Page 47 of Back in the Game (Pride in the Game #1)
Harrison raised an eyebrow as Wolf skated past, grinning to show off his longer-than-average canines.
He had heard from Jett how open the Sunburst guys were and how confident they were in their sexualities.
There was a reason why they were the most gay-friendly team in the league, but it was startling to see it up close.
Willem Patrickson, their other defenceman on the first line, stayed behind to follow Harrison to center ice. “If Wolf bothers you, tell Ryan. He’s the only one who can keep the feral idiot on a leash.”
“He’s fine,” said Harrison. “I’ve watched enough interviews to know how he acts. Things have been tamer than I expected.”
Patrickson elbowed him gently. “That’s the spirit, Coach!”
“Not a coach,” said Harrison. He stopped once he reached center ice and blew the whistle, drowning out the laughter around him with the shrill sound. “Alright, guys. Time to have fun.”
Bracken pulled off his helmet and shook his sweaty hair out of his eyes. “Why do I feel like your version of fun is our version of hell?”
“Because it’s true,” said Jett. “Be prepared, guys. Things are about to get rough.”
“Just for you, Bracken and Cote,” said Harrison. “I think the rest of us will be having fun.”
Jett’s honey-brown eyes looked around at his grinning teammates, and he sighed. “Fuck you, Killinger.”
“Hey, bedroom stuff stays off the ice,” said Wolf.
“Shut up, Wolf.” Harrison kept his gaze on Jett, trying to hold a smirk back. “It’s you three against Powers and five of your buddies. First team to ten points, wins a prize.”
Powers got so excited that his skates nearly slipped from under him. “Ooo! A prize? What’s the prize?”
Wolf snorted. “It better not be his di—”
“I have one hundred acres of land surrounding a private lake in Nova Scotia,” said Harrison loudly. “I won’t miss a couple of acres.”
He didn’t think land in the middle of nowhere would be a prize to get excited over, but he might as well have offered land in Los Angeles or something from the reaction he received.
“Ryan, you gotta win it for us!” said Powers. “I want a lake house—and a boat—and—”
“For fuck sakes, Powers,” said Cormier. “Don’t bother getting excited, because I’m going to kick your boyfriend’s ass.”
Harrison’s gaze flicked to Cote while the guys continued to rib each other, and he was pleased to see he was ready to play.
“We have Rose and no defencemen,” said Bracken, frowning. “How is that fair?”
“Hey!” Rose yelled from his net.
“It’s not,” said Harrison. “I guess you’ll have to keep the puck and score faster than the other team. ”
The look on Jett’s face told him he would be in trouble later, but Harrison wasn’t worried. Hopefully, Jett would be too tired after this to go through with any plans for revenge.
Someone handed Harrison a puck, and they cleared the rest of the rink. The atmosphere turned from jovial to serious when he called Bracken and Hellstrom to the face-off. It was a match-up Bracken easily won, and he flicked the puck to Jett as they propelled forward.
Harrison stuck close to the wall as Jett passed back to Bracken, and Cote took position alongside them. They had no defence, so they were forced to push forward if they wanted to get any points.
They were sloppy, and Cote was nowhere near where Harrison needed him to be, but he put himself beside the net with Jett on the opposite side.
And because Jett was the bigger threat, Powers shifted his body to get ready to block, but Bracken sent the puck flying to Cote, who shot it over Powers’s shoulder and into the net.
They had to catch the rebound, so there was no time for celebration.
While Bracken and Wolf fought for possession of the puck in the corner of the rink, Harrison yelled, “Powers! Don’t go easy on them just because Bracken will share the reward with you!”
“I wasn’t—” Powers couldn’t finish when the puck came for him again, a nice shot by Jett that he smacked out of the way with his stick.
It was a very short match. The point was to push Cote as fast as he could without fucking up his mentality and exhausting everyone else before their next game.
Team Bracken walked away with a 10-8 win, much to Wolf and Hellstrom’s disappointment, but the amount of laughter echoing through the space was promising.
Coach Adams ordered them off the ice when they were done celebrating. After such a high-energy thirty minutes of play, they needed rest before getting on the plane later that night.
Harrison waited on the ice with Jett as the others headed to the locker room, circling his tired, sweaty boyfriend with a smirk.
“So, what do you think?”
Jett slicked his curly hair back and groaned. “I think Niko is a great player and he caught up with us fast, but I don’t know if it will be enough to win against Park. Maybe if we had more time, but we only have one practice session before the game, and we can’t go crazy since we’re playing.”
“I guess we’re on the same page then,” said Harrison. He couldn’t stop himself from closing the gap between them and running his fingers through Jett’s wet hair, moving it out of the way to kiss him on the cheek.
“All we can do is show up and fight. Maybe we can shock that pink-haired bastard enough that he chokes.”
“Park?” Jett scoffed, blinking up at Harrison. “I doubt anything can force that guy off his game. He scares the shit out of Wolf, and now that you’ve spent some time with him, I’m guessing you can see how impressive that would be.”
Harrison shrugged. “I mean, I think Wolf is more dumb than brave.”
Jett’s laugh was infectious, and Harrison joined in with a shake of his head. He turned and steered them toward the gate, but his leg twinged and he hissed.
Jett was instantly beside him, shoving himself under Harrison’s left arm to help take weight off his bad leg. “You okay?”
He debated pulling out of Jett’s hold because he was fine , but one look at his boyfriend, and another at Adams, who was waiting for them by the gate, made him decide otherwise.
“You,” Adams said to Jett. “Cool down and check in for physio. I want them to take one last look at that wrist before it’s checked off my list for good.”
“Yes, Coach.”
“Killinger, report to Daniel and get that leg worked on.”
Harrison didn’t bother arguing. “Alright.”
Jett waited until Harrison was seated and tugging at the laces of his skates before offering a cheeky salute. “See you in physio,” he said with a grin, already backing toward the door.
Harrison nodded, putting on a show of being fine so Jett wouldn’t worry. But as soon as he turned away, his shoulders slumped. He bent forward, frowning, and let out a quiet, miserable sigh.
“You did well today,” Adams said. “You not only met the goal I set—you exceeded my expectations.”
Harrison paused and looked up. “I…I can’t play anymore, but I still want this team to win.”
Adams tapped his pen against the screen of his tablet. “If my calculations are correct, we will win. And if we do, I’ll owe you a raise.”
“My boyfriend makes millions,” said Harrison.
Adams looked over his tablet to meet Harrison’s eyes. “Well…I can’t match what Fraser is getting paid.”
Harrison flushed. “No, I meant that I don’t need a raise.”
Adams tilted his head, blinking calmly. “Why? Do you not want to get paid what you’re worth?”
Harrison didn’t know how to react. He’d spent so long believing he wasn’t worth anything that hearing someone say otherwise felt unreal. It was strange—but it stirred something deep in him he hadn’t let himself feel in a long time.
“I have the direct deposit information for your bank account,” said Adams in a matter-of-fact tone. “I’ll pay you what you deserve, and not a penny more.”
Harrison didn’t think there was any point in arguing, so he agreed. “Not a penny more.”
“Excellent,” said Adams. “Now get that leg examined and rest it. Our flight to Ottawa leaves early tomorrow morning.”
“Right.” Harrison copied Jett, giving the coach a salute. “Will do.”
He waited until he was alone to take a second for himself.
He was tired—there hadn’t been enough time to breathe, let alone adjust to his new life. But Harrison didn’t care. Jett was the future he wanted, and that made the chaos worth it. All he had to do was hold on until things finally settled down.
Christmas was perfect. It wasn’t a huge break, but it would be enough time to figure stuff out.
December couldn’t come soon enough.