. What's going on with Malayna?" Mikey McLeod asked from his stall beside Carter, Colton leaning forward from the other side of the goaltender to listen in on Carter's reply.

"What do you mean?" Carter asked, taking a sip of his protein shake, straightening his legs out.

"I mean, you've avoided talking about her, but you look like you're in awe every time you see her." Mikey shook his head, though he was happy for his teammate.

Carter shrugged, "I'm going to ask her to be my girlfriend."

"You are?!" Colton seemed shocked, his mouth dropping open. Kale Clague who was beside the backup goaltender, smacked him in the arm.

"What are you talking about? Of course he is," Kale looked up at Carter, meeting his gaze. "I approve."

Carter chuckled, "your approval means the world to me. I wouldn't be able to do this without your approval. Thank you," he said in a over exaggerated grateful voice, full of sarcasm.

"Anytime my son," he dipped his head before returning to a conversation with Drake Batherson.

"Okay, next question." Mikey stated seriously, his eyebrows knitting together. "What the hell is with you, her and that damn coffee thing?! Hell, you do-"

"Whoops! Gotta go!" Carter bolted up, his protein shake forgotten as he left the room, heading down the hallway towards the equipment room where he told Malayna to meet him.

Lucky for him, just as he rounded the corner, Malayna looked up from her phone, the coffee in hand, a wide grin on her face. "Hey C!" She greeted him, her eyes taking in the boy dressed nicely in a suit, as he brightened, pulling her into a hug.

"Hey M, thank you," he said as she handed him his coffee.

"Well? Are you ready? Are you excited?" She questioned, referring to the do or die semifinals game against the Czech's.

Carter was beyond nervous. This was do or die. They win, they advance. They lose, they play for bronze. He said he didn't want a repeat of last year, but playing for bronze was not at all what he meant by that.

"A little nervous, a little excited," he tried shrugging it off like it was no big deal.

"Oh Carter," she leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his torso, his suit jacket lifting up slightly. "I know you better than you think. Just breathe, you'll do great," she kissed his cheek, his nerves seemingly washed away and a grin replaced the small frown he wore on his face.

Carter sighed, his body relaxing as he did so. He looked down both ends of the hallway before staring at Malayna for a moment, not knowing if it was the right time to do what he wanted to do.

"C'mere," he gently took the blondes hand, leading her into equipment room they were standing outside of.

The door closed and Malayna stood facing Carter, her back to the door, a three foot gap between her and the wooden structure. "Carter?" She questioned confused as the boy stood running his fingers through his hair, a perplexed look on his face.

He took a step forward, Malayna taking a tiny step back so she didn't need to cock her head back to look at him. Carter took a deep breath before speaking. "I'm nervous. I am. I'm scared that I'll screw up and we won't make it to the finals. And because of that, I want to know that I'll have you. No matter what happens on the ice, I want to know I can come back off and you'll be there for me. Because you're so damn good at that. The texts I get from you after a win, make me so incredibly happy."

"Of course I'm going to be here for you, C. Win or lose," she declared, her eyes softening with happiness as she gazed at the boy.

"Malayna, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Of course!" She squealed instantly, jumping up to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug.

Carter chuckled, taking a few steps forward so the door was supporting Malayna. He cocked his head back after a moment, craning his neck to look at the happiness plastered all over Malayna's face. This made Carter grin with pride. She was his and he was hers.

Malayna could feel his eyes on her so she lifted her head up to meet his gaze, however was immediately met with his lips. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, then nose, then both cheeks, then lastly, their lips finally connected.

They quickly got caught up in the moment, forgetting that they were in fact in an ice rink. After god knows how long, the two finally pulled apart. They were both breathing heavily, rosy cheeks and swollen lips, happy grins on both of their faces.

Carter stepped back from Malayna, letting her fix her shirt that was ruffled and take a deep breath. She opened the door, going to walk out into the hallway, however she froze as the door swung open.

Leaning against the wall directly across from the door, stood Jordan, Sam, Alex, Dillon, Jake and Kale, all with sticks, skates or other equipment in their hands.

"Finally!" Jordan exclaimed, letting out a dramatic sigh.

"What the fuck guys?" Carter cocked an eyebrow, slinging his arm around Malayna.

"Don't 'what the fuck guys' us, we should be saying 'what the fuck guys' to you!"Dillon retaliated.

"Wh-" Malayna went to ask what was going on, however Jake spoke up.

"We were waiting for you guys to finish, so we could tape our sticks, sharpen our skates and grab extra mouth guards."

Carter rolled his eyes, shaking his head in disappointment though of course the smile remained on his face. "So you guys wait outside the door? Really?"

"Hey!" Sam yelled sternly though it sounded like he was a little girl. "We could have barged in, knocked on the door, interrupted. But no. We didn't-"

"That's only because Dillon said no," Jordan corrected, Sam sending him a dirty look before continuing.

"You should be thanking us. But no, we get a what the fuck. Just disrespectful, I'm disappointed in you Hart," Sam finished up his rant, a hint of a smile displayed on his face.

Carter chuckled as he rubbed his hand up and down Malayna's arm. "I love you guys."

*sighs* because this book is ending soon :( i published a new freddie andersen book called "benchwarmers"! it'd mean a lot if you checked it out :))