Page 388 of Power Play

“Milwaukee.”

He shouted directly beside my ear. Briggs crashed into us from the side, wrapping both arms around our shoulders.

“Our baby is professional!”

“I’m older than you.”

“That has never mattered emotionally.”

Easton struck my back before Rider caught my hand and pulled me into another embrace. Bliss and Aura stood behind them, both crying openly while Gayle covered her mouth with both hands.

Coach Waters looked toward the ceiling. “Every one of you is too loud.”

“NHL loud!” Briggs yelled.

“Milwaukee,” Chris corrected. “And technically next season.”

“NEXT-SEASON NHL LOUD!”

“That isn’t better.”

Hollis and several Frost players appeared from the locker-room corridor, still dressed in suits and carrying enough energy to restart the game. Gray had somehow acquired a red towel, which he’d tied around his neck like a cape.

“Professional Knife!”

“That translates like shit,” I told him.

“Nobody cares!”

He raised both fists and started chanting my name. The hallway caught it immediately.

“Decker! Decker! Decker!”

I stood at the center of my people while they celebrated the future I’d fought my entire life to earn. Cade gripped the back of my neck, and Easton told anyone close enough to hear that he’d always known I would make it. Briggs was already researching the nightlife in Milwaukee. Rider watched me with a quieter pride that cut through every joke, while Gayle pressed both hands against my face and told me I’d earned every second. Bliss hugged me while crying into my suit, and Aura demanded to see the contract before anyone allowed the organization to announce anything.

For a few minutes, I let their joy carry mine.

Then Chris’s phone began ringing again. Hollis announced that Ember’s had already heard and Frost fans were heading there. Gray claimed he’d ordered Milwaukee-colored decorations, though no one understood how he accomplished that in the fifteen minutes since I signed.

“Party,” Briggs declared. “Immediately.”

“I need to go back to the lodge.”

The celebration around me faltered, and Cade searched my face.

“You’re not coming?”

“Not tonight.”

“Ry,” Briggs said.

“Go party.”

“You just signed a professional contract.”

“I know.”

“That is traditionally celebrated with reckless decisions and public nudity.”