Free Shutout (The Renegades Series Book 5) by Melody Heck Gatto Page A

pushed it away and the female screaming got louder. It was difficult not to look around the full stands, and his curiosity got the better of him. Less than half of the lower bowl was filled, starting at his goal and ending behind the Renegades bench.
    This was not the time or place to be moody over what happened at the club. He needed to swallow all that doubt and just play hockey.
    Kaden tapped him on the shin pads with his stick and skated off to his end of the ice. He teased, “Get ready to do those laps!”
    “Whatever, dude.” He had no intention of doing laps. Kaden was good, but Dom was confident that he was better.
    “Loser buys lunch?” Kaden called as he made his way across the ice, securing his mask in place.
    Dom wasn’t really planning on company for lunch, but a wingman might not be a bad idea. He needed to see for himself if it had really been her at the club. But if it was, he couldn’t be sure how he would react, so having Kaden with him might be a good idea. Looked like lunch would be at The Cat House.
    Dom skated to his net, dropping his mask onto his face. A glance to the back of the net verified his water bottle was still there, he’d need that. Digging his skates into the blue paint, he skated side to side, grinding up the slick ice until he felt comfortable on the frozen surface.
    Coach Walker blew the whistle and the guys lined up at the center ice. Gray was shooting at him, white was shooting at Kaden. Pucks flew at Dom, testing his reaction time, and it was on point. Deflecting pucks, catching a few, he only let in a handful. Guys were speeding down the ice at him. He loved the pace of this drill. There was nothing better than the rapid fire. The sound of the pucks slamming off the glass behind him was like mini explosions and had him intensely focusing, almost forgetting about the fans around him, almost forgetting what weighed heavy on his mind.
    The players circled around and back to the center ice for one or two more turns. Coach Walker blew the whistle and the team split up for the scrimmage game. They were running a three on three scrimmage. White jerseys against grays. Loser had to do laps. At least he was able to focus on his game instead of anything else.
    The first line up for gray was Tyler, Pat and Kris. White had Torin, Mateo and Luc. Luc was impressive as a defenseman; he would put his body on the line without a thought. The kid had been lucky too, had escaped many injuries that could’ve been bad. It wasn’t that he was reckless; it was that his heart belonged to the game and he wanted to be the best at all times.
    Luc slid in front of a hard shot by Kris; the fact that Dom heard Luc grunt as the puck bounced off his thigh told him how hard the shot was. Refocusing on the game, Pat shot at his head, catching the corner of his mask.
    Dom was rattled for a second. “Hey! Watch it, scrub!” he teased.
    “Stop your whining, girly ass,” Pat said as he skated by the net.
    “Yeah, don’t mess up his pretty face, Pat,” Ty called before taking the puck out towards center ice and passing to Kris.
    Tyler barked an incomprehensible order to Kris before he sped towards Dom. Kris wristed a one-timer to Tyler, and he flipped it right over Dom’s shoulder.
    The fans screamed and applauded, some even banged on the glass. They chanted Dom’s name, and some chanted Tyler’s. Kids held up signs.
    With a laugh, Tyler did a victory lap around Dom.
    “Don’t get too cocky, Kidd, that’ll be your only score,” Dom yelled.
    The whistle blew and the men lined back up. This time Jaxon, Kyler and Sam were on white. Matt, Tanner and Roman were on gray. Sam helped keep the puck out of their zone, and all the heat was on Kaden this time. Kyler shielded Sam while he shot the puck up past Kaden’s ear.
    “Score!” Sam yelled and did a little lap before they all headed to the bench for line changes. The fans roared, cheering and clapping.
    Dom’s eyes stung as sweat dripped down his face.