Page 87 of The Secret Play

My voice echoed through the arena. He must have worn a microphone. “Yeah, I think we do,” he said with a chuckle. “I love you. I love Winnie. Let’s make weird things our family tradition.”

I gulped, and the tears welled in my eyes. “You mean that?”

“Gemma Grimaldi, will you marry me?”

The arena went silent, the question spreading like a ripple through the crowd. Thousands of eyes stared at us, but I saw only Casey. I wanted to throw my arms around him and never let go. A smile broke across my face, or maybe it had been there since I realized he was by my side. That was Casey in a nutshell. If I said yes, he’d always be by my side. What else could I possibly ask for?

I nodded, tears spilling down my cheeks as I whispered, “Yes.”

The crowd erupted, their cheers crashing through the arena like a tidal wave. Casey slipped the ring onto my finger, his hands steady even as mine trembled. It didn’t fit at all, so I clenched my fist to keep it safe.

He stood, pulling me to my feet, and cupped my face in his hands. He kissed me so hard that I went limp in his arms.

When we pulled back, I grinned mischievously, the teasing words slipping out before I could stop them. “Under one condition.” My voice echoed—I’d forgotten about his microphone.

His brow furrowed, his expression shifting to one of concern. “What’s that?”

I gestured toward the ice, where the team was still in formation. “You have to win tonight.”

The crowd ate it up, their cheers even louder than before. Even the angry sign lady cheered along with them.

His grin returned. “Consider it done.”

Chapter 35

Casey

The crowd bellowed as the team skated back onto the ice for the third period, and the energy in the arena reached a fever pitch. After the proposal, people had gone nuts, cheering and shouting for us. Gemma hate signs had miraculously vanished, which I was particularly grateful for. The game was tied, and everything was on the line—not just for the team, but for me.

This wasn’t just about hockey anymore. The proposal intermission had thrown everything into overdrive. The moment her shaky voice had said yes had filled me with a fire I hadn’t felt in years. And seeing Winnie out there on the ice, her grin lighting up the arena, reminded me exactly why I needed to win tonight—this was not for me. It was for them.

It was so odd. I’d never considered myself to be a selfish person before I got together with Gemma, but now, I wondered. Before them, I didn’t know what doing things in someone else’s name was like. I was always worried about my reputation and my good standing. I worked hard inmyname, and it was hard work to do so.

But doing things for them made the hard work easy. It strangely lightened the load, knowing failure was no longer an option.

There was no room for distractions now. The team needed me to focus. The city needed a win. It was no longer about me or what I wanted. In one way or another, the final period was for everybody else.

I glanced down the bench at Nico, his helmet on and his expression sharp with determination. He caught my eye and gave me a slight nod. He was ready.

So was I.

By the end of this, he’d be my brother-in-law. If I had the time to think about it, I might have laughed. When we met all those years ago, he was a smirking punk who was good on the ice. Now, he was still those things, but he was even better on the ice. One of the best I’d ever seen. The man was built for power, but he had a good head on his shoulders, too.

He had grown up a lot, too. When we first met, there was no way he would have come to understand me and Gemma. He was a black-and-white thinker, only seeing enemies or friends, good or bad, nothing in between. But over time, he had matured into the man I thought of as a friend.

And soon, I’d call him family.

The puck dropped, and the game's intensity immediately ratcheted up to eleven. The Seattle Razors came out swinging, their defense as tight as ever. Once they’d figured out Lopez was a secret weapon, we had to adjust. I swapped him out for Luke, hoping they wouldn’t notice, but they did.

Of course, they did.

Those bastards had been on our shit all game long. A player swap wouldn’t change that. I had to do something bigger. It was time to call in the Russian squad.

“Ivanov, Petrov, Sokolov?—”

Lopez said, “Coach, Sokolov is Defense.”

I smiled. “Exactly.” I sent them on their way, pulling my other guys out. “Socks, I know you and the other Russians have been working on some stuff. Ready to show the Razors?”

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