“Yeah.”
“It’s official. We’re all pussies.”
Lock laughed but absolutely agreed.
The ref blew the whistle and the pack took off. The “jostling” from earlier had turned into a “melee” Sun Tzu would have been afraid of.
The second whistle blew and Gwen moved. God, his woman was so fast. Between her lighter weight combined with those powerful tiger legs of hers, none of the other jammers could hope to get close to her. The only thing that helped them was whether Gwen could get through the pack. She tore up the track, catching up to the pack in seconds. One quick hyena slammed into her, but Gwen shoved her off, sending her spinning into her own teammate, both of them crashing into the railing and flipping over.
Gwen grabbed hold of Blayne’s arm, and Blayne held her back, using her free hand to grab the blocker in front of her by the neck and yanking her out of the way. Once she had the opening, she flung Gwen through it. Free of the pack, Gwen took off, the ref tagging her as the lead jammer as she shot around the track.
Lock glanced at the scoreboard. They’d been ahead for a while, but now they were four points behind with thirty seconds left on the board. Gwen had to make it past the pack at least one more time to tie.
A hyena and a lioness went for her, but Cheeky Charming—a ligress who was bigger than Lock’s mom—took them both out, allowing Gwen to zip past. McNelly went for her, but Pop-A-Cherry slammed into her from behind, sending the She-wolf spinning and landing in front of Gwen, but Lock’s tigon went up and over. Unfortunately, because her skates weren’t touching the track, McNelly wouldn’t count for any points. But at least Gwen was able to keep going, shooting around the track for another pass. She’d passed another Furrier, tying the teams, but before she could go past the next Blocker, the Pivot hit her from the side and slammed her into the rails. The Furriers came at her and would probably tackle her to the ground. So, with only two seconds left on the clock, she called off the jam by putting her hands to her hips twice.
Then the Furriers took her down anyway, slamming her to the track.
The crowd cheered and booed with equal vigor and Lock let out a breath.
“You’re worried about her,” Roxy observed, although her eyes stayed focused on the track.
“Of course he’s worried,” his mother answered for him. “They’re going after your daughter like a polar after a baby seal. He doesn’t want her irreparably harmed.”
Suddenly incredibly strong hands gripped Lock’s face, squeezing his cheeks so hard his lips pursed out and it hurt.
“You,” Roxy said, with what Lock would consider an inordinate amount of enthusiasm, “are a sweet, sweet grizzly.” She squeezed harder. “I just adore you, baby-boy.”
Struggling with his desire to knock Roxy out of the stands merely to get her hands off his face, Lock said, “T’ank you.” Which was the best he could manage with her squeezing so hard.
“Mom approval,” Jess whispered in his ear once Roxy had released her hold. “Check.”
“Quiet.”
Gwen waited in the infield with her team while the refs conferred with the coaches and captains.
“They’re probably going to go into overtime. You up for that?”
Gwen nodded at Blayne’s question and took the clean rag she handed her so she could wipe off some of the sweat and blood.
“What about your shoulder?”
“It’ll hold up. I just need Ma to shove it back into place.”
Cherry rolled over to them and stopped in front of Gwen. “This is the deal—their team has four girls out, we have about five.” Only two from each team were out due to injuries. The others had been thrown out of the game during a particularly nasty melee, which led to the four game-ending injuries. “Plus, they called a personal foul on Gwenie.”
“Which means what?” Blayne asked.
“They’ve suggested a two-lap duel with Gwen.”
The Babes rolled their eyes, threw up their hands, and made all sorts of noises suggesting annoyance, but Gwen didn’t. Yet she could understand their annoyance. If she made it around the track twice, she’d get two automatic points and they’d win the East Coast championship. But she wouldn’t be out on that track alone. One player from the other team would be out there with her and there were even fewer rules in the two-lap duel than there were in general. That player could cut through the infield, use the bodies of other teammates to slow Gwen down, or stomp on Gwen with her skates. A no-holds-barred event.
“Who suggested it?” Gwen asked while her teammates grumbled.
Cherry smirked. “McNelly.”
“Forget it,” Blayne said.
“I’m in.”
Blayne grabbed her arm. “Excuse us.” She dragged Gwen a bit away from the team and asked, “Have you lost your damn mind?”
“I’m in, Blayne. I’m doing this. Just me and her.”
“I love you, Gwen. I really do. But you’ve lost your fucking mind. That bitch could care less whether you get any points out there. All she cares about is killing you. Killing you a lot.”
“I’m doing it.”
“Why?”
“Because she needs to learn there are liabilities to being a prick.”
“Good plan if she weren’t a sociopath.”
“I’m doing it.” She looked over at Cherry. “I’m in.”
“You sure?”
“No!” Blayne barked.
“Yeah. I’m sure.” She focused back on Blayne. “I’m doing this.”
“You’re an idiot.”
She leaned against her friend. “You sweet talker you. Now shove my shoulder back, I can’t wait for Ma.”
“That’s right, folks!” the announcer gleefully intoned. “It’s going to be a two-lap duel. Two minutes have been put on the clock. If the jammer makes it around the track twice, the Assault and Battery Park Babes win. If the blocker keeps her from getting around the track in those two minutes, the Staten Island Furriers win!”
“Oooh!” Brody MacRyrie applauded behind Ric. “A two-lap duel! How exciting!”
But when Ric looked at his friend, all he could see was panic in the bear’s eyes and he worried that the grizzly was about to do something stupid.
“I’m sure it’s fine,” Ric tried to assure him, using his most calming voice. Always best to keep the grizzlies calm and rational. Did these people have any concept what a crazed bear could do to their precious stadium? “Right, Roxy? It’s going to be fine, right?”
Roxy was busy chewing her lip until she realized both men were staring at her, waiting for their fears to be assuaged. She stopped, forced a smile, and said, “I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
“You are lying to me!” Lock growled, making Smitty tense up since Jess was still resting around the bear’s shoulders like a mink stole.
“Baby-boy, now calm down.” Roxy took Lock’s hand in hers and patted it. “My Gwenie knows what she’s doing.”
“Your Gwenie will do anything to make sure her team wins, because she hates that woman so much. And although your daughter is, on most days, a little psychotic, Donna McNelly is a sociopath. She just wants to kill her.”
Roxy let out a sigh. “I know.” Wait. How was that helpful?
“She’ll be fine,” Ric said again, hoping he was right. Of course, as he watched the battered, bruised, and weary-looking Gwen roll onto the track and then the barely bruised, much bigger, and wide-awake She-wolf roll on after her, Ric realized that he definitely had his doubts.
Panting, Gwen rested one hand on the railing and one hand on her waist.