Page 19

Eleven

The shit hit the fan as soon as the Mayhem left the ice. Merriweather had the nerve to voice his displeasure with their loss the minute they arrived in the visitor’s dressing room. He snapped his stick over his knee while uttering a few choice expletives.

“We coulda had that one,” he groused.

He was one to talk. If he’d been where he was supposed to be in the final minute, the puck wouldn’t have slipped beneath Alek’s butterfly stance and into the net. Both teams would still be out there on the ice playing overtime right now.

The stats wouldn’t reflect that, of course. Alek’s numbers would take the brunt of the loss. So would his reputation, which was, at present, circling the toilet. He tossed his helmet into his stall in frustration.

“Closed-door team meeting tomorrow after morning skate. Players only,” Picard announced.

“No fucking way!” Merriweather complained. “Tomorrow is our first back-to-back game all season. Contract says we get the day off.”

“Yeah, so you can get stoned while playing video games,” Valentine mumbled beside Alek.

The air in the dressing room all but crackled as the members of the Mayhem waited to see how their captain would respond.

“I don’t give a shit about the contract you signed with management.

” Picard kept his voice low yet lethal. “But every time you pull on a hockey sweater with the Mayhem logo on it, you’re making a commitment to every guy in this room.

And that extends to participating in meetings and whatever else I deem necessary. ”

Merriweather looked as if he was going to object. One of the PR staff poked his head into the room.

“Media in five, fellas,” he announced.

“Are we good?” Picard asked the room at large. He was adamant the media did not get wind of any rifts among the team. The Mayhem’s wonky start to the season already had the hockey pundits dissecting the team’s every move as it was.

Most of the guys murmured in the affirmative.

Merriweather ripped his sweater over his head and tossed it into one of the equipment hampers before stomping off toward the showers, his skates still on his feet.

Valentine shook his head in disgust. Alek exchanged a look with Gus.

They needed to do their part to help change the narrative.

“Great penalty killing out there tonight, guys,” Alek told his teammates. He hated losing as much as the next guy. Still, he knew they couldn’t win every game. Not that the fans would see it that way. “You saved my ass multiple times while keeping the game close right up until the end.”

“I agree,” Gus said. “Tonight’s Balls to the Wall Award goes to Seward and the PK team. Outstanding job, all of you.”

Gus pulled a thick gold link chain with a three-inch gold M hanging from it out of his bag and placed it around Seward’s neck. The rest of the guys clapped, albeit with a little less enthusiasm than if they’d won the game.

“Speech,” they demanded.

Seward stood. “I believe in every man in this room. All we need to do is play Mayhem hockey. Let’s focus on the games ahead of us and get the job done.”

“You know it!” Valentine called out.

A few of the guys barked while others banged their sticks on the floor. The dressing room door opened, and members of the media flooded in. Curiously, they all made a beeline to Alek’s stall, where they began bombarding him with questions.

“Alek, can we get a comment on the incident involving your girlfriend and your ward?”

“How long have you been dating Sheridan Cobert?”

“Has your dog had all of its shots?”

“Did you pick out her Halloween costume?”

What in the ever-loving hell?

Alek was pretty sure his jaw was on the floor. Every other guy on the team stared at him in silence. Thankfully, Lori stepped in to save the day.

“The game ran late, and the charter buses are waiting to drive us all back to Milwaukee. Since we have a game tomorrow night, I’m sure the guys want to get into their own beds as soon as possible.

If everyone can clear out so they can get dressed and we can get the equipment loaded on the bus, I know everyone would appreciate it. ”

Her request was met with some grumbling, but they had been on the road for the week, too. The members of the media were also eager to get home. They cleared out without much protest. Alek’s teammates all seemed to reach for their phones at the same time.

“Holy shit,” one of the guys said.

Alek felt like a deer in the headlights. He stood frozen, still trying to make sense of all the questions thrown at him. He looked over at Lori.

“Do I even want to know?”

She powered up her tablet and swiped at it.

An image of Sheridan on her knees wearing what he could only describe as a cheap beer garden’s server outfit filled the screen.

The angle of the camera made the image look provocative.

For her part, Sheridan did not look amused.

