With another blow of his whistle, the ref signals for everyone to prepare for the face off. I take my stance at the dot, ready for the ref to drop the puck so I can send it straight to Brandon where he’s waiting on my wing.
The puck drops and I flick it away from the face-off dot and send it directly to the tape of Brandon’s stick. A perfect, clean face-off win.
Just as quick as the puck hits Brandon’s stick, he sends it towards O’Shea, who has space away from the wall to skate it down the center of the ice on a breakaway. Brandon and I immediately skate after him to give him support. We make it into Las Vegas’s offensive zone with him. He fakes left on their goalie, then sends the puck between his legs to Brandon behind him. Brandonis lined up and ready. He takes his shot, and it slides right between their goalie’s legs. Straight through the five hole.
It almost feels rude to celebrate. Almost. Not enough to stop O’Shea and me from hugging Brandon. And definitely not enough to stop Brandon from skating past our bench to get his fist bumps once we let him go.
Coach Chris gives all three of us a soft, almost imperceptible smile. We’ve done our job tonight. His top line. And he’s taking us to the playoffs to stake our claim. To cement our place as a team to take seriously from here on out.
SEVENTEEN
Brandon
I did not think it was possible for the Foleys’ house to be louder than it always is until right now with Vicky’s WAG party beginning.
“Are you about ready to get out of here?” Danton asks me from the doorway of my bedroom.
I wince as the sound barrier is broken by the collective squeals of almost two dozen wives and girlfriends greeting a new arrival.“Beyond ready,” I say.
Danton nods his head. “Sounds like Clemmers’ wife just got here.”
“Come on.” Danton tips his head, gesturing for me to follow him. “Let’s go rally the troops and get out of here.”
“I’ve got one here.” I point at Danny, who is lying on my floor, playing with my stuffed hodag.
“He still hasn’t given that back?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s his now,” I say as I bend down to pick him up and place him on my hip. I ruffle his head and grab the stuffed monster from his hands. He looks at me with wide, wateryeyes. “We’ll put him on my bed for safekeeping. We don’t want anyone at the game to steal him.”
Danny grins at me. Crisis averted. Together, the three of us head up the stairs to collect the rest of Danton’s kids so we can all vacate the premises as instructed by Vicky.
“Ahhhhhh!” A group squeal is directed my way the minute my foot hits the first floor.
“He’s so cute!” one of the women says. “He’s gotten so big.”
“Please tell me you’re talking about Danny,” I say.
“Obviously,” she says as she comes over and tries to pull Danny from my arms. He grips me around the neck tighter.
“Sorry, Sandra,” Vicky says, coming over to join us. “Danny is quite attached to Brandon. There’s no separating the two.”
“Yeah.” Danton laughs as he comes up behind me. “It’s only slightly easier to pull Danny away from him than it is Ryan.”
“I’m not surprised by that,” Michelle, Coach Chris’s wife, says as she walks up to me. I can feel the color draining from my face. I hope to the hockey gods she doesn’t notice. “You two are turning out to be quite the duo.”
I nod my head. “Yeah… I mean, we play a similar style… so it was easy to build chemistry.”
“You boys definitely have some chemistry,” Michelle agrees. She takes a sip of her champagne. It could be my paranoia, but I swear there’s a hint of knowing in her eyes. But I don’t think her look is nefarious. After all, this is the woman that masterminded Connor’s escape from Chicago and saved Gavin from the career-ending fallout that was headed his way.
But still, I feel exposed.
“Aren’t they just so much fun to watch?” Vicky asks. She takes one look at me and seems to sense my discomfort. She shuffles herself to stand slightly in front of me. “You know, we housed Ryan here as well when he was a rookie. Both of these boys are the model houseguest.”
“I think you work perfectly together,” Michelle says, positioning herself closer to me. She looks at me with a very soft smile,then quietly adds, “If you or Ryan ever run into a problem, let me know.”
Ryan
It’s the perfect night for a baseball game. The temperature is warm, but not stiflingly hot and there isn’t a cloud in the sky making it so we can see the stars as they start to come out as day fades into night. The stadium is also packed with Mules fans who cheer every time we’re shown enjoying the game on the stadium’s jumbotron. The crowd goes wild. Excited to celebrate the team’s first appearance in the playoffs in over a decade with us.
