Page 36

EARLY FEbrUARY

Violet gripped Dakota’s arm as the Jumbotron lit up with a Pride banner and rainbow lights swept over the ice and across the crowd.

“You feeling nervous?” he asked, leaning in to be heard over the sound of the cheering.

“Fuck yes,” she said.

Dakota laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and kissing the top of her head. “You’ve got this. I’m sure you did an amazing job.”

“Yeah, it’s just a lot,” she said with a grimace as she pulled away. “I told everyone in my office who I’m close to, and I locked down all of my social media, just in case.”

“Smart. I think the detractors will be few and far between, but?—”

“They’re loud ,” she said glumly.

“Exactly. But fuck them. Tonight’s not about them. It’s about us .”

Violet gave him a bright smile. “I’m so glad you came to Boston.”

He tugged at her ponytail. “Me too.”

The video began, showing clips of a waving rainbow flag and then one of the equipment managers sewing Pride patches onto the Harriers’ jerseys. Dakota’s smile grew as the camera cut to Gavin in his office. He spoke carefully, gaze trained on the camera.

“Pride is important to me, not only as a gay man, but as the general manager of this team. I am committed to doing everything in my power to ensure the LGBTQ+ community feels welcome here in the stands, in our offices, and on the ice.”

The screen changed to a shot of Connor O’Shea carefully winding Pride Tape around the blade of his stick, a voiceover filling the air as he said, “My brother Kelly coming out was what made me realize how important it was to create an inclusive culture within the locker room, but it was my own realization that I’m bisexual that made it really hit home.”

In the video, Connor looked up, his expression stoic, his blue eyes bright as he stared into the lens and said, “It’s what made me realize I can do better, so future players know they don’t have to choose between being out and being able to play hockey.”

Next up were clips of the Boston Pride parade, a rainbow mural on the side of a building Dakota didn’t recognize, and the signed commemorative Pride night pucks they were giving away tonight before the video cut to Rafael Moon. He sat in the team’s video room, wearing Harriers’ sweats as he spoke.

“Pride is important to me because it made me feel safe to come here. I knew, that as a gay man, I’d be welcome in the locker room. I could play without having to hide who I am.”

Dakota frowned. That was interesting. It implied there were some locker rooms around the league that weren’t as welcoming. And while that didn’t necessarily come as a huge shock, it was sad to think there were teams who still weren’t as inclusive as they could be.

The screen filled with a woman typing, spreadsheets visible on her monitor and a small trans Pride flag stuck in a nearby pen cup.

In the stands, Violet gripped his arm tightly, hard enough to hurt.

The camera zoomed out, revealing Violet’s face. Her expression was serene, her gaze steady as she spoke. “Pride is important because it gives me security as a trans woman working in professional sports.”

Violet buried her face against Dakota’s shoulder, and he would have laughed but he got it. It was always weird to hear your own voice and see your face on a screen and to see it blown up that large was probably pretty overwhelming.

“You did great,” he whispered against her hair.

More videos appeared, more shots of Pride tape being wound around stick handles and clips of other people in the organization speaking. A security guard, a scout, several arena workers.

It cut to Tanner, who spoke animatedly, his whole face lit up as he talked about playing for an inclusive team.

Several players—who were straight, at least as far as Dakota knew—offered their support, talking about making fans feel welcome. Graham spoke about using his platform and his privilege to do good in the community, and Dakota smiled when he saw a clip of the team marching in a Pride parade.

The video cut to a clip of an older man marching with them, and the name Ned Merritt flashed on the screen before his voiceover began. He spoke about welcoming everyone to the arena, no matter who they loved or how they identified.

There were more clips, coming faster now, a camera panning over the city, then revealing shots from previous hockey games.

Jesse Webber appeared on the screen, grinning. “Pride matters because everyone should feel welcome to play hockey, be themselves, and have fun doing it!”

The video cut to Jesse hyping up the crowd as he danced, then transitioned to him dropping to one knee and shooting the puck. The camera panned across the ice, following the black disc until it landed neatly in the net.

The video ended with the images of Jesse celebrating with his teammates before it dissolved into a rainbow flag and the Harriers’ logo.

Dakota shot to his feet, clapping and cheering wildly as Violet and the rest of the crowd did the same.

Yeah, he’d definitely come to the right place.

