Page 22 of Playoff (Toronto Blaze #4)

Jess relaxed beside me as the game continued.

I didn’t think anyone could have stayed that stiff the whole time.

I kept my distance, so we didn’t touch, though we were near enough that I could feel the heat of her body.

Her brother was the only one who’d have reacted to us being this close together, and he was at the game, occasionally caught on camera in the stands.

Cooper’s team didn’t win, but no one was too disappointed. After the last presentations, people stood up, ready to head out. I pushed to my feet and held out a hand to help Jess up. She took my hand after a moment’s hesitation.

“You can take Jess home, right Fitch?” Ducky asked.

“Of course.”

I shot a glance at Jess to catch her reaction, but she had her back to me as she headed to the kitchen. Hard to believe it was the same woman who’d joked around with me last night, moaning and bouncing on the bed to fool Fitch.

The guys left—Royster, Oppy, and Crash heading in the same direction and sharing a ride.

Jayna went with Mitch. The rest of the women were in the kitchen, cleaning up.

I joined them, leaving Fitch and Ducky talking about the game.

Jess and Callie were trying to convince Katie to keep the leftovers, while Katie insisted that the others should take their stuff home.

“If you really want to get rid of it, we’ll take it,” I offered. Three pairs of eyes narrowed at me. I shrugged. “Just saying.” The food had all been good, and I’d happily deal with it before the overly polite no you s went on forever.

I’d brought in some empty beer bottles and dropped them in the recycling.

While the women packed up the leftovers, I rinsed off bowls and put them in the dishwasher without asking.

I didn’t think Katie and Ducky were the types to have precise stacking techniques.

If they did, they could change them around when we were gone.

“Oh thanks, Denny,” Katie said when she realized what I’d done.

“No problem.”

Jess took a bag of stacked containers and shoved it across the counter to me. “Your leftovers, as requested.”

I dipped my chin. “Thanks. Everything was good.”

“I’m surprised there were any leftovers,” Callie muttered. “Hockey players.”

Katie laughed. “I’m glad Denny’s taking them. Josh is paranoid about putting on weight while he’s recuperating, but his willpower with this kind of food is more won’t-power.”

“Hey, Jess and Denny!” Ducky called.

I rolled my eyes. He wasn’t on crutches now, so he could move around and didn’t have to yell for us. I waited till I was in the living room before I answered. “What is it?”

Ducky was leaning forward in his chair, almost vibrating with excitement. I checked on Fitch. He wasn’t smirking, like he would be if Ducky was about to say something harebrained.

“Fitch and I were talking. About the team.”

I nodded. Jess, Katie and Callie had followed me in.

Ducky pointed at me. “JJ is having problems with you, right?”

Jess started to murmur a protest.

“Yeah,” I said. “You know the story about my parents.”

Ducky nodded quickly. “Right. So it’s not you, like, not as a person, but your last name and what it means.”

“Right.” After the conversation with Jess last night, I understood better what his problem was.

Not that it made a lot of difference. It was hard to forget the name Denbrowski when Coach was calling it in practice, teammates were yelling Denny on the ice, and the mass of letters on my jersey was impossible to miss.

“Okay, so what if we got rid of your name?” Ducky spread his hands, like he’d solved everything.

I frowned at him. I’d been tempted to change my name, back when everything happened. But it was pointless. I was an NHL player. I couldn’t arrive at a new team using a different name and not have it announced in all the sporting news.

John Smith, formerly known as Alek Denbrowski. He changed his name after his parents skipped the country with the proceeds of their Ponzi scheme.

It would be part of the pregame chat. I couldn’t escape it, so I hadn’t bothered.

“You want me to change my name.” Like it was that easy. Did he think people would mindlessly use a new name, and I wouldn’t be constantly referred to by my birth name?

“No!” Ducky shook his head. “I wouldn’t ask that. Not like it wouldn’t be brought up all the time even if you switched it legally. But I was thinking, maybe if JJ didn’t see it all the time, he could at least forget while you were playing.”

“So, I should wear a jersey with no name on it?” Pretty sure that wouldn’t fly.

Ducky was sitting up, excited. “Sometimes, for special nights, players have had different names on the back. What if we could get your first name on there, instead of your last name?”

I looked at Fitch with raised eyebrows. He shook his head. “I don’t think the league would allow it.”

Ducky shrugged. “So we don’t ask them. We do it and wait till they stop it. See if it works.”

I was skeptical, but beside me, Jess was nodding. “Why not try it? It might not work, but if it did…”

Just like that, I agreed. Jess looked too damned happy at the idea of doing something to help her brother.

“And even if we can’t keep it up, maybe we can all just switch to using the name Alek instead of Denny or Denbrowski. You okay with that, Alek?”

I wasn’t used to answering to my own damned name anymore, but while Jess was staring at me with big eyes and a smile, I’d never say no. A part of me liked the idea of escaping my family past, even if just in this small, symbolic kind of way.

“Sure. It’s my name after all.”

Katie smiled proudly at Ducky. Callie had her phone out. “I’ll tell Cooper and see if he thinks you can do it.”

And just like that, I stopped being Denny for the Blaze.