Grinning, I move my nose along hers. “I was gonna say that, but I couldn’t think. You drive me nuts, Bay.”

“Yeah,” she agrees, her pussy clenching my cock. “I have a hard time thinking around you too.”

Nibbling at her lips, I like that she feels that way. It further proves my point that she loves me. I know she does, and as I stare into the depths of her hazel eyes that are more green today than brown, I wish she’d just say it. Urging her with my eyes, I move my thumb along her jaw and I feel it; she’s gonna say it.

Holding my breath, I watch as her lips move but nothing comes out. Closing her eyes, she shakes her head and opens them. She’s trying so hard, I can see it, but why doesn’t she just say it? It’s easy.

Do it!

I can feel her heart pounding against mine before her hands tuck up under my chin and her lips come to rest against my jaw. “Merry Christmas, Jayden,” she whispers then, and I wait. Maybe she’ll say it, but a good second passes and she even looks at me expectantly.

Letting out the breath I’m holding, I smile. “Merry Christmas, Bay.”

As a grin curves her lips, her eyes boring into mine, I know she wants to say it and it’s killing me that she just won’t.

But she will.

I know it.

After poking the puck from the oncoming offense, the player overskates it and I rush to get it, sending it up to Jace, who takes it into Vandy’s zone. Turning with the puck, he sends it back to Kuntz, who then sends it to me. I slap shot it, hard, but it goes wide by a foot and Baylor rushes to it, sending it to the slot where Jace is. And with a quick wrister, he sends it to the back of the net over the goalie’s left pad.

As he throws his arms up, I grin. This is arguably Jace’s best game to date. He’s murdering out here. He’s scored four times now, and as he showboats across the ice, throwing his arms up in the air as he waves them back and forth, I roll my eyes. Kid is on fire and he knows it. After he hugs Baylor and Markus, I look over to where I know scouts are watching, and all of them are nodding their heads. That’s good. Very fucking good. Skating to Jace, I tap his helmet as we head to the bench so a new line can come on for the face-off.

This is a big game for us. If we beat Vandy, we are first in our division, which is something we all want, of course. We want to make sure to be number one when we go into the play-offs, which is only two months away. I think we are the best team, but playing the best is what will decide that. The score is tied, both of us at five goals, but it’s time to change that. We need to pull ahead, and I’m gonna make sure that happens. As my teammates rush the goal, they are getting great chances, but Vandy’s goalie isn’t letting anything in.

“Their D is weak on the left,” I call down to Baylor, Markus, and Jace. “Go left.”

They are all breathing hard, out of breath, but they nod before Kuntz and I trade out with McMinn and Archer. Taking the puck, I send it up to McCarthy, but the puck isn’t laying straight, my fault, and the defense steals it, sending it up to a forward who thinks he’ll get past me.

Think again.

Knocking him on his ass, I take the puck and send it up just as Jace hits the ice. Taking it, he dekes around one playing before passing it to Markus. He then skates into their zone, Baylor on the left, while Jace screens the goalie. Passing it to Kuntz, Markus goes to screen too, just as he sends the puck to Baylor. She dekes around one of the defensemen, acts as if she is going to drop it back to me, but spins and shoots, shortside, hitting the back of the net.

“Attagirl!” I holler as we hug up tightly. “Let’s do it again.”

“That won’t happen again, bitch,” one of the players says as he passes by us. “I’ll be damned if I’m going to get beat by some cunt,” he adds, and Jace laughs.

“The only cunt I see is you.”

“Yeah, and if you haven’t noticed, she’s scored on you twice now. So really, who’s the bitch-ass cunt?” Markus says, skating toward him, venom in his eyes.

“Fuck all of you,” he spits at us as he skates toward the bench.

Like her bodyguards, they wait until he is on the bench before they start skating again. Going to the face-off, Baylor laughs. “You guys do know I can speak for myself, right?”

“Shut up, Moore,” they both say, and I chuckle as I drop down, my blade on the ice.

She may be able to speak for herself, but when those two, or even me, are around, she doesn’t need to. This is the way it’s been for a while now, and I don’t know why she is surprised by it. They are the three amigos, as everyone has started calling them. They are extremely close, and sometimes I get a bit jealous. Who wants their girl to be best friends with two dudes? Not me, but then I know they won’t try anything. They love her as a sister, nothing more, and plus, I know she loves me and only me. No, she hasn’t said it yet, but with each day that passes, I know she’s about to say it. I’m pretty damn sure, and I know she almost told me last night when I suggested we go away before the draft. Her eyes got so big and bright and full of happiness, but instead of saying it, she told me I was great.

Great.

Okay.

Besides the fact she won’t admit it, I know that we need a vacation. I want us to clear our heads and go to Paris since my birthday is two weeks before. I get my trust fund that day, and after I pay some shit off for my mom, I want to take a trip. Who better to do that with than Baylor?

Winning the puck, Baylor sends it back to Kuntz, who holds onto it as they get in position. Sending it up to Markus, he moves around the defense, shooting but getting denied. Baylor then shoots, missing, and when Jace tries, he misses too, and again on his second and third attempt. Finally, Vandy has possession, coming toward me and Kuntz. When they try to dump it in, I grab it out of midair, throw it down, and pass it up to McCarthy, who is rushing the goal. He pulls the goalie left, and then at the last second, shoots it over his catcher hand.

I don’t like the dude, but I like when he scores. Tapping his helmet, we head off ice as the next line goes on. I sit next to Jace and he looks over at me, grinning through the cage of his helmet.

“I’m fucking killing, dude,” he says, and I nod before squirting some Gatorade in my mouth. “The scouts love me.”

“Don’t jinx yourself,” I say cautiously. “But you are playing your best game.”