Page 24

TWENTY-THREE

ETHAN

The rink parking lot was nearly full when I arrived after judging the crafts competition.

I chatted with a few people who were looking over the T-shirts and jerseys for sale as well as autographed auction items.

Liam and I had hosted exhibitions during Pride over the past couple of years, usually featuring one or two special guests including fellow hometown boy Ryland Zervudachi, who played for Columbus. This year we were able to bring in several pros to play alongside some of our most elite campers.

“Coach Ethan!” Tommy’s voice carried across the lobby. He and Milo were already in their gear except for skates, talking and signing. When I reached them, Tommy continued to speak and sign. “Ready for us to crush…”

Tommy stopped and looked at his hands with a frustrated expression.

“Crush.” Milo chimed in, saying the word while putting one hand over the other, palms facing. Then he slammed the upper hand down on the lower and rotated the palm of the upper hand in a squishing motion.

Tommy nodded and turned back to me. “Ready for us to crush your team?”

He signed the whole question over. The quick tutoring session was completely adorable.

“Pretty confident there, aren’t you?” I replied, signing as well.

Milo’s hands flew in response as he spoke. “With good reason. Coach Liam stacked our lineup.”

“Don’t let them intimidate you, E!” Caleb called out as he and Mimi joined us, already mostly geared up. “Our first line is going to find the back of the net. A lot.” He fist-bumped Mimi. “And the second will add even more. Plus we’ve got Zervudachi on deck as our third center.”

Mimi nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, Tommy. You might want to save some of that energy for when you’re trying to get past Coach Ethan on D.”

“All talk.” Tommy flashed a playful smirk. “We’ll see who’s celebrating after the final buzzer.” He and Milo shared a fist bump.

“I’m sure that’s going to be us,” Bellamy Jordan said as he arrived. He also fist-bumped Tommy and Milo.

“No way!” Ry came in close behind along with his brother Jason, who was also Bellamy’s boyfriend. “Our lineup of centers can’t be beat, right, Cap?” He looked at me.

“I’m staying neutral… until we’re on the ice.” I appreciated how everyone was keeping things light, perfect for a game with teens. Teaching good sportsmanship was crucial. “Bellamy, glad you could join us for the game and to coach this season too.”

“I’m excited to do it. I’ve heard a lot about this from these two.” He gestured to Jason and Ry.

“I’m so sorry I haven’t had a minute to see you guys.” The brothers and I traded quick hugs. “Once the festival’s done, we’ve got to do a proper catch-up.”

“Looking forward to it,” Ry said.

“Alright, we all need to finish getting ready so we can open the doors. It looks like it’s going to be standing room in here.”

Fist bumps went all around as everyone scattered to prepare. In the locker room, Liam looked up from his phone as I came in. “Hey! We’ve got a slight change. Travis is out sick.”

“Oh no, what happened?” Not only did this affect the goalie lineup, but Travis had been excited to go against the NHL players.

“A stomach bug of some kind.” Liam’s expression brightened. “The good news is Daniel June’s still in town. He has gear at his parents’ place, so he’s subbing in.”

“Oh, that’s outstanding.” I stripped off my shirt and shorts. “From waltzing to being in net in less than twenty-four hours.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool.”

The locker room gradually filled with players from both teams. The mix of experienced pros and eager campers created an infectious energy.

Once everyone dressed, we headed out to the ice together and got into warm-ups as thumping dance music played over the sound system.

The special jerseys looked spectacular on the players and some members of the crowd too.

The Maplewood Pride Exhibition Game logo in the colors of the Progress Pride flag on the front created a striking contrast on my team’s dark blue sweaters and Dix’s team’s white ones.

After a few minutes, I retrieved a microphone from the scorekeeper booth.

The packed stands hummed with excitement.

There was a row filled with the pros’ boyfriends and husbands—Oscar, Aaron, Jason, and Shawn among them.

I was happy to see that Kyle’s boyfriend Austin had made it after some flight delays.

Then Andre caught my eye. He was sitting with my moms near center ice and up a couple of rows. His small wave sent flutters through my chest, and I smiled and nodded in his direction.

“Good afternoon, everyone.” No nerves surfaced this afternoon as I spoke. After being so far outside my comfort zone the past few days, it was possible that nothing could faze me now.

“Thank you all for coming out to support our fourth Pride exhibition game. Because of your generosity, we’ve already raised over seventy-five hundred dollars for the You Can Play Project and GLSEN.

” I paused for the applause. “And just a reminder that you can help us raise more. The merchandise and silent auction bidding will be open for thirty minutes after the game.”

I took a breath and moved on to thanking all the professional players who’d joined us and announcing that we were each matching the total raised, along with additional donations from our teams and the league.

My shout out to Daniel for stepping in as goalie after his performance last night earned enthusiastic applause from the crowd.

He raised his goalie stick in acknowledgement.

“Alright, we’re getting started. First up, we’ve got two skills competitions with fastest skater and accuracy shooting.

That’ll be followed by two periods of play.

