Page 114 of Play the Game

Instead of throwing punches, though, he’s pulling his teammates backward and sending them a chilling stare. When he gets to Kane, he pulls on his collar and sends him in the opposite direction. The ref grabs Kane and barks at him to get into the penalty box. His sick smile is full of blood, and I scoff.

These men!

I turn back to the ice and watch as Emory skates over to River. The entire arena freezes around me. I see nothing but my husband with a calm yet intimidating look on his face. He mumbles something to him before River heads to the opposite sin bin. Emory swipes his mask off the ice and glances at me on his way back to his post. His lips turn slightly upward, and he winks at me.

The dread and worry I felt moments ago disappear within a second.

A calmness flows through me, and I can suddenly breathe again.

Even more so when I look across the ice and stare at my husband, who is beginning to fill my head with all kinds of crazy thoughts—like how I really wish this marriage was real.

Forty-Eight

EMORY

“What doyou all have to say for yourselves?” Coach Jacobs is leaning against his office door with an unreadable expression on his face. It’s hard to know what he’s thinking, especially because I haven’t been with this team for that long.

He’s a stoic kind of coach. The kind that likes to stew on his speeches before laying into us, but in my opinion, even though we were defeated, I don’t think it was a total loss.

I stand from my bench, and the entire team turns to look at me.

“I’m not going to speak on behalf of the team,” I start. “But with our captain already gone, I’m going to take the initiative.”

Rhodes dipped out the moment we stepped off the ice, likely knowing that it’d be a while before we were able to head home due to this moment right here. One of the reasons Rhodes is on this team is because Coach never puts limitations on him when it comes to his daughter and putting her first.

“Well, go on,” Coach barks.

I look him dead in the face with confidence. “I don’t think it was a total loss.”

His eyebrows dip.

“For the first time since the season started”—I spin my attention around the locker room at my teammates' red faces and sweaty hair—“we acted like a team.”

Someone makes a ridiculous noise, and a few copy him.

“One of the guys”—I look directly at Kane, who is seemingly fuming on the bench from the loss—“got himself into a fight, and instead of letting him take a punch to the face, you all swooped in and fought alongside him.”

It’s the same thing I was explaining to Scottie. When a team is truly a team, they work together. It’s one of the oldest fucking bylaws in hockey. They fight, we fight. They go down, we go down. It’s called being a team.

“Sure.” I shrug. “It wasn’t about the winning puck or the last block. It had nothing to do with the actual game, but we fucking worked together for the first time since I joined this team.” I look back at Coach. “Have you ever sat and watched the teams at the top of the league and looked outside the box? They work together, on and off the ice.” I point at him. “That’s important.”

I feel myself becoming way too involved in the team talk. My heart beats, and a passion I didn’t realize I held grounds me to keep going.

“My last team fucked me over,” I admit. “I took the fall for something I had nothing to do with, and not a single one of my teammates batted an eye. It landed me with one option.” I glance around at all the blue on the walls. “Here.”

I plop back down onto the bench and lean against my locker.

“And I’m fucking proud. I’m proud to be on a team that has each other’s backs, and coming together like that on the ice means one thing.” I stare at Coach Jacobs, and I’m surprised to see pride instead of anger. “We’re fucking unstoppable now.”

The locker room erupts in chaos. My teammates clap and howl like idiots, but it’s obvious they all agree.

Coach nods at me before turning and slamming his office door.

Pride swells in my chest.

Things are falling into place, and the only person I can seem to think of is Scottie.

And that has nothing to do with the fact that River was running his mouth about her.

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