“A well-deserved one,” I said.

“Falcons aren’t playing very well.” She shivered, zipping up her teal puffy coat. The frosty arena was even colder than usual, which only added to my mental and physical discomfort. “Not like normal, anyway.” She sighed, raking a hand through her long, inky waves.

“Yeah, neither team is.” The Bulldogs’ three goals had largely been luck. I shifted my weight, crossing and uncrossing my legs because I couldn’t sit still. “Too busy trying to kill penalties while killing each other.”

We watched as Chase zoomed around one of our defensemen and right up to Mendez. He wound up and took a screamer of a shot on the net. It was heartbreakingly close but bounced off the crossbar with a defeating clang. Luke took possession off the rebound and skated up the far side, heading for the Falcons zone.

Chase turned and barreled straight for Luke like a shark that had detected blood in the water. Technically, someone else should have been covering Luke, and technically, Chase was taking himself out of position. But this was about more than hockey, especially after they’d been sniping back and forth all game. This was a way for Chase to clobber Luke with some degree of plausible deniability.

And Chase really wanted to make that hit. I’d never seen him skate so fast.

A split second before Chase caught up, Luke glanced over and realized he was about to get demolished. Instead of reacting, he froze, and Chase plowed into him with his shoulder, leveling him with a devastating open-ice check.

It was one of those brutal hits you’d see on TV, replayed in a “top ten hits of all-time” clip compilation.

Almost in slow motion, Luke went flying and landed in a heap on his side.

Chase skated off without looking back.

The crowd erupted into a roar while the players on the Bulldogs’ bench, including Derek, protested loudly, calling for a penalty.

Siobhan turned to me, her blue-green eyes wide. “Is the guy Chase flattened your asshole ex?”

“Yup. Sure is.” I adjusted my gray scarf, tucking it beneath the collar of my coat. It was soft and warm, but I could have used at least two more layers of clothing. Or maybe long underwear, not that it would be the sexiest thing for Chase to find later.

“That didn’t look good.” Shiv sucked in a breath through her dazzlingly white teeth, grimacing.

“Nope,” I said. “Sure didn’t.”

The referee blew the whistle, halting the play. I watched as Luke lay sprawled out on the ice, dazed. As much as I hated him, I didn’t like to see players get injured. Needless to say, I had mixed feelings. Luke definitely deserved a solid check—just not to be, like, severely maimed.

Moderately maimed, maybe.

But I didn’t want Chase to get in trouble, either.