Goalie Goal (Indy Speed Hockey #3)

1. Goose

Chapter 1

Goose

“Yo, Maddox! You wanna see my dong?” I held up a long, girthy piece of beef tenderloin.

My teammates, Jenner, Asher, and Braxton, laughed heartily, but my coach, Maddox Sterling, rubbed an annoyed hand over his face and groaned.

“What is wrong with you? There are kids around.” Blowing out a heavy breath, he looked skyward, shaking his head.

“Come on,” I teased, my cheeks hurting from how wide I was smiling. “Don’t you get it? Because it looks like a dong?”

The big bad head coach of the Indy Speed hockey team merely grunted in response. He needed to loosen up. Most days, he was strung so tight that I worried he would have a stroke.

I didn’t understand why he couldn’t take a chill pill. It’s not like he wasn’t getting laid on the regular. His beautiful wife, Bristol, traveled with the team as a reporter, so she was always by his side. Most guys would kill for that kind of easy access instead of leaving their girls waiting for them at home.

He should be walking on air. I knew I would be.

Seated on the back deck of my new house—purchased after I’d signed my most recent contract, which would keep me with the Speed for the next six years—my teammates and I were enjoying this beautiful late-summer day before training camp began. I was manning the grill while the wives and kids played in the pool.

Speaking of kids . . .

Ollie, Asher’s almost four-year-old son, ran over dripping wet and asked, “Daddy, what’s a dong?”

Braxton and Jenner snickered while Maddox shot me a glare.

Asher grabbed a towel, drying off the little guy and explaining, “It’s another word for penis.”

His words were muffled behind his hand, but I could have sworn I heard Maddox grumble, “Fuck my life.”

Ollie perked up, his blue eyes going wide. “Oh! I have a dong, too, Uncle Goose!”

“Yeah, you do!” Crouching down, I offered him my hand. “High five, little buddy!”

Pulling back his hand, he tried to give me the hardest high-five he could muster. His tiny palm smacked down on mine, and I made a big show of hissing and shaking my hand.

“Oooh. Ahhh. What’s your mom been feeding you? You’re getting too strong!”

The little boy giggled before beaming up at me. “She makes me finish all my broccoli before I can leave the table.”

“Hmm.” I furrowed my brows, pretending to be serious. “I’m gonna have to have a serious discussion with her, then. I need these hands to save pucks and can’t have you breaking them with your super-strength high-fives.”

Ollie launched himself at me, knocking me off balance and onto my butt. I chuckled at the sneak attack but quickly went on the offensive, shouting, “Tickle monster!”

My fingers dug into his sides, and his squeals rang out into the air. When he gasped for breath, begging me to stop, I decided to show him mercy.

Setting him on his feet, I booped his nose. “Don’t forget I’m still bigger than you, little man.”

Not skipping a beat, Ollie replied, “For now,” before running off to park himself at the patio table, where I had a bunch of snacks laid out.

I’d always loved kids, and my closest teammates had some great ones. I was fortunate they included me in their little family group so I could play uncle.

Maddox would say I was so good with them because I was a kid myself—and maybe in some ways I was—but I think it mainly stemmed from the fact that I grew up as an only child and was trying to make up for the loneliness that came from my early childhood.

My parents were the first of the Gusev clan to immigrate from Russia to America, so we didn’t have a big family network. When I began playing hockey and discovered it came with an instant family, I was hooked. My teammates were my brothers, and their siblings became my siblings.

The four girls made their way out of the pool, each of them carrying one of the babies.

Jenner and his wife, Evie, had an eighteen-month-old daughter, Hope, whom they’d adopted after years of struggling to create a family of their own, only to find out before she was born that they’d gotten pregnant with twin boys—Hunter and Hendrix, who were now fifteen months old. Then, there was Asher and his wife, Tessa. In addition to their son, Ollie, they also had a daughter, Bailey, who had just turned two.

Bristol handed off a towel-wrapped Hope to her dad before gushing, “Goose, this place is amazing.”

“Thanks. I figured it was time to grow up and stop living in an apartment since the big guy pushed for me to get a long-term contract.” I winked at Maddox.

She placed a hand on her husband’s shoulder, steadying herself before lowering onto the patio lounger between his open thighs. “I would have bought it for the pool alone. The kids loved splashing in the waterfall feature.”

The surly man who ran a tight ship on the bench finally seemed to relax with his wife’s body pressed flush against his. My permanent smile only grew larger when I noticed he didn’t mind that she was soaking through his clothing without a towel to cover her bathing suit. She was his happy place. He might still be on edge, but she helped smooth over some of the rougher spots of his personality.

What I wouldn’t kill for a little taste of the kind of devotion my teammates received from their wives.

