The Hookup Pact

6| Atlas

We were in the middle of a fucking dumpster fire.

There were only five minutes left on the clock and we were down two goals to the enemy team. Yes, the enemy, not the opponent. The rivalry between Wellsfield and Maple Park University had been going on for decades. It might have been a pre-season game but losing to them, especially in a complete shutout, was like my worst nightmare.

Tonight everything had gone wrong that could have gone wrong. From sloppy passes and hellish plays to fucking newbies almost colliding with each other. We were dying. And it was not an easy death.

I could already imagine Coach digging our graves and burying us alive after this nightmare ended. He had stopped yelling and cursing half an hour ago which was never a good sign. His silence meant something worse was coming our way.

But I didn't have time to worry about that right now. I would rather die than get a shutout and walk back home with my tail between my legs. I needed to salvage the game somehow. The time was ticking and I was running out of options.

"What's wrong Griffin? Finding yourself in a spot?" Everett Miller, the captain of the Maple Park Tigers, said, a shit-eating grin on his annoying face. His blue eyes twinkled with mirth and I wanted to punch his teeth in.

I gritted my teeth, my hands tightening on my stick. "Fuck off Miller!"

He laughed and skated backward, stopping a few feet away from me. "I'll send a care package later. You're going to need it. Maybe some ice packs too to treat your bruised egos."

Before I could say anything, he skated off, leaving me to stew in rage. "Ethan!" I yelled, gaining Ethan's attention who had the puck, and signaled him to pass it over.

With a flick of his wrist, he sent it my way, and for the first time throughout the game, it was a clean pass. As soon as I got the puck, I charged toward the goal. The Tigers' defensemen were hot on my tail, but I was faster than them. I saw Ethan on the other side and quickly passed it to him.

I followed him from the other side as the defensemen shifted their focus on him, waiting for an opening when he would send the puck over to me again. For the briefest second, my gaze moved from Ethan to the bench behind him and my brain stopped working.

Evelyn was standing beside Coach. She was wearing the Eagles' jersey, her reddish hair a stark contrast against the white shirt. But what caught my attention wasn't the fact that it was adorably loose on her or that she looked beautiful in it. It was the number printed at the top left corner, right above her breast.

My number.

She looked amazing wearing my jersey. And if that wasn't enough, she turned around to talk with the girl from her team and my last name printed in big, bold letters on her back flashed before my eyes.

Fuck.

"Griffin!" I blinked at the sound of my name and noticed the puck stopping near the end of my stick. But it was too late.

Before I knew it, I got slammed into the board and the puck was stolen from me. "Griffin! What the fuck are you doing?" Coach yelled, making Evelyn turn back to look at me, her hazel eyes wide with worry as I straightened myself.

Shaking my head, I tried to grasp the situation, but the buzzer was already going off, announcing another goal for the Tigers. And then it was the end of the game. The Tigers had won with a score of 3-0. A complete shutout for the Eagles in a home game. Something that had never happened in our decades-long rivalry with the Maple Park Tigers.

And all of it was my fault.

"Dammit!" Dylan cursed, hitting the ice as we watched the Tigers celebrate.