Between practice and family obligations, I barely saw Etta. She had lined up a bunch of gigs between Christmas and New Year’s so she was gone by the time I got home most nights.
As I packed to head to St. Louis for our next game, an idea rushed in. it was going to be a long shot, but I had to try. Etta had been right, I did have real feelings for her but pushing her into a relationship was the last thing I wanted to do. I just knew that there was no one else I wanted to spend the last night of the year with.
I quickly booked tickets, a hotel room and secured box seats before scribbling a note.
Etta,
I know that this whole thing got all fucked up and I am so sorry for that but I would love for you to come to St. Louis for New Year’s. If you don’t want to, I will understand but you have the option. Everything is booked. You’ll have your own hotel room. Just think about it.
- Gret
I sucked in a sharp breath, put the pages onto Etta’s pillow and headed to the airport to meet the team.
It was the longest flight in history. Racking my brain the entire time, thinking that I probably made a huge mistake with another over the top romantic gesture.
Fuck it.
I had to try something.
Etta was perfect and all I wanted was for her to know how much I believed that.
Etta
I walked into Gret’s empty apartment and ducked into my room. I felt so badly for everything that had happened between us but it was for the best. At least that’s what I kept trying to tell myself.
It wasn’t right to jump from one bad situation into another one just because someone was nice enough to take care of me.
Grabbing the note off my pillow, my jaw dropped.
What do I do?
It all clicked. It didn’t matter if it was normal or the way the world was supposed to work. People come into your life for a reason. Maybe Lee was supposed to break up with me that night so I could find Gret.
Was the universe that fast? Could I really have real feelings for Gret?
Fuck it. I was falling for him? The more I thought about it, I knew I was. I had been lying to myself. I was head over heels for that fucking man and damn it if I was going to talk myself out of it anymore.
I packed a bag. Took a bunch of deep breaths.
It’s finally my time to live my life. A life I actually want. And Gret was going to be a part of it.
I wanted to call or text message Gret, but surprising him was just too good to pass up.
Gret
I hadn’t heard from Etta. Not even a text.
When I skated out onto the ice for warmups, my heart sank completely. The seat I had gotten for her was empty.
She’s not coming.
The realization washed over me as I fought back the distraction. I had to keep my head in the game and not worry about anything else.
It wasn’t going to work.
As I took practice shots onto the empty next, I couldn’t get her smile out of my face or the terrible hurt from my heart completely breaking.
You’re not supposed to have feelings.
Suck it up.
You made a promise.
To my surprise my name was listed as one of the starting players.
Looking over at my father and uncle, I pointed up to the jumbotron. “The fuck?”
Brayden’s sneer raked over his face as my father started laughing.
“You’ve got this, kid,” My father reassured as the other five guys started to leap onto the ice.
With one sharp breath, I hopped over the boards and staked into the center of the rink.
This is your time to shine.
I fought. I skated. I drove the puck.
I was playing the best game of my damn life and it was all for the woman that couldn’t be bothered to show up.
What a fucking joke.
As the third period started, I glanced one more time up into the stands. I wasn’t surprised that the seat was still vacant. I damned the hopefulness that still plagued me.
With three minutes left, we were tied two-two and on a power play. With an assist from Mark Wabash, I snuck the puck past the opposing goalie and the siren blared.
In disbelief, I cheered with my teammates.
Best feeling in the world.
My father beamed at me from the box as I skated over to take my seat.
“I knew you had it in you, Gret.” The elation on my dad’s face was something I had strived to see since I was a kid.
“Thanks, coach.” I gave him a wink before turning to cheer on my teammates that were fighting to keep our enemies for the evening away from our goal.
The seconds ticked down and we were victorious. We all leapt to our feet and celebrated as the small number of our fans that made it to our away game cheered and chanted.
As I hugged my old man, I caught a glimpse of Etta’s intoxicating smile as she jumped and clapped in the stands.
“She made it,” I muttered under my breath.
“Who, son?” My dad asked.
“Etta. She came.” I yelled back.
“That’s sweet of your girl to make the trip all the way out here.”
I didn’t even think about it. I rushed to the locked room, grabbed my cellphone, ripped off my skates and ran through the maze of the arena in my socks to find my girl.
Dialing Etta, I huffed and puffed as my aching muscles and blown out knee screamed at me to stop, but there was no way I was going to.
“Gret?” Etta yelled into the phone.
“Where are you?” I panted.
“Fighting the crowd to get out of this place.”
