Page 194 of Power Play

“Shit,” Emmy hisses as the Bearcats offense takes off. Their destination is obvious, and the air leaves the building as they head straight for Liam.

“Come on. My fingers curl around my microphone. My hands won’t stop shaking. “Come on, honey. You can do it.”

Liam crouches down. Points his toes forward and holds his left hand out in front of him, ready for whatever shot they might fire his way. He moves an inch to his left then an inch to his right, squatting even lower as number forty-seven winds up.

The defender pulls back like he’s going to fire between Liam’s knees but changes direction at the last second. He aims higher, for the upper left corner of the goal, and Liam’s body goes flying as he dives, stretches back, and reaches his hand behind him.

Liam lifts the puck in his glove. The building erupts, and before I have a second to catch my breath and celebrate his stop, he’s passing the puck to Maverick, who takes off in the other direction and covers the ice in eight long glides.

I glance up at the clock and there are ten seconds left. Nine, eight?—

“Fucking shoot it, Miller,” Emmy yells, and I swear to god he turns his head our way. Grins at her. Pulls back with the slap shot of all slap shots that goes soaring into the net as the final horn and goal horn sound sound simultaneously.

Everyone around me screams. Emmy jumps up and down, and I grab my small notebook out of my back pocket, ready to grab someone for an interview. Confetti drops from the ceiling and covers the ice and the crowd. Music blares, and I can’t hear myself think.

I watch Liam skate over the red line. His teammates surround him and Maverick, but he shoves past them. Throws off his gloves and drops his stick on the ice. He bolts toward me, blades slicing across the Stars logo, eyes locked on mine. I don’t have a second to breathe before he’s yanking me out of the tunnel. Sweeping me off my feet and hugging me to his chest.

“Holy shit,” he yells into my neck. “Holyshit.”

“Oh my god.” I start to cry. A sob escapes me and I hug him tight, afraid to let him go. “You did it. You did it baby.”

“Did you see that?”

I wrap my legs around his waist and pull back to look at him. I unbuckle his helmet and yank it off his head, throwing it to the side. I touch his sweat-soaked cheeks and brush his hair out of his eyes.

“Every single second. I’ve never seen anyone play so hard. That save was phenomenal. Something they’ll be talking about for years.”

Behind us, the rest of the team is celebrating. Maverick is on Hudson’s back, his arms in the air. Grant is lying on his back and making snow angels in the confetti. Ethan skates a lap around the rink, the trophy over his head, and Riley is putting a Stanley Cup Champions hat on his head.

“You should be over there,” I say. “With them. Your brothers. Not with me.”

“No.” He shakes his head and cups my cheeks. “The only person I want to celebrate with is you.”

His skate slips out from under him and we go tumbling to the ice. All I can hear is his laughter. All I can feel are his strong arms around me. All I can see is his bright and smiling face, and it’s allperfect.

“I am so proud of you,” I whisper, a moment I want just for us. “You do unbelievable things.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Me?” I laugh. “I haven’t done anything!”

“Bullshit. You encouraged me. Supported me. Believed in me. You make life so fucking fun. You’re the thing that’s keeping me afloat. I always got by on being happy enough, but I didn’t know what happiness was until I met you. Not really. Now every day is the best day of my fucking life. Because of you.”

My shoulders shake and tears stream down my face. I know my makeup is running. I know I have snot in my nose, but I can’t bring myself to care. Not when he’s looking at me like I’m the most important thing—like I’m theonlything in the whole goddamn world.

“I love you,” I whisper. “I love you so much, and—” Another sob rattles my chest. “I’m so proud to be a chapter in your book, Liam.”

“A chapter in my book?” Liam pushes up on his elbows, his mouth inches away from mine. I see a scrape on his cheek. The flecks of gold in his dark brown eyes and the salt on his forehead from dried sweat. “You’re the whole damn story, Piper. There’s some hazy version of myself that existed before I met you, and then everything after. I’ve never loved anything like I love you, and I’ll never love anything else like I love you.”

My insides twist tight. I don’t know if I want to laugh or cry harder. Maybe a little bit of both. How can I not when he just accomplished the most important thing in his career and he’s spending time withme? When he’s saying things that make me believe in a forever where I’m not going to get hurt? A life that’s full of joy instead of sadness. That’s full of laughter instead of feeling like I’m not good enough.

I could shatter into a million pieces.

“Hey, you two lovebirds.” Ethan loops his arms under my shoulders, hoisting me off Liam. “Keep the PDA down. There arechildrenaround.”

Grant takes my spot, jumping on Liam’s chest as Maverick and Hudson follow suit. I laugh when Ethan skates across the ice and stretches out my arms.

“Tell me you’ll never let go, Lil P,” he jokes.

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