Seraphina had to blink once, twice, before she realized just what the hell had happened. She had seen Stevens chirp off to Brandon from the glass seats she purchased for her and her three girlfriends in lieu of joining Phil Bambridge in his private suite. This way, she was up close and personal with the action and could watch her team on the ice. She actually loved watching the game close up and considered investing in glass seats rather than a suite for next season.

With the change, she was able to see a lot more than she could from her suite. It was how she was able to see Stevens say something to Brandon as he positioned himself on the crease of the net as his team tried to cycle the puck behind Brandon’s net and shoot it. At first, Brandon didn’t respond to it. However, when the Gulls cleared it from their zone, with Zachary Ryan, Kyle Underwood, and Alec Schumacher racing up the ice to the other side, Stevens stayed put and continued to talk.

That was when Brandon said something back. Stevens smirked – it was easy to tell since he didn’t wear a glass shield that protected his eyes from pucks or high sticks – and said something else. From there, Brandon dropped his gloves, ripped off his mask, and went after Stevens without hesitating.

Brandon got in a couple of punches, startling Stevens. It seemed like the right winger hadn’t expected Brandon to actually to hit him. In fact, the crowd got silent for less than a second. Seraphina could hear a pin drop in the high seats before the entire stadium erupted. Almost everyone leaped from their seats. Seraphina only did because she wanted to see what was going on and she couldn’t do that from the angle from her seat. Katella and Harper jumped up to encourage the fighting. Emma jumped up, her eyes wide, but she wasn’t as vocal as the other two.

Stevens managed to a hold of himself and knock a couple of shots in. Seraphina winced but couldn’t look away. For some reason, the refs were letting them go at it, probably to generate interest in the new hockey team. Which was nice, save for the fact that Brandon and even Stevens could get seriously injured. Not necessarily from the fight, but if they damaged their hands, that could very well bench them for a long time.

Because they were on skates, their reach gave them an advantage. Seraphina was worried his gear and extra goalie padding would make it more difficult for Brandon to stay upright. However, it was actually Stevens that wound up on his back, not Brandon. Typically, at this point, the fight would end. It was almost like a gentleman’s arrangement.

That went out the window when Brandon kept punching Stevens even though he was on the ice.

That was when the refs ripped the two apart. Brandon had to be held back by a linesman because he wanted to continue to fight Stevens.

“What the hell happened?” Emma asked, her brown eyes wide as the foursome watched the referees lead both Brandon and Stevens back to their respective benches so they could get to their locker rooms.

“Hell if I know,” Seraphina muttered. “Should I-“

“Yes,” Katella said, turning her head to look at her sister. “No one can check on him except the trainers, and judging by how pissed he is, I highly doubt the trainers are going to be with him for very long. The same thing happened with Negan one time. He just lost it on someone so I went back to check on him. Maybe it wasn’t my place but I’ve never seen him that pissed after a fight. Usually, he’s amused, like he ran his big mouth and instigated the fight on purpose.”

Seraphina pressed her lips together and nodded her head, slipping out of her chair and heading up the steep stairs in order to get to the locker. She wasn’t entirely familiar with the layout of the rink, having turned down Phil Bambridge’s offer to tour it earlier this morning, but thanks to a couple of helpful employees who worked in the food stand, she was able to make her way down to the locker rooms.

Besides Thorpe, there was one trainer there, icing his hand. When he noticed Seraphina, he straightened up.

“Nothing’s broken, ma’am,” the trainer, Jeff, told her. “He just needs to ice his hand and rest it. We might consider playing Jimmy in against Houston, but Thorpe should be all good to go in Phoenix a few nights from now.”

Seraphina pressed her lips together and nodded. “Thank you, Jeff,” she said. “I take it you have to get back to the game?”

He nodded his head. “I just came back to check on him. There are still a good ten minutes left to the game,” he said. “I need to be on the bench. Just in case.”

“Okay,” she said with a nod. “I need to talk to Thorpe anyway.”

When the trainer left, she turned her attention to Thorpe. He had his jersey and helmet off, and he was nearly completely void of the padding on his body. His skates were off to the side. He looked nothing short of furious. His green eyes were sharp and narrowed on the floor in front of him, his left hand was curled into a fist while the right one – his injured hand – was tense, at his side with ice covering it. He was sweaty, with his brown hair every which way.

He was a goddamn vision.

“Are you okay?” she asked him.

He didn’t respond. Instead, he shot her a look that seemed to say, Do I look okay?

