Thin Ice

If you want, I'd be more than happy to re-break your nose

“Okay,” I sighed, and I stood up. I glanced over at Dane, whose mouth was set in a grim line. Hating to see him that serious, I grinned and winked at him before hurrying down the bench to where Owen was waiting for me.

“Ready to kick some ass?” I asked, and Owen grinned.

“You know it, Kels.”

*

“Tony, it was one win. I hardly think a rendition of ‘We Are the Champions’ is necessary.”

Tony rolled his eyes and flipped me off, and he continued singing the Queen classic about two decibels louder than before. I laughed and glanced over at Dane, who was grinning in amusement. On the ride over to Red Robin’s, Tony had gone through the song a good three times, but it was too off-key and hilarious to get irritating.

Yes; we’d won the game. Owen and I had managed to keep the opposing team from getting another clear shot on net, and we’d even managed to score another goal in the last thirty seconds. It was really fun to go through handshakes after the game because every single player on the other team, as well as the coaches, had scowls on their faces and they barely touched my hand.

Some people just can’t handle getting beat.

After the game, Tony announced that the team was going to Red Robin’s for burgers to celebrate the win. It was actually pretty important because it was a league game and helped us go up in the standings for our division. We were currently in the top three of our region, though I wasn’t sure which place we had.

I’d ridden with Tony and Dane, and I’d taken the back seat so that I could stretch my legs out. Dane and I had made eye contact quite a few times in his rearview mirror, but we had to be careful to make sure that Tony didn’t notice. If you haven’t noticed, he’s not exactly a quiet person, and I didn’t need him spouting off about Dane and me going on dates.

As we walked up to the front door of the restaurant, Alec and Greg walked out with a couple other teammates. “The wait is going to be about twenty minutes,” Alec stated, holding up a pager.

“That’s not too bad,” I commented, and Alec nodded. It was a busy night, so a twenty minutes wait for a table for about fifteen people wasn’t at all unreasonable.

I plopped down on the bench outside and wrapped my arms around my chest. As happy as I was that we won and were going out to dinner as a team, I was extremely tired and sore. A large part of me just wanted to go home, take a hot shower, and then fall into bed.

“You okay?” Dane asked as he sat down next to me.

“Yeah,” I replied with a small smile, “I’m just insanely tired.”

“I think we all are,” Dane said with a laugh, and my smile broadened. Dane started to say something, but suddenly, I heard an all too familiar voice.

“Well isn’t this a nice coincidence?”

Every single member of my team turned around to see Julian and a couple of his teammates walking up to the front of the restaurant from the parking lot. He was smirking, as were his teammates, and he was walking with what some people would call a swagger in his step.

I, however, couldn’t take him seriously due to the plastic brace on his nose. It was no doubt from when I broke it a little over a week ago, and I was still extremely proud of that fact. The asshole deserved what he’d gotten.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Julian said as he stepped up onto the curb.

“Likewise,” I replied before Dane could stand up and do his brooding, angry thing. “How’s your nose doing, Julian?”

Julian’s eyes narrowed at the dig, since word had traveled fast around the hockey community about me breaking his nose. He’d lost a lot of his intimidation quality because a girl had taken him down with one punch. I tried not to be insulted by the fact that me being a girl was the kicker, and instead, I just enjoyed his humiliation.

“It’s doing fine,” Julian stated through clenched teeth.

“Good,” I said with a giant, teasing grin, “Good, I’m glad. I wouldn’t want you to be permanently deformed or anything. That’s not a great panty dropper.”

“You’d know about panty dropping,” Julian shot back weakly, and I scoffed.

“If that’s your attempt at calling me a slut, you’re failing miserably,” I stated, crossing my arms over my chest.

Julian’s jaw tightened in anger, and I couldn’t help but relish the control I had over him. Ever since the encounter at the haunted maze, if we’d ever even caught sight of each other at any ice rink, I would usually wink or grin at him. It really pissed Julian off because I wasn’t acting like he was intimidating me, because he really didn’t. Once you take away a guy’s source of power, he’s pretty much got nothing.

Suddenly, I sensed Dane’s comforting presence next to me, and I glanced over at him. Sure enough, he was tense with anger, and I could see his hands clenched into fists. I didn’t want Dane to think about swinging a fist, so I angled my body in a way that I could reach back and take his hand and no one would know.

I immediately felt Dane relax slightly, and he said, “I suggest you pick another restaurant, Julian. This place doesn’t serve dirty animals.”

“You’ll regret that comment,” Julian snapped back with renewed fury, and he took a step towards Dane.

“Make me,” Dane shot back, shoving his way past me to meet Julian half-way.

“Alec; party of fifteen!”

“And that’s our cue!” Tony announced, butting his way between Julian and Dane. He then turned and glared at Julian. “I agree with Dane,” Tony said, “find a different restaurant, Julian. We wouldn’t want dear Kelsey here to have to break your nose again.”

Julian looked from Tony and Dane to me, and I nodded happily. “I wouldn’t mind doing it again,” I added, and Julian scowled.

Instead of coming up with a biting, or at least somewhat clever comeback, Julian turned to his teammates and pointed towards the parking lot. “Let’s get out of here,” he growled, “Obviously, if a restaurant serves their kind, I don’t want to eat here.”

Dane tensed up once again, and I reached back and grabbed his hand again. I squeezed it tightly for a second, and Dane sighed.

“We’ll see each other soon,” Julian stated, looking back at me and my teammates.

“Can’t wait,” I replied with a smirk. 

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I don't really have an author's note tonight.

Predictions for the future? What about when the Ice Devils and the Kings play each other?

I'm really tired and stressed about college, so I don't have much to say tonight... I hope you enjoyed the chapter... 

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