“C’mon, c’mon,” Gavin urged under his breath as Rafael Moon picked up the puck on the blue line and passed it back into the offensive zone to Mickey Krause. He captured it and passed it to Connor O’Shea, who got a great shot off that was, unfortunately, blocked by New Jersey’s goaltender.

“Damn it.”

“Hey, we’re only fifteen minutes in,” Finn reminded him, but he looked tense too.

Mouse and Moon seemed to be playing well together and the forward they’d called up from Concord, Ben Estrada, was fitting into the forward lineup in Bobby Tucker’s place.

Overall, the team was playing well lately. The problem was, so were the other teams in their division.

Connor was on a goal scoring streak and Jesse had been playing well, so Gavin was hopeful they’d pull out a win tonight. Especially since it was Pride night.

He held his breath as a New Jersey player streaked toward Jesse’s net, but Jesse batted the puck away and Tanner was right there to collect it and get it back to the other end of the ice.

Several more minutes ticked away without a goal and Gavin glanced up at the Jumbotron. Damn, they weren’t getting enough shots on goal.

Moon and Krause were back out and Moon collected a loose puck at center ice, shooting it toward Anker Henriksen. Henriksen fired a cross-ice pass to Krause, who passed it to Moon, who got it to Henriksen again. Before Gavin could even blink, Henriksen had fired it, shooting it straight into New Jersey’s net.

The lamp lit up and the sound of the goal horn filled the air.

Gavin released a deep breath, softening his shoulders as the crowd cheered for the Harriers’ goal.

He bumped knuckles with Finn, who shot him a small, bright smile.

As predicted, the press had been loudly and enthusiastically excited about having an O’Shea in the head office and, so far at least, their division of labor seemed to be working well. They’d spent a hell of a lot of time together in the past few weeks as Finn got up to speed.

Gavin was thoroughly looking forward to bye week coming up, however. The midseason break would do him and the team a lot of good. With the trade deadline looming in March, there was no way Gavin could tune out work completely, but he had arranged for a small vacation.

Next week, he and Dakota would take a direct flight from Boston to Turks & Caicos and then a smaller plane to a small private island where they’d stay at a luxury resort. Gavin couldn’t wait .

He leaned forward a few minutes later as Connor drove toward the net and fired the puck, then slumped back when it glanced off the shoulder of New Jersey’s goaltender.

Damn .

Jesse made several more great saves, and then the Harriers got a power play a few minutes later when Tanner drew a penalty and a New Jersey player went to the box. But despite a few good attempts, New Jersey’s netminder stood tall and the scored remained 1-0 in Boston’s favor through the end of the first period.

Gavin got up to stretch during the intermission and Finn eyed him with an amused smile. “So, what’s up with the intermission yoga?” he asked. “I keep meaning to ask.”

Gavin shrugged. “It’s part of the fitness plan Dakota made for me.”

“How are you doing with the heart stuff?”

“Pretty good,” Gavin said, gently leaning his left ear toward his left shoulder, then dropping his right arm by his side and flexing his hand. He could still feel the stretch in his neck and shoulder, but it was so much better now. “Testing all pretty much said the same thing they told me in the ER. I have coronary artery disease and I’m at high risk for a heart attack but there’s no other underlying condition or anything. No heart murmurs or valve issues or anything crazy like that.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“Just trying to reduce my stress, cut down on caffeine, be mindful that most of what I eat is heart healthy, and cut down on drinking.” He shrugged.

Finn grimaced at his glass of whiskey. “Probably wouldn’t kill me to do that as well.”

Gavin shrugged. “Couldn’t hurt. But then again, it’s not like you have the genetics I do.”

“Yeah, no major heart disease in our family, thankfully,” Finn agreed. “Hey, speaking of family, I heard you and Thad are getting out on the ice together regularly.”

Gavin smiled, releasing his hand and tilting his head to the other side. “Yeah, we are. It’s been fun.”

“It seems like things are … easier between you two?”

“They’re getting there,” Gavin said.

Two decades of estrangement hadn’t vanished overnight. They still had a tendency to snap at each other and assume the worst, but they’d also learned to take some deep breaths and try again. Really hear each other when they explained what had bothered them.

It was progress.

Dakota had suggested Gavin and Thad go to therapy and when he’d brought up the idea to Thad, he’d scoffed a little at first, but admitted it probably wasn’t a bad idea.

