Page 26

TWENTY-FIVE

willa

“The National Anthem? Really?” Cal whines.

“It was the only way Jon could get me what I needed.”

Cal glares at me as he paces. “Rockstars don’t sing the National Anthem.”

“There’s no way that’s true,” Kai says, but he’s smiling at how annoyed Cal is.

“Reba did it,” I say.

Cal stops pacing. “Really? Reba did it?”

“She’s telling the truth,” Kai tells Cal.

“Well, if Reba did it, so can I,” Cal says, puffing out his chest and starting his vocal warm-ups.

“Come on,” I say to Kai. “Maggie is sitting alone waiting for us.”

He follows me to our seats, adjusting his baseball cap to try to cover some of his face while I make sure my wig is still in place.

“It’s weird seeing you blonde again,” he says. “Not bad,” he amends when he catches my questioning look. “Just different.”

“There you are!” Maggie shouts. She jumps up from her seat and gives me a quick hug. “You must be Kai. I’m Maggie, Gideon Banks is my husband.” Kai smiles and shakes her outstretched hand. The team is finishing up their warm-ups by the time we finishing greeting each other. Maggie was able to use the other two tickets her parents have for Cal and Kai. They’re doing what Declan’s parents are and traveling a lot. She said they’ve only made it to two games so far this season.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the singing of your National Anthem,” the announcer says. “Tonight’s performance is by Callahan Griffin of Shattered Halo.”

Maggie’s big brown eyes go wide as Kai and I descend into a fit of laughter that’s luckily drowned out by the roaring of the crowd. We manage to get ourselves together in time for Cal’s first note.

“He’s going to get you back for this,” Kai says in my ear.

“Worth it.”

Cal does a great job. The crowd gets so loud it’s deafening. You’d think he won a Grammy with the way they’re cheering for him. Declan even skates up to the rug Cal is standing on and gives him a hug. I’m sure he was wondering what the hell Cal was doing here.

By the time Cal gets to his seat next to Kai, he’s changed into a jersey with Declan’s number on it and a baseball hat.

“Are you wearing a Chickadees hat?” I ask him, leaning around Kai.

“Jasper gave it to me,” Cal huffs.

“Your funeral,” I say and lean back into my seat. Boston is a serious sports town, and the Chickadees have beaten us in the World Series twice in the last five years. Cal is asking to get beat up in the parking lot.

“Does Dec have to score for this to work?” Cal asks.

“Ideally.” Declan said Chicago was going to be tough, so him scoring isn’t key to my plan.

“Why is Dec’s teammate blowing kisses at you?” Kai’s pointing at Martinez, who is in fact, blowing kisses at Maggie and me.

I snort at the same time Maggie giggles. We look at each other and blow him a kiss back. He smiles and gets in position for the face-off. Dec and Gideon both glare at him before turning back to the ref holding the puck.

“Cameron has a theory that if he flirts with us, it’ll make Gideon and Declan play harder,” Maggie explains. “Because of aggression or something.”

Kai nods like that makes complete sense to him.

“Looks like it worked,” Cal says as Gideon wins the face-off.

“Or not,” Kai mutters when Chicago’s defense immediately gets it out of their zone.

By the end of the first period, the score is at zero for both teams, but the frustration is tangible. Any time we were in scoring range, Chicago’s defense stopped us. The same went for them, though. If they managed to get anywhere near our goalie, they were stopped. There hasn’t been a single shot on goal. Which might be the first time I’ve seen that.

I pull my phone out to text Dec. He doesn’t always check in between periods, but I’m hoping he does today.

29 on defense is keeping weight off his right leg when you guys aren’t near him. I think he has an injury. Try to get to that side instead of the left.

Goalie has a blind spot, bottom right. He’s missed most shots during warm up in that box.

88, left wing on the second-string reflexes are slower than the right wing. Tell your guys to outskate his old ass.

This is a guess, but I think the center on the first line is letting Gideon win the face-off. They’re relying heavily on their defense. They’re running an offensive defense, I think. It wouldn’t surprise me if one of the d-men attempt to score the moment you give them an opening.

Hockey Boy

You’re a fucking godsend, Princess. I showed Coach your texts. He might hire you after this.

Win the game, and you can show me your appreciation when we get home.

Fuck, Willa. Do you know how uncomfortable it is to get a boner wearing a jockstrap?

Head in the game, hockey boy.

Yes, Princess.

“I got popcorn, nachos, hot dogs, pizza, and beer,” Cal says behind the pile of food he’s holding. I can’t even see his face. “Oh, and I got you a Coke, Kai.” Cal turns around and sticks his butt out to show the bottle of Coke in his back pocket to Kai, who just sighs and grabs it.

“We had dinner right before coming here.” I don’t know why I bother. Cal eats nonstop.

“I’ll take a beer and a hotdog. Oh, and nachos!” Maggie says. I hand her what she asked for from the stack.