“Come to the back entrance. Just tell the security guards you’re with me and you can have them call me if they need to.”
Waiting by the back stairs, I paced as sweat poured out of me.
I was gross from the game and my nerves were making it that much worse.
Etta finally joined me.
“I can’t believe you made it,” I sighed, leaning against the far wall.
She took a few steps closer. “Neither can I to be honest. I would have been here for the whole game but my flight got delayed because of the snow storm. I am so happy that I got to see you guys win though. It was a lot of fun. I even got a shirt, see,” she rambled nervously as she pulled at the ends of her Ollie shirt.
“It looks amazing on you,” I grabbed her hand. “Thank you for coming.”
“Thank you for inviting me.”
Without thinking about it, I crushed my lips to hers. They were so soft and perfect. And then the best thing in the world happened—she kissed me back.
Picking her up, I twirled her around without breaking contact.
Pulling away a little, Etta giggled, “What do we do now?”
“We celebrate.”
Etta
I waited for Gret to get cleaned up and meet me at my hotel.
Gret: Down stairs.
Me: Coming down now.
I rushed for the car that was waiting for me out front. Gret was in a beat-up t-shirt and faded jeans. A total contrast to my long dress and fancy coat.
“You could have told me what to wear,” I teased as he helped me into the backseat.
“And not see you all dolled up? Fuck that.”
Gret kissed me again and fireworks erupted in my stomach.
“Isn’t this a little cliché?”
“What’s that?”
“Our first kiss on New Year’s Eve?”
“Totally cheesy and cliché but it’s our story and I like it.”
“Yeah, I kinda like it too.”
* * *
Partying with the team on New Year’s after a win was dreamlike. Champagne bottles were popped. Toasts were made. Drunken debauchery ensued. It was fantastic.
“One more toast for the evening,” Gavin Hayes yelled over the crowd while climbing onto a chair. “To Gret Hayes for saving the day and getting the game-winning goal!”
“To Gre
t!” everyone hollered.
The ball continued to drop and we were only seconds away from midnight.
Taking me into his arms, Gret looked down at me. “There is no one else that I would rather ring in this new year with.”
“How are you this perfect?” I asked, wrapped my arms around Gret’s neck.
He shrugged. “Blame my mom.”
“Oh, I will.”
We started the countdown with everyone in unison.
“Ten!”
“Nine!”
“Eight!”
“Seven!”
“Six!”
“Five!”
“Four!”
“Three!”
“Two!”
“One!”
“Happy New Year!”
I grabbed both sides of Gret’s face while whispering. “Happy New Year, handsome.”
And with that, I let my lips fall to his—it was a kiss that could stop time itself. In the middle of everyone singing Auld Lang Syne we were lost in each other.
“Happy New Year, sweetheart.”
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Acknowledgments
To my Rockstars, Jennelle Lybrink, Jackie Ziegler, Tanya Lee Turner, and Letha Wilkinson: Thank you for lending me your names for some of the characters in this book. Y’all are so incredibly supportive and completely inspiring to me. You have been there with me through most of my writing career, cheering me on and for that I will be forever grateful. I cherish each and every one of you so much… never forget that!
To Jackie Fromin: For everything you did for me. You are such a wonderful angel and I miss you ever day.
To Mayra: Thank you for bringing me into yet another wonderful project. Without you this book would have never been written or even thought about. Thank you for inspiring such a heartfelt story that I truly loved writing.
To all of the NYE Kiss authors: I am so honored to be working on this compilation with such a fantastic group of talented women! Y’all ROCK!
About the Author
Bestselling author, Kristen Hope Mazzola, is a Florida native that has found herself loving a North Carolina life. She writes contemporary romance ranging from steamy romantic comedy, sexy erotica, angsty new adult, all the way to sports romance – with dirty bikers, hot military men, and swoon-worthy rockstars in between. A portion of her royalties is donated to the Marcie Mazzola Foundation.
