Page 39 of Tropical Inferno

“Jamie!” His mother threw a napkin at him, but she was laughing.

“So Maddie and I are almost twins—we look alike, we’re built alike, and we’re both really athletic. Somewhere along the way… I became the big hockey star and Maddie went to college. I was so wrapped up in my career that I kind of forgot that one of the reasons I have such an accurate shot is because she and I used to practice that. Together. Before school. After school. On weekends.

“When I started getting attention from scouts, she’d take a bus to wherever I was playing and take notes so I knew what to work on. Maddie would get out on the ice and show me what I was doing wrong to help me become the player I was—am.” He coughed slightly at the correction; the doctors still didn’t know if he would play again after all his injuries. “But I never thought to ask what I could help her with…and I’m sorry, Maddie.” He met his sister’s gaze. “That was wrong. I love you and think you’re amazing. Even though you’re married now, I’m still buying you that triathlon bike and I will run, swim and bike with you every moment I possibly can either until the race or when I’m back on the ice. Deal?”

She nodded tearfully, holding up her glass.

“And then she called me again.” He paused to look at Hawk this time. “To tell me this crazy story about gangbangers shooting at her and some guy with a mohawk saving her life…and I thought, who the hell is this guy and what the hell is going on over there in freakin’ Honolulu?!”

Everyone laughed.

“You were my teammate, Hawk, and my friend. Now you’re my brother. I’m not going to bother telling you to take care of her because you will. And in return, I have a wedding present for you.” He nodded at someone off to the side and one wall of the tent turned into a projector screen. A video came on showing a room full of reporters and an empty podium. Suddenly Roger Culkin entered the room with what looked like his lawyer. He walked to the podium and cleared his throat before he began to speak.

“My name is Roger Culkin and I’m here today to set the record straight about what happened on Thursday, the seventeenth of October, in Tampa. During the game, I was hit from behind, pushed face first into the boards by Evgeni Barkonov. Whether it was done intentionally I don’t know, but at the time I was mad. I lost my temper and said something I never should have said—something racist, homophobic and mean-spirited. The words came out in a fit of rage. I didn’t even realize I’d done it until the linesman sent my teammate Garrett Hawkins off the ice. At the time, I was only thinking about the game and myself. It didn’t occur to me that Hawk was taking the fall for me, that he would be fined by the league, suspended five games and have his reputation slung through the mud. I didn’t think about any of that until I saw some stuff online the other day. I wasn’t sure what to do, who to tell, so I didn’t say anything. Then I heard through the grapevine that his girlfriend was being hounded by the press and she was also the sister of one of our former teammates… based on the history between us, I knew I couldn’t stay quiet anymore.

“I’m here tonight to clear the air. I’m responsible for what was said—not Hawk. He didn’t even skate into the fray until I was done running my mouth. I’m asking the league to find other tapes, other angles, so they can verify that it wasn’t him. I’m taking full responsibility for what happened and I want to apologize to Hawk, his girlfriend, Madison, and to her brother, Jamie Teller. I don’t know what came over me, but it’s not what’s in my heart or what I meant…”

Jamie made a motion and someone turned the video off. He turned to Hawk and smiled. “Welcome to the family, bro.”

Maddie was crying again, running to throw her arms around her brother and Hawk got up to join her. He waited until she’d stopped crying and then wrapped his arms around both her and his new brother-in-law.

“How the hell did you manage that?” he whispered in his ear.

Jamie just winked.

* * *

They drank and danced late into the night. Hawk had never been so in tune with a woman or so easily accepted into a family. Holding his wife in his arms as he drank and joked with her two brothers and brother-in-law was as easy as anything he’d ever done and he truly didn’t want this night to end, for these people to leave. Though they were family now, it was a special evening with special people, and nights with this kind of magic didn’t happen that often.

When Maddie moved off to sit and chat with her parents, he joined Jamie and Viggo at the bar.

“You appear to have made my sister happy,” Jamie said, grinning.

“That’s my plan,” he said, getting a beer from the bartender.

“We eloped too,” Viggo said, “but you guys wasted no time. This happened quickly. Do you actually have a plan for when you get home?”

“We’ve got a plan for the next two weeks,” Hawk admitted. “After that, we’ll have to reassess. If it was up to me, she’d quit her job and move to Ottawa immediately, but she’s got to tie up her life in Toronto first, and I’ll be on the road quite a bit coming up.”

“Anything I can do to help,” Jamie offered. “I’m not playing right now, so if you need anything at all, just let me know.”

“I appreciate that. I can’t think of anything offhand, but if I do, we’ll ask. I want this to be as easy as possible for her and I hope… well, I hope she’s accepted into the fold back in Ottawa.”

“It’s not going to be easy for her,” Jamie said. “I never really got to know any of the wives and girlfriends when I was there, so it’s going to be up to you to help her get used to life as a hockey wife.”

“I’ll do whatever I can.” He cleared his throat. “And Jamie, seriously, I don’t know how I’ll ever thank you for what you did for me, how you got Culkin to admit the truth.”

“I didn’t do it for you.” Jamie looked at him with the same big brown eyes as his sister. “I did it for her. You get one chance with this, with us. If you hurt her, you won’t get another.”

“That’s irrelevant,” Hawk said firmly. “There’s nothing on this earth that would make me hurt her.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about.” Jamie draped an arm across his shoulder. “Except how many shots we’re going to do before you head off to your wedding night.”

“No bachelor party, so we’ll have to do this the hard way,” Viggo laughed, motioning to the bartender.

“Bring it,” Hawk grinned. “Pretty sure I can drink my new brothers-in-law under the table.”

“He doesn’t know me,” Viggo chortled, shaking his head.

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