And yes, the rumors are true—whichever team loses, that captain will take a shift in the dunk tank at six.

Make sure you head over right after the game to take your shot at Dix in the park. ”

The crowd laughed exactly as I’d hoped.

“Hey, no fair!” Dix shouted from across the ice before rapidly skating over to me. He snatched the mic from my hand. “He really means you all should stop by and dunk him after the game. My team will prevail.”

“Gimme that.” Liam skated over and grabbed the mic. “Excuse these two.” He smiled and shook his head at us. “Let’s just see what happens over the next couple of hours, shall we?”

He returned the mic to the scorekeeper as the audience cheered again.

Andre’s amused smile from the stands beckoned me to come kiss him. I forced myself to go to the bench instead. We’d get to hang out tonight, and then there would be kisses.

The skills competition kicked off with the fastest skater challenge.

Tommy edged out Kyle by a fraction of a second in an epic finish.

Kyle, who’d lost the faster skater by a similar margin at the All Star Game a couple of years ago, took it graciously.

He grabbed Tommy’s hand and raised it in victory, encouraging the crowd to continue cheering.

During accuracy shooting, Andre’s presence kept drawing my attention because I wanted to see what he thought of all this. His intense concentration on me shattered my focus. I missed two targets. His expression had gone straight to my heart.

“Getting distracted, lover boy?” Nick teased as he came out to shoot next.

“Shut up and shoot,” I replied good-naturedly.

Ultimately, Miles won, prompting Cole, his ultra-competitive boyfriend, to demand another round.

The game blazed with intensity from the start. My team’s first line—which included Caleb and Mimi—connected well early, creating several scoring chances, but Dix and Milo proved to be a formidable defensive wall.

While I was defending against a rush, Andre caught my attention again as he leaned forward in his seat, completely focused on the play. That momentary distraction gave Tommy the opening to slip past and feed a perfect pass to Cole for the game’s first goal.

“Nice assist!” I called to Tommy as we reset at the center face-off dot. He raised his stick in salute. Even scoring against my team, he made me a proud coach.

The rest of the first period whirled by in a blur of fast breaks and crisp passes. The campers held their own beautifully alongside the pros. Milo especially showed remarkable awareness on the ice, anticipating plays before they developed.

During a brief break between periods, I gathered my team for a quick strategy session. “Alright, we’re only down by one. We’re doing all the right things so we need to keep that up and find a way to?—”

“Score more than them?” Mimi interrupted with a cheeky grin.

“And keep them from scoring.” I laughed. “In particular, we’ve got to watch out for their defense, creating breakaway chances. Let’s go get this win.”

Everyone cheered as the players lined up for the face-off.

The second period started strong for us as we broke up several offensive plays. Then Caleb won a face-off in our zone, sending the puck back to me. Mimi broke free along the boards. My pass hit her stick perfectly, and she deked around Daniel before roofing the puck to tie the game.

The crowd erupted. Fighting the urge to search for Andre’s reaction, I congratulated Mimi on her beautiful goal.

The teams traded chances as the period ticked on. Ry and Bellamy’s competitive streak flared when Ry stripped the puck from Bellamy during a breakaway, only to have Bellamy chase him down to recover it. Their battle ended when our goalie covered the puck.

With just under a minute left, Milo and Tommy showcased their skills on a breakaway. Tommy drew our defense to him before making a no-look pass to Milo, who sent a blistering slap shot past our goalie’s glove.

The final buzzer sounded with Dix’s team winning two to one. As we lined up to shake hands, my impending dunk tank appointment couldn’t dampen my spirits. The joy radiating from everyone—especially the campers—made everything worthwhile.

After cleaning up and changing back to street clothes, I navigated through the crowd, accepting congratulations on a fun and successful afternoon. I found Andre in the lobby talking with my moms.

“There’s our star player,” Mom called out as I approached.

“Even if his team lost,” Momma added with a teasing smile.

“Hey, we put up a good fight,” I protested, accepting hugs from both of them.

“The kids were incredible,” Andre said.

Mom nodded and gave me a meaningful look. “Just like someone I remember at that age.”

“Though hopefully with fewer pucks through windows,” Momma said with a laugh.

“That was one time.” I groaned, though a smile escaped at the memory.

“I’m going to need to hear that story,” Andre added.

My moms exchanged knowing looks before Momma said, “Well, we’re going to go grab good spots for the dunk tank.”

“Oh no, you’re not going to sit there and watch, are you?” I feigned mortification.

“Of course we are.” Mom took Momma’s hand. “Probably take some pictures too.”

“Maybe we should live stream it,” Momma said.

I shook my head as they happily headed out, loving them completely.

Andre turned to me with that playful smile. “So, was I that distracting?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I stepped closer, lowering my voice. “But if I did, I’d say it was worth it. I’ll have to come watch you work sometime so you know what it feels like.”

“I don’t think working with books qualifies as a spectator sport.” Andre’s voice had a seductive edge.

“I’m pretty sure you could make it one.”

His chuckle warmed me through. “Ready to get dunked?”