“What happened?” she asked, deciding to try a different tactic.

“I lost control,” he said without looking at her.

“Is that all you’re going to tell me?” she asked, trying to keep her frustration at bay. This was the last place where she wanted him to hide himself from her.

“What would you like to know, Sera?” he asked, throwing his eyes at her. They were filled with rage, with frustration, that when they landed on her, she flinched.

"Do you want to know that Phil Bambridge told his entire goddamn team about what he did to you but decided to leave out the part where you stood up for yourself? Or would you like to know that Bambridge also told him about our kiss, making you out to be a complete and utter puck slut? Do you want to know how fucking furious I was when he started telling me that he was going to try the same things with you because Bambridge made you out to be so easy and I indirectly helped him when I kissed you so publicly last night? Do you want to hear that you were right, that I get it now why you're hesitant to be with me because if you're with me, I'd never hear the end of it and people might think they can touch you and taste you and even look at you like you're theirs, like they have any chance to be with you? I could tell you about how fucking good it felt to punch Stevens over and over and I would have kept going if the refs hadn't pulled me off. That it was worth it, getting kicked out of the game."

Seraphina let out a shaky breath. "I didn't know," she murmured.

Brandon took a breath and glanced up at her. "Why would you?" he asked.

She took a seat next to him, keeping a respectful distance in case he didn't want her to touch him at all. "Can I do anything?" she said. She glanced at her hands in her lap. "You didn't have to defend me, Brandon."

He gave her a cutting look. "Of course I did," he told her as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He's not allowed to talk about you that way to me at all. I don't care what's going on between us. You're still my friend, Sera. You're still part of this team. You're still the one..." He let his voice trail off and Seraphina couldn't tell if there was more to the sentence than he let on. 

"You also got kicked out of the game," she pointed out. She wanted to be angry at him for his selfishness but she couldn't find it in her to do so. Instead, she felt tired. Achey. Upset that she couldn't reach out and pull him into a tight hug. "I don't remember the last time a goalie got a game misconduct for fighting." She gave him a sideways grin. "It was kind of hot, to tell you the truth."

Brandon's lips curled up. "Really?" he asked, turning his torso towards her body and leaning close to her.

"Oh, yeah," she said, lifting her head up. "I've never had anyone fight for my honor before."

Seraphina tilted her head to the side so she could capture Brandon's eyes. For a moment, they just stared at each other. There was a comfortable silence that surrounded them, cloaking them in comfort. Brandon leaned forward and Seraphina didn't pull away. She watched as he softly placed his lips on hers and she sighed. This was what it was all about. This kiss made everything right and good and how could she have rejected this in the first place? It made absolutely no sense to her and she immediately regretted her decision to tell him she couldn't be with him because she could and she would and she was tired of running.

Without breaking contact with his lips, she climbed on top of his lap and grinded against him. His hands immediately went to the small of her back, pressing against it as a way to keep her from changing her mind and getting off. She felt him respond immediately and her thighs erupted into goosebumps. Katella had judged her for wearing a simple dress to a hockey game but now she could use the fact that she had no pants on to her advantage.

She pulled her lips away from his do she could tilt her head to the side and whisper in his ear, "Take me."

Brandon pulled back so he could read her eyes. She wasn't sure what he saw but he didn't have to ask to confirm that that was what she wanted. She quickly reached underneath her skirt and moved over her underwear so he would be able to slip into her. He grabbed a towel and placed it underneath him before he pulled his pants down so his cock could spring free. Without hesitating, she climbed on top of him and he gripped her hips as she slid on top of him. She moaned and he let out a sigh, like he had been waiting for this moment for a while. He probably had been.

God, she was such a moron.

"I'm sorry," she told him as she waited before moving, as she waited to get used to him. "God, I'm so sorry."

"Shut up," he breathed out. "I forgive you. I forgive it all."

She started moving slowly, up and down his cock as she coated him in her juices. He let out a groan as his grip on her tightened. He started thrusting faster and she leaned back, giving her better access to her clit. She began to rub it as he helped her ride him. Her breathing came out in short, quick gasps.

It only took a moment but she felt her pelvis start to tingle with restrained build up. She was going to come soon and he knew it. His lips found her throat and she could feel him sucking on her skin. She was absolutely certain he was going to leave a mark on her and she didn't care. Not in this moment.  

And when she shattered, she saw stars, and he came with her, like they were made from the same clay, carved as two halves when joined turned into one. And they were, she realized, they were.