Their parents would be a harder nut to crack.

Thad had assured Gavin that he’d talk to them, try to get them to come around, but Gavin had asked him to wait, wanting to cement his relationship with his brother first. Thad had agreed that was probably wise.

“Any chance Pat and I could get in on that skating?” Finn asked with a gleam in his eye. “I don’t want to interrupt your time with your brother, but I think the four of us could have fun on the ice.”

Grinning, Gavin straightened. “Sure. That could be fun. I’ll talk to Thad and see what he says about a little two-on-two hockey. O’Sheas vs. Racines.”

It felt great to strap on skates and battle it out over pucks. Doing that with two former NHLers would be a challenge, but a good one.

And Gavin had never met a challenge he wasn’t willing to face head on.

Halfway through the second period, the score was still 1-0.

Gavin watched intently during the next power play as Boston applied pressure, moving the action into New Jersey’s zone. Back by the net, Crawford collected the puck and shot it through traffic to Tanner. There were a few more high-danger passes that made Gavin silently mutter, “shoot the damn puck!” in his head.

But then Tanner floated back, batting the puck almost playfully as he surveyed the scene in front of him. He chipped the puck across the ice to Graham, who shot it to Connor with a beautiful backdoor feed.

Connor had been lurking beside the net, and he went to one knee, firing the puck with a short, hard shot over the goalie’s shoulder and into the net.

“Damn, that’s five now, huh?” Finn muttered.

“Yep,” Gavin said, grinning. “Your brother is on a niiice little hot streak.”

“I hate to admit it but that was a nice one,” Finn said grudgingly as Connor skated by the bench to get his glove taps from the boys.

From the other end of the ice, Jesse did a little dance in his crease before blowing a kiss toward Connor.

“They’re quite a pair, aren’t they?” Gavin asked with a laugh.

Finn chuckled. “They sure are. It’s good to see Con happy though. He needed something to liven him up. You did some great matchmaking there.”

Gavin shrugged. “I was just trying to get some solid netminding. I had no idea I was finding my captain a boyfriend.”

“Hockey’s a little different than it used to be in our day, huh?” Finn said.

“Just a little.”

Despite a flurry of good attempts, the second period ended without another goal. Gavin took a short walk during intermission, checking his messages while he did it.

He still didn’t have anything concrete from Jed Reilly in LA but he continued to be hopeful they could make something happen.

Despite New Jersey’s attempt to apply pressure during the third period, Jesse stopped all of their shots and as the final two and a half minutes of the period ticked down, Gavin watched as New Jersey pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker on the ice.

“You think Webber will attempt another goalie goal?” Finn asked with a grin.

“Probably not,” Gavin said. “But I wouldn’t swear to it.”

Finn chuckled, leaning his elbows on the railing as New Jersey peppered the Harriers net with shots.

But after a stoppage in play where they set up for a faceoff in Boston’s defensive zone, Connor won the puck battle and shot it toward Moon. Moon whipped around the net and fired it to Graham who took off, skating hard toward the empty net.

Slow to respond after a long shift, New Jersey’s defense were too tired to keep up, their legs flagging. With a neat little flick of his wrist, Graham sent the puck into the goal, giving Boston a 3-0 lead and Graham another twenty-goal season.

It was his third straight season with at least twenty goals and Gavin nodded with satisfaction. “Damn I like Pennington,” he said. “He’s just so fucking solid. He’s always in the right position, he’s reliable on and off the ice. He’s … steady, you know?”

“Agreed,” Finn said as they set up for the remaining ninety seconds of the game. “I’d like to see a few more players out there like that.”

“Me too,” Gavin agreed. “I like what I saw out of Moon tonight though. Two assists are respectable. He’s been quietly racking them up, actually. They’re not always the showiest of plays but they’re solid, you know?”

“Exactly. We still need more, but it’s starting to come together, I think.”

The seconds ticked down and as the game horn sounded, Gavin pumped his fist. Hell yes. Not only had they won—and against a division rival—Jesse had gotten a really nice shutout.

Finn was right. The team wasn’t where it needed to be yet, but it was definitely on its way.

A few minutes later, Gavin ran into Dakota in the hall outside of the locker room and swept him up into his arms, giving him a lingering kiss.

“Well,” Dakota said a little breathlessly as they pulled apart. “You’re all fired up from the game, huh?”