Lori swiped again to a photo of Finn wielding a hockey stick at a crowd of kids.

Behind him, Hattie was straining against her leash.

“What the hell?” he repeated.

Gus was murmuring into his phone. He gave Alek a sympathetic look.

“Some of the kids in the neighborhood decided to pick on Finn because he was wearing your jersey. Finn took exception to it,” he explained.

Alek swore savagely.

“It gets worse. One of the asshole dads chimed in,” Gus continued.

Picard was immediately by Alek’s side. “Who are we having a convo with?” he demanded of Gus.

Gus sighed. “Claire says Sheridan wants to let it go.”

“That’s on brand.” Alek held out his hand for Gus’s phone. “Let me talk to her.” He needed to hear her voice. To know that she and Finn were okay. Then he was going to kill everyone who dared to insult them both.

His friend shook his head. “She took Finn home already.”

Alek dug into his bag for his phone and dialed her number. It went straight to voicemail. He swore again.

“Let’s all take a breath and get dressed so we can get on the road,” Lori reminded them. “We can get more of the facts on the way. We’ll be home before midnight if you all hustle.”

She quit the room just as Alek’s phone chimed with a text.

Everything is fine. Getting Finn ready for bed. I’ll see you when you get home.

He stabbed his fingers at the phone.

Wait up for me.

He went to put his phone back in the stall so he could shower and dress before he decided to add to his text.

Please.

She replied with a thumbs-up emoji.

It was well past midnight by the time Alek arrived home.

It had taken some evasive maneuvering to avoid the media staking out the practice facility where he’d left his car.

His irritation was already off the charts after spending the hour-and-a-half bus ride scrolling through the Internet, watching the ridiculous story go viral.

It didn’t help that his sister was apparently spending her evening surfing the web, sending him link after link accompanied by laughing emoji. Collin’s text pissed him off even more. His agent demanded that he call ASAP and explain why he was destroying Sheridan’s reputation. Alek ignored him.

Light from the big screen flickered in the dark family room. He looked in to find Sheridan asleep on the sofa, several books spread out around her. He glanced at one. It dealt with grief in children. A similar book was open beneath her hand. A half a glass of wine sat on the ottoman.

He sighed softly. Of course she was going to try to carry the burden of fixing this. When was she going to learn that she wasn’t responsible for everyone and everything?

He went upstairs to check on Finn. As expected, Hattie lay across the end of the bed, standing guard over her charge. She opened one eye at Alek’s approach, watching carefully as Alek adjusted the blankets bunched up around Finn’s waist.

A photo on the nightstand caught his eye.

It was Finn with his father. The two of them shared identical smiles.

He glanced around, checking for more pictures.

The photo of Alek, Madison, and Jamie that he remembered seeing hanging in Barn Burner was propped up on the small table Sheridan had converted into a makeshift homework desk.

As far as he could tell, there weren’t any of Finn and Madison in the room.

He recalled his mom always complaining that she was never in the pictures because she was always taking them. Likely that was also the case here.

He gently grazed his palm over Finn’s soft hair before turning to leave. Hattie approved of the gesture with a single wag of her tail. It was hard to imagine her attacking anyone like the dog who bit his sister all those years ago. But if someone dared to touch Finn . . .

“Good dog,” he whispered.

Hattie was already snoring when Alek closed the door. He headed back downstairs. Sheridan stirred on the couch.

“Hey,” he said softly, sitting down near her feet.

“Hey.” Her bedroom voice had all his nerve endings standing at attention. Among other things. He grabbed one of the blankets off the back of the sofa and covered his lap under the guise of warming her feet.

“Looks like you encountered more tricks than treats tonight,” he said.

She covered her face with her hands and groaned. “I’m so sorry.”

Her words stoked his anger. He reached over and pried her hands away from her face.

“Do not even dare to apologize,” he snapped. “Not everything is your fault.” He dragged in a breath. “People can be assholes. Things got out of hand, that’s all.”

Sheridan sat up facing him. She brushed the hair off her face before pulling her knees up in front of her and resting her chin on them. “But they shouldn’t have gotten out of hand. Finn has never done anything like that before.”