They stood looking at each other.
Eyes locked into each other, tension soaring.
Heartbeat increases rapidly.
Mist floating in the air.
Roman made a move first.
He set down his gear and started wearing it one by one.
Luciano watched him like a hawk.
His grip tightening on his stick.
Roman was soon ready and skidded forward in the ice.
When he was within earshot.
Luciano yelled at him.
“What are you doing here?”
“I should be asking you that captain.?”
Luciano watched as Roman started circling around him again.
“Of course I am the captain. I should be able to practice relentlessly to set a good example for the team.”
“You are Soo obsessed with being the captain. Almost as if you are insecure that someone is going to pry the position away from you.”
Luciano tilted his face to look at Roman.
His breath drew in sharply.
“You have allowed whatever Coach Ferdinand and the principal is filling your head with to get to you. Now you are so full of yourself. Don’t overestimate yourself, Muddy. You are just a pawn in the grand scheme of things.”
Roman let out a dry laugh.
Then he skated closer to Luciano.
Luciano’s breath hitched.
The memory of the day came back in a rush.
Hot breath on his neck, scent of olive.
Warm body pressed into his back.
“I might be poor but cannot be easily controlled or turned into a puppet.”
Luciano narrowed.
A certain darkness took over his feature.
“Yet you came to this school. You accepted the scholarship. Do you think you are not already controlled? Do you know the real reason why you were scouted.”
Roman did not talk for a moment then he hit his stick on the ground, moving closer to Luciano until they were mere inches apart.
His eyes burning in fury.
“Do you think you can scare me? I know you don’t like me. You want me gone by the sun. but resorting to petty tricks like this will not work.”
“You think you are all that. You can’t even move in your skate straight for three seconds and you think you have a chance in this team. Coach Ferdinand is just cuddling you because of the so-called promise. Very soon he will tell you the truth.”
Luciano’s last sentence enraged Roman.
He felt cheeks burning up and his eyes turning red.
“I am challenging you to a duel. First to pass the puck through the goal post three times will get his wish fulfilled.”
Luciano laughed loudly.
His laughter echoing off the ice.
“Hey Muddy, you are up to something here. Ever since I met you this is the most sensible thing you have said.”
Then he narrowed his eyes on Roman.
“It seems you have extreme confidence in your skill. This is not your hometown where you skate in the mud, Muddy.”
Roman looked at him confidently.
“Let’s duel, the loser will fulfill the winner’s wish.” Even though he knows his balance is not yet that stable on Vesperridge ice. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
“Alright.” Luciano said.
“Let’s duel, if I win you leave the team, you leave Vesperridge Academy and you go back to your village.”
Roman taking a sharp breath, the intensity of Luciano’s word hitting him like a whip.
The air around him became significantly colder.
He was expecting something like that but the way Luciano said it with an absolute coldness shook him to the core.
“I agree.” He said in a low voice.
Luciano’s eyes narrowed into slits.
“What is in it for you if I lose and you win.” He asked cautiously.
A sudden glint appeared in Roman’s eye.
“It’s a surprise. You will find out then.”
Luciano would have smelled a rat but then he could not care for three reasons.
One, he believes he will definitely win.
Two, he believed that whatever Roman proposes is going to be inconsequential to him.
He can decline it if he wants to.
Third, the thrill of walking Luciano out of the gates of Vesperridge Academy overrides any common sense he had.
“Let’s go there!” He said in a shrill voice taking Roman by surprise.
Both of them attacked the puck immediately.
Stick clashing, skate screeching.
They were like two goats who locked their horns in a battle.
They were locked in a fierce battle, no one gave each other a chance.
Ice scraped and flew in the air.
The atmosphere became heated up.
After five minutes of intensive battle.
With no concession both of them dislodged from each other.
They were sweating profusely through their gear, their chests falling and rising rapidly.
“Hey muddy you got some raw skills in you.”
“I don’t know whether I can say the same about you captain.” Roman said breathlessly.
Luciano sneered at him.
“Now the time for play it’s over, let’s get to business.”
They clashed into each other again for the second time.
This time was different.
Every strike was intentional, every move carries purpose.
No more mindless thrashing.
Roman retracted the puck from Luciano’s grip and skated through the goal post in mindless pursuit.
Luciano went after him but his skate swerved off in the wrong direction.
Roman took the opportunity and scored a clean opening.
The score between Luciano vs Roman is now 0:1
Luciano got up quickly and sneered at him.
“This is your lucky day, Muddy but not anymore.”
The clashed again this time around Luciano was more ruthless applying every rule he knows in the book.
Roman was like a solid rock refusing to yield under his intense pressure.
Then the first win for Luciano came.
It was now 1:1
He did not celebrate much.
He just gave him an ‘I warned you.’ Look and they continued.
The only witness to their madness was the empty spectator chair and the overhead lights.
The second goal came like a surprise to Roman.
He didn’t see it coming, all he saw was the puck already in the middle of the goal post.
It was now 2:1
Luciano laughed loudly.
“One more to fling you through the fence, Muddy.”
Roman felt slightly defeated but he did not relent.
Seventy five seconds in, Roman surprisingly hit the puck inside the goal post.
He yelled in joy and his voice echoed through the rink.
Luciano stood looking at him, they were now a tie.
2:2
They did not talk much.
They just dived into the final round this time around with a different intention.
Luciano knew that this round would determine whether Roman gets kicked and he preserves his honor and position as the best player of the Vesperridge wolves.
Meanwhile for Roman it will determine his future in Vesperridge academy or whether he will go back home to his mother and sister.
They continued playing ruthlessly, not holding back.
Suddenly Luciano secured the puck and started making a line run to the goal post.
Roman soon caught up and blocked him.
They engaged in a fierce battle for the puck.
Then Luciano’s share caught in a crease in the ice he tried to remove but no way.
He then forcefully decided to move.
The force threw him off and he fell backwards.
Roman then saw an opening and moved with the speed of the wind.
And bamm!
There is a goal: Roman Milkov is the winner of the duel.
Luciano lay in the ice breathing hard.
He could not remember how it happened, one minute he was battling for the puck, the next minute the ground was shifting under him.
He heard Roman shouting.
‘Oh my God, did that peasant boy won?’
Then suddenly Roman laid onto him and sit on top of him.
His chest heaving wildly.
Luciano looked up at him.
“What are you doing?
Roman answered him.
“Don’t move captain.”
He the lowered his head until they were breathe into each other’s nose.
He opened his mouth and took Luciano’s lips in his own.