My team.
My dream.
And him.
36
FLETCHER
Everyone’s families crash the locker room when we finally detangle from the press.
Cookie’s mom bursts in first, trailed by what I can only assume are his siblings. She points a sharp finger at one of them. “Don’t touch that. I swear if you break anything, I’ll make you scrub floors for a year to pay it off. Ah, Ellie!” She smiles broadly. “I can’t believe you managed to get him back on the ice after all that—I said don’t fucking touch that,” she yells at one kid. She drags a toddler off the skate sharpener. “Whatever you said to him worked. It’s a Christmas miracle! We got to see our boy skate in his first NHL game.”
“I like to make learning fun. We believe in positive reinforcement,” Ellie replies with a smile. “And Goldfish crackers.”
“My little goal scorer,” his mom says as Cookie protests while she plants kisses on his forehead. “You need a haircut, sweetie.”
The Finn’s father—tall, Viking-esque, and blond—shakes Ellie’s hand in both of his. He says something long and dramatic in Scandinavian while his son stands beside him noddingproudly. Ellie just smiles and says “Thank you” like she totally understood all of it.
Then Dana struts in like the ghost of Christmas capitalism. She poses in the doorway, arms crossed. I stand up straighter as she surveys us.
“Looks like you’re not a losing investment after all. Since you beat the Harbor Hawks against all the odds—thank you very much, I won a new yacht betting on you—you’re staying,” she announces. “The team isn’t moving to San Francisco.”
The room explodes in cheers. Someone throws a jockstrap in the air like confetti. Carlsson catches it and throws it back in disgust.
“I’m dumping a ton of money into this franchise,” Dana continues. “Everyone gets a raise.Nextseason.” The guys groan. “Provided you all play like this again,” she adds, waving her perfectly manicured hand. “I expect more wins from you.” Her lip curls. “You’re lucky you’re not actually in the Direwolves division. I had to fuck some guy to make that happen.”
The room goes dead silent.
Ellie’s mother gasps.
Then her sisters cheer. “Goals!”
“She’s so perfect.”
“That boss-bitch energy.”
Dana smirks. “So don’t ever let them tell you that it’s wrong to use sex to get what you want. It’s a very powerful weapon women have in their arsenal. Men don’t want us to use it.”
Granny Murray raises her tequila bottle in approval.
Dana’s gaze swivels to me. “Fletcher Sullivan.”
Ellie appears at my side, slipping her hand into mine.
Dana purses her mouth. “I’m sure your brother has some sort ofjoblined up for you.” Her nose wrinkles on the word.
“You’re leaving?” Jovi gasps, horror-stricken. “But we won!”
“Of course he’s not leaving.” Dana tosses her hair. “You’re getting a real NHL contract, not this two-way nonsense. And you can tell Hudson I said to go fuck himself.”
“Whoo!”
“Party at my house!” Granny Murray whoops.
“You mean my house.” Ellie’s father sighs.
Ellie’s childhoodhome is like something out of a set where the perfect family lives.