Stay Connected
www.KristenHopeMazzola.com
[email protected]
Also by Kristen Hope Mazzola
The Crashing Series:
Crashing: The Wedding
Crashing Back Down
Falling Back Together
Crash & Burn
The Unacceptables MC Standalone Series:
Unacceptable
Unspeakable
Unbreakable
Untouchable
Unbearable
Undeniable
Uncut
Unscarred
Unstable
Tis The Season
First Last Kiss
The Hysterics Standalone Series:
The Hysterics
Colt & Serena
Becoming Hysteric
Steele
Shots On Goal Standalone Series:
Hat Trick
Cross Checked
Cherry Picked
Low Blow
Playoff Beard
Off Duty
For You, I Will
Standalones:
Stupid Hearts
Rough & Tumble
Donut Be Easy
Boxsets:
The Crashing Series
Lust & Love
The Shots on Goal Series Box Set
The Unacceptables Series Box Set One
The Unacceptables Series Box Set Two
The Hysterics: A Rock Star Standalone Box Set
The Huntress Series (co-written with Dawn Robertson):
The Huntress (Book 1)
The Hopeless (Book 2)
The Nameless (Book 3)
Charity Compilations:
30 Dirty Martinis
Word Search For Warriors: Authors For A Cause (Volume 1)
The 69 Series:
(multi-author collaborations for charity)
Hook & Ladder 69
Bleed Blue 69
Want more hockey hunks?
For You, I Will is a spinoff of Kristen Hope Mazzola’s Shots On Goal Standalone Series. Don’t miss out on the other ice melting stories in this series!
The Shots on Goal Series is made up of steamy, heart melting, standalone romances focusing on the New York Otters hockey team!! From the captain of the team, to his all-star boxing campion little brother, to NYPD officers - this series has it all, with tons of characters that will warm your heart and keep you turning those pages... So, grab your e-reader and yell "Ollie is my homeboy" while falling in love with this amazing group of friends, teammates, and family as they take you on one hell of a wild ride!
Hat Trick
One accident - a freaking car crash.
That’s all it took to send my brother’s and my life into a tailspin with no end in sight. I was going to be something. I was going to be the best. I had the Olympics in my sights. And it all went to shit in one flash. Brayden wasn’t ready to raise a younger sister when I was thrown into his lap. He had his life and everything going for him. Thankfully, he was still drafted to his dream hockey team. The same one dad played for when we were growing up.
It took time, but I started to get better, started to open up, started skating and even dating again. I even thought I found the perfect guy for me.
Isn’t it funny how guys hit on you when they know you’re not available, but when you’re single they won’t give you the freaking time of day? I guess the game is more fun that way. And for the captain of my brother’s team, that’s exactly what I was. A hat trick is three goals in hockey. Some say three is a crowd and they might be right.
I was Gavin Hayes' unobtainable goal.
Cross Checked
One accident - a freaking car crash.
That’s all it took to send my life into a tailspin.
Little did I know that out of the wreckage, everything would fall into place. I would get everything I had ever worked for.
Little did I know that I would find the woman who would cross check my life, flipping everything upside down.
Even though she's melting the ice that surrounds my heart, I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Will I ever be able to find my footing or am I destined to stay pinned against the boards?
Cherry Picked
One chance encounter – that’s all it took.
Nikki Jennings is dancing her way into the big time. She has gone from a shy, small town girl to a New York City Ballet star. She had everything to offer the world and she was taking it by storm.
Chase Harding is a cocky jock that has always gotten exactly what he’s wanted. Most recently, the rookie spot on his dream hockey team. He has everything he could ever want until he meets Nikki. She won’t give him the time of day. He won’t take no for an answer.
Will Chase be able to score the v-card of his latest prospect or is he going to shoot a
nd miss for the first time in his life?
Cherry Picked was previously released in Fiona Davenport’s Kindle World: Passion, Vows, & Babies. This story has been rewritten and reedited to remove all world elements and characters of Fiona Davenport’s world.
Low Blow
One injury - a freaking broken rib.
That’s all it took to send life into a tailspin at the age of sixteen. After getting a heart transplant, I knew that I could never take life or my talents for granted - I was going to be the best of the best. Boxing consumed my life and I was on track for greatness.
Everything was perfect until I woke up one morning, ten years after my surgery with an overwhelming need to meet her - the girl whose father’s heart beat in my chest.
Little did I know that she was going to save me all over again.
Playoff Beard
One attraction – a secret kept between friends for years.
That’s all it took to start one of the biggest love affairs to hit the NY Otters since Gavin and Myla. After getting his heart stomped on by a cheating ex-wife, Will Crosby doesn’t know what he's going to do next, but it's not a relationship. Instead, he throws his entire self into the net, guarding it with his life. After all, he is the goalie.
Everything is finally coming together in his life until the cute bartender with her smart mouth and huge smile gets the better of him, right as the playoffs are around the corner.
First Last Kiss: A Shots on Goal Spinoff Standalone Romantic Comedy Page 5
