Page 181 of Power Play

“Come on, wife,” I murmur, dropping my voice low. “Ask me a question.”

Her cheeks turn bright red. She takes a step back and almost topples over, but I grab her by the arm before she can fall. She swallows and I track the bob of her throat when the red light turns on the camera and she plasters on a megawatt smile.

“Thanks, Bradley. I’m here with Liam Sullivan who recorded twenty-eight saves tonight in front of the hometown crowd. Liam, this victory puts you as the number one seed not only in the East, but the entire league. It’s number eight in a winning streak, which is the longest winning streak any teamhas amassed this season. What do you attest the Stars’ recent success to?”

“Chemistry,” I say, leaning on my stick and looking down at her. “We’re in a groove where everything is meshing well. We’ve spent so much time playing together, we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. We’re able to compensate if someone is slightly off their game, and we all just really want to fucking win.”

“A, uh, quick reminder we’re onlivetelevision,” Piper says, arching her brow at me.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to get you in trouble. I’ll pay the fine, don’t worry. What else do you have for me?”

Her cheeks go from red to crimson. I like riling her up. If all interviews were this fun, I’d do them after every game.

“You had another fantastic performance tonight, which brings you up to twelve shutouts for the year.” I stand up a little straighter. A smile twitches on my mouth and I stare at her, impressed. No one’s ever been so kind to me in a line of questioning before, not even back when I was a college player, and I warm at her attention to detail. “You’re also the league leader in save percentage. What goes through your mind when you’re out there, night after night, giving it your all? Does it eventually wear you down?”

“There’s physical and mental fatigue. That’s part of the game. How you react to that fatigue is what is most important,” I say when she lifts her microphone my way, and she nods in agreement. “Do I get worn out? Every night. Do I know I have a team I can rely on when I’m not at my sharpest? Yeah, I sure as shit—sorry, heck—do. I know I didn’t miss a save tonight, but it also doesn’t register in my head I had a shutout, you know? I’m out there grinding until the buzzer sounds, and at the end of the night, I want my team to have the most points.”

“Final question for you, Liam, and we’ll let you get back to celebrating with your teammates.”

“That eager to get rid of me?”

Piper rolls her eyes, but she’s grinning. “I am, actually. Before the third quarter, the team came out and had an unusual warmup. There was a lack of stretching and a lot more… crawling. Do you have any comment on this new pregame ritual?”

I bark out a laugh. “The internet is going to have a field day with that, aren’t they?”

“You all are already trending on social media.”

“Great. As for the crawling, we were looking for something.”

“And did you find it?”

“We did.”

“Must’ve been pretty important.”

“Yeah.” My eyes lock on hers and I smile. “Most important thing in the world to me.”

“I’m going to send it back to Bradley and Clarissa who will break down all of tonight’s highlights for you. Thanks for sticking around with us. Stay safe, be kind, and we’ll see you back here the day after tomorrow for the Stars’ showdown against the Cleveland Vipers.”

The cameraman gives us the all clear and Piper rolls back her shoulders.

“You’re good at your job,” I say.

“Did you think I wouldn’t be?”

“I knew you would be, but you’reverygood at your job.”

“And you’re going to get me in trouble with my boss with your colorful language.” She sticks out her tongue. “Cursing twice on national television, Sullivan?”

“Sorry. It slipped out. I’d say it’s not going to happen again, but there won’t be another interview, so I’m safe.”

“You wouldn’t consider doing another one? I wasn’t too invasive, was I?”

“You were perfect. It’s just not my thing.”

“Thank you for jumping in. I really appreciate it. You saved me from having to talk to myself for five minutes.”

“Happy to help.”

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