“Big mistake,” he replies and then smirks, “but you’re the boss.”
I look over at Eric, who just shakes his head when Sammy comes to the bench, giving us an extra attacker on the ice. We have no choice but to put in Owen, who skates into the zone and then does the stupidest play known to mankind when he ices the fucking puck.
I shake my head, looking down, seeing we have twenty-nine seconds to go. “Another loss.” Cam shakes his head. “Ridiculous.”
Knox, Aaron, and Lane are on the ice with Kirby and Jaxon playing defense. The puck drops and the goalie comes over skating, giving us a chance to get an extra attacker on there. Josh jumps over the bench as Jaxon brings the puck into the zone and almost loses it when they poke check it away from him, and he saves it from going over the blue line.
“Shoot the fucking puck!” I yell and he shoots it at the opposing team’s goalie, but it looks like it’s going off to the side when Knox comes to stop it, and it flies into the back of the net with eight seconds to go. I swear you would think we won the Stanley Cup the way we all get up and celebrate. I shake my head and look over to see Knox coming to the bench to get high-fives. Eric comes over to me and shoves my shoulder as I look up and see the replay. The period ends, sending us to overtime.
I put Knox, Kirby, and Jaxon on and look down at Cam, who wanted to put Owen in there. I immediately took that away from him. There’s something going on with him and Owen. I just can’t prove it. The puck drops and Jaxon wins it, slapping it back to Kirby, who skates the puck into the zone. Cutting down the middle and then turning to come back to the blue line, he skates to the other side. Then Knox skates to him, taking the pass from him. He moves to the right, going all the way across. The goalie goes to the right, sliding to protect the corner from his shot, and Knox just speeds up, wrapping it around the net and putting it in.
The red light goes on behind the net, the referee points to the net, telling us it’s in and the bench erupts. They are flying off the bench as they go to celebrate with Knox. I walk down to the entrance of the tunnel, looking at the guys celebrate, and I chuckle, shaking my head.
I wait there for the guys to skate back to the changing room, congratulating them as they go by. Owen just glares at me when he passes me, not even caring that he’s being disrespectful. I know he wants a scene, but I’m not going to give it to him.
Knox is the third from last player to come into the room, and I hold out my hand. “Now that deserves a gold star,” I tell him, and he laughs.
The press conference after is grim, even though we just won against the best team in the league. There have been rumbles of the trades with a couple of the players, I play dumb and pretend I know nothing about it.
The bus ride back to the hotel is a little bit more cheerful than it’s been in a while. When we get there, a couple of the guys go to the bar to eat. I join them and sit next to Jaxon and Kirby. “What’s up with you?” Kirby asks. “We just beat the best team in the league, and you look miserable.”
“He needs to get laid,” Knox mumbles and I shake my head. “When was the last time you had a relationship?”
I think about lying, but she deserves a bit more respect than that, besides I’m not naming her. “I’m sort of seeing someone,” I share. “It’s just a bit complicated.”
“She married?” Knox asks right away, ever since he walked in to his wife banging his brother-in-law, that’s his first question when someone’s seeing someone new.
“She’s not married. It’s not like that.”
“I mean, she’s not married; you’re not married,” Knox observes. “You two are already winning.”
“Yeah,” I reply, “I guess so. It’s a bit more than that.”
“Was she at the casino night?” Kirby asks and I nod.
“She was there.” His mouth hangs open. “But like I said before, it’s complicated.” I can feel eyes looking at me and I look over at Jaxon, who picks up his water bottle as he watches me with a weird look on his face. “I’m going to head up.” I push away. “Good game, boys,” I praise then look at Knox. “You the man.”
I put my hands in my pockets as I head to the elevator. Looking at my watch, I see it’s just after eight back home. I walk into my room and toss my jacket on the long cabinet under the television. I’m about to kick off my shoes when there is a knock at the door.
My heart speeds up when I think it might be her. I pull it open to see Jaxon standing there. “Hey,” I say and he gives me a chin up before he walks into my room.
“Let me ask you something,” he starts, and his voice is tight, “and I want you to be completely fucking honest with me.” I stare at him, wondering what he is going to ask, not expecting the words that actually come out of his mouth. “Are you dating my sister?” The question makes all the air in the room stand still.
I swallow down the lump in my throat. “Yes.” I don’t even try to hide it. “I am.” I don’t even want to fucking hide it anymore. “I was, I think I still am.” I exhale, my chest so tight breathing is hard.
“What the fuck does that mean?” His voice is raised and I see his hands beside him flexing into fists. I know one of them is going to fly up and knock me out, and I’m going to let him because I deserve it.
“It means that I’m fucking in love with her,” I say the words out loud and I think I’m having a heart attack. “But I can’t let her get caught up in this media bullshit,” I tell him, shaking my head. “I won’t do it. Not to her.” I can’t stop shaking my head. “The press eats me alive every fucking day. You think I’m going to put the spotlight on her so they can blame her?” My voice gets tight. “No fucking way. No fucking how. She doesn’t get touched by this shit because of me.”
“So you fucked my sister,” he says the words and all the blood in my veins feels like it turns to ice.
I take a step to him, toe to toe, chest to chest. “Watch your fucking mouth.” My own hands ball into fists beside me.
The room feels like electricity is zapping in. “I have to watch my mouth when you are dating my sister and hiding her like she’s some dirty fucking secret?”
“I’m fucking protecting her,” I clarify, getting even more into his face.
“Protecting her,” he says sarcastically, “by keeping her a dirty secret.”
