Page 146 of The Home Game

He wasn’t much of a goal scorer and never had been. His all-time season high of six goals wasn’t exactly anything to brag about. But that wasn’t what they paid him for so it never really bothered him.

He was there to get in the way of their opponents scoring, protect his team, and get them fired up when they needed it.

Any goals he scored were a bonus.

But as he unhooked the gold chain Antoni had given him, then slipped his wedding ring off, holding the band in his palm for a minute, he thought that tonight would be a good night for a goal.

He wanted Antoni and the kids to see it. He wanted to impress them.

Out of the corner of Matty’s eye, he caught a glimpse of Nico smiling as he slid his own engagement ring off and tucked it in his duffel bag. Nico brought out a picture of his family, then kissed a little glass and metal Dutch lantern before putting that away too.

Matty smiled too, sliding the wedding band onto the chain. He fastened the clasp carefully, then tucked the necklace beneath his base layer and patted his chest. It would be nice to have with him on the ice.

He paused, palm still pressed against his breastbone, thinking about the fact that this would be a nice new ritual for him.

Compared to guys like Dom, Matty didn’t have that many superstitions, but he glanced around at the guys in varying stages of dress, noticing a handful of little quirks that were so normal he hardly ever paid attention to them.

Jonah squeezing the stuffed bear and soft, plush plant Felix had given him.

Dominic double or triple checking the tape on his stick because the one time he’d taped it differently, his stick had shattered during a game, leading to a turnover and a game-winning goal by the other team.

Dustin running this thumb over the picture of Charlie taped to the side of his stall.

Matty grinned. Oh yeah, it was hockey time, baby.

Ten minutes later, as the guys lined up in the tunnel before warmups, Matty did his job, hyping the team up with shouts and chest bumps and his own particular version of crazy.

He did his usual handshake with Dom—even though the fucker wouldn’t look him in the eye for it—then strode down the tunnel after Jesse Webber, because goalies always went out first.

Matty burst onto the ice like someone had shot him from a cannon and that first glide onto the glassy surface made his heart want to burst with happiness.

Hockey was the best.

God he was fucking lucky to do this for a living.

Matty did his usual warmup lap around their half of the ice, then skated over to the glass, so excited he hardly knew what to do with himself. This season might be the first time he’d ever had so many people there to see him play.

Despite their dislike of travel, his parents and sisters had made it to some of his NHL games over the years and he loved the feeling of having people he knew cheering for him.

Usually, the SAPs sat in the club-level seats but for this game, they were down low against the glass.

Matty’s whole body lit up when he spotted Antoni, greedily drinking in the sight of him.

Fuck, Antoni looked good in the black jersey with green and white logo and text. He waved excitedly, grinning as he lifted River up to see Matty.

Matty’s heart melted at the sight of her excitedly waving. Next to them, Eliza held up Reese and waved his arm while he stared around, wide-eyed. Both of the little ones wore earmuffs to protect their ears from the noise of the arena. They had on mini jerseys too and damn it was cute to see.

Matty’s heart clenched when Antoni urged River to turn around and Eliza shifted Reese so his back was to Matty. Most players’ kids wore jerseys with Daddy on the back rather than the players’ name. That didn’t work in this situation so they’d debated between doing Carlson or Matty and finally settled on Matty.

But he knew Eli’s and Alexis’ jerseys had Carlson on the back. And so did Antoni’s.

That was definitely something Matty had to see for himself, so he made eye contact with Antoni and rotated his glove in a circle. Antoni stared a little blankly until Charlie leaned over and said something.

Antoni threw his head back and laughed, turning away from Matty with a playful look over his shoulder.

The sight of Carlson across his back made Matty’s heart beat faster.

Sure it was dumb and cliché and maybe even a little caveman-ish of him but fuck if it wasn’t the hottest thing ever to feel like Antoni was his. And from the looks Antoni threw him, the feeling was definitely mutual.

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