“I like you, Maggie,” Cal garbles around a mouthful of pizza. Maggie blushes into her beer, and I roll my eyes.

“I got you and Gideon tickets and backstage passes,” I tell her.

“To what? Isn’t your tour over?” I explain the added shows we confirmed today, and she squeals. “Thank you! I’m so excited!”

“They’re back,” Kai says. I watch the team skate back out onto the ice. Declan and Gideon make a few laps around the rink before stopping in front of us. Declan taps his heart, and I do the same, while Gideon and Maggie just smile at each other.

“Married people are weird,” Cal mutters.

“You’re married, dumbass,” Kai points out.

“Yeah, but like not that married,” he says, gesturing to the four of us.

“I have no idea what the means,” Kai sighs.

“Obviously. You’re not married,” Cal says. “You’re living in sin with my sister.”

I mutter “Jesus Christ,” under my breath right before Maggie starts loudly cackling.

“Your friends are so funny,” she says once she calms down.

“You only think that because you don’t know them,” I whisper. She laughs and lightly slaps my arm. She thinks I’m joking.

“Face-off!” she yells. I look at her beer to see it’s already empty. Maggie is a lightweight. Noted.

Gideon is slow on the snap on purpose this time, letting Chicago win. Martinez gets the puck and passes to Declan, who easily breaks away from their offense and goes straight for 29’s right side. 29 tries to stop him, but Dec checks him, and 29 goes down. Declan quickly takes the shot on the goalie’s bottom right.

“Goal!” Maggie screams a second before the buzzer sounds and the goal lights up.

Declan throws his arms in the air, pointing the one holding his stick at me. He immediately skates over to me and puts his hand on the glass. Instead of doing the same on my side, I take my wig off, tip my head upside down to shake out my hair, and lift back up to meet Declan’s eyes. Then I put my hand on the glass opposite his. The hand with the shiny diamond that will be unmistakable.

His smile is blinding. I know all the cameras are on us right now. It was what I asked Jon to arrange. This is a Saturday night game. A million people are watching. It’s my way of showing the world Declan is mine. Of showing Declan I want the world to know I’m his.

Next to me, Kai and Cal take their hats off. Maggie is holding the sign I gave her earlier that says “Mrs. Monroe,” with an arrow pointing at me. I didn’t want anyone misunderstanding who I was. Declan’s smile never falters, but he starts laughing when he looks up. I look at the jumbotron and facepalm. Cal has made his own sign that says “Declan Monroe owns this bum,” with a hand drawn picture of a peach.

“Told you,” Kai says in my ear.

The ref blows his whistle, having let this go on longer than normal. Declan blows me a kiss and skates back into position. I’m still smiling as I watch him bend over and place his stick on the ice. I’ve always loved watching Dec skate. He flies over the ice with puck handling skills that could land him in the Hall of Fame. But now that things have changed between us, I’m suddenly seeing how powerful his legs are and the way his tongue darts out to lick the drop of sweat from his full lips.

I shake my head a little, snapping myself out of the thoughts that were quickly leading to visions of being naked with Dec. I need to focus on the game. The guys hold Chicago back and manage to keep the score at one-nothing.

“A bum?” I ask Cal after the second period ends.

He shrugs. “This is a family friendly event, Willa.”

“I’ve seen men lose teeth at these games. I don’t think you had to censor your sign,” I point out.

“Shit, you’re right,” he says, sounding disappointed.

“Look,” Maggie says next to me, pointing at the jumbotron. The camera is on me, Kai, and Cal again. So we wave and Cal blows kisses, mouthing hi to Harlow and Cora.

“How does it feel to have cameras on you like that all the time?” Maggie asks.

“You get weirdly paranoid that you’re going to develop chronic nose picking or something equally embarrassing,” I admit. “I’d love to say you get used to it, but when it’s moments like this, where I know I’ll never be able to watch my husband play hockey without attention falling on me more than it should,” I shrug, “it gets old.”

“You could watch from the family box with the other wives. The cameras can’t see in to most of it. I’ll even go with you,” she offers.

“You’re so sweet, but I’d like to stay down here with you for as long as I can. If it interferes with the game, I’ll go up to the box.” I’ve met some of the other wives and girlfriends and they all seem nice, but I like to be close enough to the action to smell the sweat. Not literally, but I like to feel like I’m a part of it.

Hockey Boy

What’s the verdict, Coach?

Goalie is protecting his right. Leaves the top left open if you can be quick enough. I’d get the puck to Ivanov. He’s faster at shooting.

That’s not an insult to you before you go there.

. . .fine.

I don’t have any other observations, but Chicago knows you’re onto their strategy. They’re a smart team, so I would expect something different for the last period. No idea what. You watched their tapes, so you should know.

I did, and they never played so defensively and effectively as they have tonight.

What did your coach say?

He said they cleaned house and got a whole new assistant coaching staff. So it’s anyone’s guess.

Dammit. He just said to get the puck to Ivanov.

I send him a smiley face and pocket my phone.