“I’m feeling great,” Gavin said, reaching down to discreetly squeeze Dakota’s ass.

Dakota grinned, his eyes sparkling as he tucked his hair behind his ear. “Good to know. Love the tie, by the way.”

He nodded toward the blue tie Gavin wore. Dakota had bought it for him. It was a deep blue—midnight—so dark it was almost black.

“Thanks! It’s nice to have a little variety in my wardrobe,” he teased.

Dakota coughed, muttering something that sounded a lot like “Mr. Boring.”

Gavin tightened his grip. “Hey, I was just about to tell the boys how impressed I was with their game. You want to come with me?”

“Uh, sure,” Dakota said, looking vaguely confused.

But he took Gavin’s hand and let him tow him toward the locker room. With a wave of Gavin’s badge, the doors opened.

With it came the unmistakable scent of sweaty gear and the sound of loud, happy players.

Gavin stepped forward as Jesse yelled, “Love wins!” and a loud blast filled the air, followed immediately by a shower of rainbow-colored confetti.

Startled, Gavin laughed, batting the tiny pieces of tissue paper out of his face. Unfortunately, he’d been directly in the line of fire.

Jesse shot him a vaguely guilty look. “Sorry, Gavin. Didn’t realize anyone was coming in.”

“It’s fine,” he said with another laugh. “Just wanted to say congrats. That was a helluva game, boys!”

A cheer went up from around the room and Hoyt Kent stepped up beside him to give a little post-game speech and hand out some milestone pucks. One to Jesse for the shutout and another to Graham for hitting the twenty-goal mark.

And it’s only February , Gavin thought happily, surveying the room of guys celebrating together. There’s still time for them to accomplish more.

Tanner stood, holding out the player of the game prize.

This season, it was a gaudy wall hanging that had the words, “I love Harriers hockey, Boston, and like two people,” embroidered on it. Gavin had no idea who had bought the tacky, touristy souvenir—one of the equipment guys maybe—but it felt like it belonged to Connor, because that really summed up his personality well.

But whoever had bought it, it traveled from teammate to teammate, given to whichever player was deemed to have been the best player in the game.

Tonight, Tanner called out, “Great game, guys! Congrats to the captain for his five-game goal streak!”

A whoop went up and Connor lifted his hand in acknowledgment, face still red and sweaty from the exertion of the game.

“But tonight, this has gotta go to Turtle!” Tanner shouted.

Gavin frowned. He hadn’t heard that nickname before.

But when Rafe stood, towering over the guys sitting beside him, it all made sense.

“Turtle?” Dakota asked under his breath.

“As in, Teenage Mutant Ninja …”

“Rafael …” Dakota said with a roll of his eyes. “God, you guys are so weird.”

“We’re fun though, right?” Gavin asked, glancing over.

Dakota laughed, smiling up at him. “Yeah, you’re pretty fun.”

“Speech, speech, speech!” the guys chanted as Tanner handed over the wall hanging.

Moon draped it around his neck. “Thanks, guys. Great job tonight. This really should go to Mouse though.”

He grinned down at his D-partner.

“Mouse and Turtle,” Dakota muttered. “ Seriously ?”

Gavin snickered.

“Mouse is the one who made all the plays possible. He’s always making sure I’m in position and ordering me around.”

Mouse—honest to God—let out an outraged squeak. “I do not order you around!”

Jesse scoffed. “Yeah right. I can hear you all the time! You’re always shouting at him and telling him what to do. I mean, hey, whatever works for you guys, huh? Just keep the kinky stuff out of the locker room, am I right?”

He winked in their direction and Rafe flushed a dull red. “Uhh, let’s keep it going out there, guys!” he said, and the room erupted with cheers.

Smiling, Gavin turned to go, tugging Dakota along with him.

“You don’t want to hang around?” Dakota asked as they reached the hallway and turned toward the exit. “I know some of the guys said they were going to O’Neill’s later. They’re doing an unofficial Pride night thing.”

“Nah,” Gavin said, pulling him close. “I have a better idea. How about we go home and have a much more private Pride celebration of our own?”

Dakota grabbed his tie, twisting it around his hand, eyes gleaming. “Does it have to be totally private?”

“Nope,” Gavin said, dropping his head to kiss him. “It definitely doesn’t.”