is sexy,” Claire said before sucking in a breath.

  “Yeah, he is,” Reese agreed but then stopped and looked over at her. “Whoa, who are you talking about?”

  Claire shot her a grin. “Number 59, Patrick Franklin.”

  Reese found him quickly and couldn’t help but agree with Claire’s assessment. The boy was pretty, but he was a boy. Young and fresh with dark features and even darker eyes. “Yeah, he is cute.”

  “I know, I almost slept with him a while back, but Phillip walked in on us and ruined my whole night.”

  Reese paused mid-chew and glanced over at him. “How old is he?”

  “Nineteen. I lied and said I was nineteen too, not my finest move. I was hell bent on ruining Phillip’s life back then. I still find him sexy, but I wouldn’t mess with him anymore. Hell, I don’t even mess with Brian except maybe a kiss here and there. I guess I grew out of all that junk.”

  Reese reached out and squeezed Claire’s hand. “I’m proud of who you are growing into, Claire. I don’t know if I’ve told you that lately.”

  Claire smiled as she shrugged shyly. “No, but thanks. I’m proud of who I am too.”

  “Good,” Reese said with a nod. When she looked up, the guys were gone. “Hey, where did they go?”

  “They are done warming up. Now we wait for the game to start,” Claire said, sipping her coke.

  “Well, let’s hope for a win.”

  “Oh, they’ll win. Then they’ll go into the playoffs with a great record and they’ll bring the cup home to Nashville again. Auntie Elli said after everything she’s been through with this team since she took over, they better deliver.”

  Reese laughed. “Sounds like something she’d say.”

  Claire smiled as they both sat back and snacked on the junk food they had gotten. The crowd was loud, and Reese was surprised since the game hadn’t even started yet. The usual chant of, ‘Let’s go Assassins, clap, clap, clap clap clap,’ was being sung by the over eighteen thousand fans. The whole arena was purple except for the speckle of blue since they were playing the St. Louis Blues. With the way the fans were acting without the guys being out, Reese could only imagine what it was going to be like once they hit the ice again.

  When Blue took the ice, the crowd booed and Claire was right along with them, screaming that they sucked and they needed to go back home. It was quite comical watching her scream and stab her foam Assassins’ sword in the air towards them while Reese sat quietly with her foam sword tucked under her arm. She’d pull it out at the right time, despite the fact that she wasn’t sure when that was. When “Born to Rise” by Redlight Kings started blasting through the arena, the crowd lost it.

  Reese sat wide-eyed as she watched everyone go nuts, swinging swords, pom poms, purple towels, and screaming their hearts out. This was honestly the loudest crowd Reese had ever seen. People were pounding on the glass, the chant getting louder as the jumbotron went from a premade video of the guys’ greatest plays to video coverage of the guys standing in the hall that led to the ice. That caused the noise level to go up a notch. Since everyone else was standing, Reese decided she would, too. The guys started making their way out on the ice, skating under two large hockey sticks that two tall, ninja-looking guys held. When Phillip hit the ice, his name vibrating through the loud speaker, Reese smiled at the joyful look on his face. He was eating this up. He always said that the crowd fueled him, and it was exciting to see him so pumped up.

  Reese was surprised that the crowd went silent during the National Anthem but as soon as it was over, they went right back to being loud and proud, chanting for their team. Coach Baxter had to scream just so the guys heard him and when Phillip skated to the middle, ready for the puck to drop, Reese scooted to the edge of her seat, excited for the game to start. She loved hockey. She loved the high pace of it, and how at any second the players could drop their gloves and duke it out. There was something about two huge guys beating the snot out of each other that made Reese all giggly inside. It was hot, but it also worried her that someone could mess up Phillip’s gorgeous face or his new teeth, so she decided that she hoped there would be no fights with him involved.

  But with only six minutes into the game and with the way the two teams were playing, it was obvious someone was going to fight. Both teams were being choppy, the Assassins wanting to come up with the win, and the Blues wanted to make sure that they didn’t get their new record. Reese wanted to scream for them to all play nice and hell, let the Assassins win, but she knew it would do no good and also make her look a little crazy. She watched the players skate back and forth, both taking their fair share of shots at the goal, but both coming up with goose eggs in the first period. During the intermission, she and Claire walked around and got more food before making it back to their seats for the second period.

  Like the first, the boys were skating hard, looking for a goal. When a call for hooking happened on Phillip, she looked at Claire for some kind of answer because she sure didn’t understand what was going on. Thankfully, Claire knew the call and was quick to explain that the other player had used his stick to stop Phillip from forward progress with the puck, which meant that the Assassins were on the power play.

  Reese watched as the Blue and Assassins fought for the puck when it was dropped. It was then passed back to Shea, who passed it to Jakob, who then passed it up to Lucas, but he didn’t have a shot so he passed it back to Shea. He moved around effortlessly, his eyes watching every player, but when he tried to pass it to Patrick, a Blue got it and shot it back towards Tate, where he stopped it for Jakob. Jakob then skated around the goal as Phillip, Erik, and Karson hit the ice. He skated up some and then beamed it. When it hit Phillip’s stick, Reese shot up and watched as Phillip moved past the defensemen and shot it right into the goal with ease.

  Claire shot up beside her, and they both screamed loudly along with the rest of the crowd as Phillip threw his arms in the air, his teammates wrapping him up in a tight hug. The horn for a goal went off three more time as the crowd chanted for Phillip. She had seen Phillip score many times on TV, but it was different seeing it live. It did something to her heart, and pride was seeping through her pores. With a wide grin on her face, Reese picked up her foam sword and decided that this was the time to swing the hell out of the damn thing.

  Because her... wait no, the guy that she was having sex with had scored!

  They won with Phillip’s goal being the only goal that was scored.

  Reese was sure that the Assassins’ fans were going to tear Nashville apart that night, and she kind of wished that she was with them. Instead, she was at her favorite sushi place with Phillip beside her and Claire sitting across from them, all three of them with wide grins as Phillip retold his goal.

  “It was beautiful. I deked to one side, slid my foot and wrist shot the hell out of that puck. I knew it went in before the goalie did. It was beautiful, probably my favorite goal.”

  “It was a great goal,” Reese agreed. “I swung my sword and screamed.”

  Phillip gave her a wide smile as Claire giggled. She then leaned on her elbows, her eyes glittering as she looked over at him. “Did you take the puck?”

  He shot her a wide grin. “You know it.”

  “Awesome,” she said as she sat back, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

  Reese looked over at Phillip and leaned into him. He wrapped an arm around her and then kissed her softly on her cheek. “I like this jersey, looks hot on you.”

  “It’s small.”