The five on the ice grab each other in celebration, but there’s still three minutes on the clock. I urge the bench to settle down, and when Ethan skates past, accepting high-fives, I grab his jersey.
“I know you don’t think you were a good student, but you are a fantastic listener,” I say to him, my forehead pressing against his helmet. “You have so many skills outside of hockey that are essential to this team, Ethan, and I’m so fucking proud of you.”
“Thanks, Coach.” He grips me in a hug, his sweat soaking my suit. “Thank you for believing in me.”
“Plenty of time left. Keep our composure, yeah?” I say, patting his chest, and he nods. “Let’s go, boys. Gotta hang on to it.”
The momentum is in our favor. The crowd is more alive than they’ve been all night, on their feet and physically rocking the building with how loud they are, but I’ve never been an optimist. I know anything can happen if there’s time on the clock, so I keep my excitement down. I don’t overreact to a missed slashingcall. I keep my shifts the same amount of time, not wanting to get too frantic in case we have extra hockey ahead of us.
The Yellowjackets make a surge with twenty seconds left, winning a face-off and setting up a backhand shot. Liam anticipates their next move, and when he dives on the puck and an Atlanta player still tries to knock it in the goal, hell breaks loose as time expires. Gloves are thrown. Someone loses a helmet, and players are separated.
“No fucking goal,” Parker yells, watching the replay on the jumbotron. “Where’s the fucking goalie interference? He’s on top of Sullivan!”
The building waits while the referees wait to make an official call, and when they deem it a no goal and end regulation, our bench throws their gloves in the air.
“Second round, here we fucking come!” Grant screams, starting a dogpile on Ethan. “Easy fucking E is our hero!”
I pull each coach into a hug, finding Maverick in the mess of jerseys and yelling at him to get the guys lined up for the handshake line.
“Locker room straight after,” I say, jogging off the ice.
I get stopped a half a dozen times by members of the media wanting a comment. I put on my best face and answer their questions, wanting to see my girl and celebrate with her.
By the time I break free, I see her lingering by the locker room in another one of my jerseys and ripped jeans. She lights up when she sees me, running and jumping into my arms.
“You did it,” she says when I catch her, spinning her around and burying my face in her hair. “Youdid it, Brody.”
“I can’t believe it. What a comeback. What a shot by Ethan. We live to see another day.” I kiss her temple. “I’m not sure I’ve ever been that stressed out before.”
“Your shoulders were up by your ears.” She giggles and I set her down, letting out my first breath in what feels like yearswhen she wraps her arms around my neck. “I am so proud of you.”
“Thanks for being here.” I slip my palms in her back pockets. “I’m going to be a while. Interviews. Debrief with the guys. Checking the score from the other series to see who we’re matched up against. Will you hate me if I make you wait an hour? You know what? Take my key and go to my place. I’ll be there?—”
“What thehellare you two doing?”
Hannah’s eyes go wide. She peers over my shoulder, dropping me from her hold. I spin, finding myself face to face with Grant, who doesn’t look like he did twenty minutes ago. His gaze is murderous as his eyes bounce from Hannah to me.
“Grant,” I say, and he drops his stick and gloves.
“Are you touching mysister?” he asks, voice so low, I have to strain to hear him. “You can’t be serious, Hannah.”
“Hey,” I snap, stepping in front of her. “You’re not going to speak to her like that.”
“Someone better tell me what the fuck is going on. Right fucking now.”
“Brody.” Hannah touches my arm. “It’s okay.”
“You’re sleeping together,” Grant whispers. “I fucking knew it. I thought I saw something between the two of you at the team dinner, but I blamed it on being tired.”
“We’re doing more than sleeping together,” I say.
“Are you? I fucking respected you, Brody. I looked up to you. You’ve been my idol for years, but the whole time, you’ve been exactly like everyone else,” he spits. “A goddamn fuckboy. You have a kid and you’re out here spending time with a twenty-five-year-old? Grow the fuck up and go out with someone your own age.”
“A fuckboy? Iloveher,” I seethe, my anger reaching a boiling point. “And you’re not going to drag my daughter into a discussion where she doesn’t belong.”
“Why not? Hannah’s young enough to make you a father of two.”
“Enough,” Hannah says, and we both go quiet. “How dare you talk about me like that when I’m right here.” She looks at her brother, and when I steal a glance at her, I see the hurt in her eyes. I want to reach out and comfort her, to hold her, but I don’t want to make this any worse than it is. “You want to call out my age and say I’m your younger sister all while you sit here and act like a child. How dare you think this has anything to do with you, Grant?”