Looping his arms around Bristol’s waist, Maddox mused, “I still don’t know what we’re doing here.”

Coach Killjoy was still alive and well, even if his wife’s close proximity had lessened the gruffness in his tone.

I tilted my head toward the grill. “Braxton always makes it sound so nice when he talks about his time with the Comets and how they have an annual barbeque to kick off the season.”

A few years back, Braxton had come over to the Speed in a trade with our divisional rivals, the Connecticut Comets. His older brother, Jaxon, happened to be their captain.

Maddox’s narrowed eyes told me he didn’t know what I was going for, so I added, “Thought we could get on their level.”

He let out a scoff, muttering, “Not sure we are the ones who need to level up. We’re the back-to-back champs, and the Comets failed to make the playoffs both years. Maybe they should spend less time worrying about social hour and more time busting their asses on the ice.”

Braxton shrugged. “It won’t matter how hard they work. Not with how management has put them in a tough spot. Overpaying washed-up players and giving up their top draft picks year after year is killing them. Jaxon’s the heart of that team, but he can only do so much.”

Asher raised a glass, pretending to toast. “Their loss is our gain.”

“Yeah, well,” Maddox huffed. “If we have any chance at a threepeat, it’s not going to be because we sat around drinking and braiding each other’s hair.”

Stepping to the side of his lounger, I gripped his shoulders from behind and shook them.

He batted my hands away as his wife’s laughter floated in the air. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Trying to get you to loosen up.”

“Maybe focus less on me and more on yourself,” Maddox shot back.

“Yes!” Bristol brightened, sitting straight up like she’d had an epiphany. “We need to find you a girl!”

“Nah.” I shook my head. “I’m not interested in a girl.”

Blue eyes growing large, she backtracked quickly. “Oh, that’s my bad. We can find you a guy instead.”

“It’s not like that.” I chuckled. “What I mean is that I don’t want a girl. I want the girl.”

With an arm curled around his wife, Braxton crooned from his seat, “Aw. Our boy Goose is looking for a love connection.”

He had me pegged. Not like I’d been trying to hide it with that admission.

“I blame Dakota,” I declared.

His dark-haired wife’s eyes widened, and she pointed a finger at her chest. “Me? What did I do?”

“You wrote all these incredible love stories and made me want something more.” I kept to myself that their real-life love stories had also filled my heart with an intense longing for what they had.

Dakota flashed me a brilliant smile. “Not gonna lie. It makes my author heart giggle, knowing the big bad hockey players are reading what Bristol likes to call my hockey smut.” She peeked at her best friend across the patio.

Bristol held a hand up. “Listen. We all got to where we are today by living out the hockey smut fantasy in real life. Why can’t Goose?”

Tessa chimed in, “If you’re serious about settling down, I’m sure we can vet some of our friends for you to date.” She cringed. “Though the pool is pretty limited to single moms from playgroup. But you’re great with kids, so you’d be cool with that, right?”

God, my friends had hit the jackpot with these ladies. They would do anything for each other, and somehow, they’d adopted me into their tight-knit group, even though I was single.

“Thanks, but it’ll happen when it’s meant to happen. Just like with all of you. One day, love smacked you right upside the head, and the universe was like, ‘This is the one.’ I’m hoping that’s what happens to me, too. But I wouldn’t be mad if it hurried the hell up. I’m twenty-eight. Not exactly getting any younger.”

“Well, if you ever feel lonely in this big ole house, you can borrow our kids for a weekend,” Evie chirped. “We could sure use eight solid hours of uninterrupted sleep.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” I shot back, stepping toward the grill to check on the meat.

Jenner guffawed. “Yeah, okay. Three mobile babies in diapers, you’ll be sending them back within the hour.”

I lifted a shoulder. “Don’t be so sure.”

A house full of kids was the dream. I just needed to find the right girl to have them with.

Most days, it felt like I was biding my time, waiting for my life to begin. Sure, I was a two-time league champion, had been named MVP during our first championship, and had signed a long-term, multi-million-dollar contract to play goalie for the Speed, but there was something missing. Or, more accurately, someone to share it with.

“More drinks?” I called out, shaking off those thoughts. I meant what I said to the girls. It would happen when the time was right. There was no point in dwelling on it.

I might not drink alcohol for personal reasons, but that didn’t mean I took issue with those who chose to partake in my presence. As a gracious host, I’d stocked up on wine and beer for my guests while also mixing up a batch of margaritas since I’d learned the ladies were fond of them during our two summers spent celebrating.

Grabbing the pitcher from the table set under an umbrella, I went to freshen up their glasses, making the rounds going from Dakota to Evie to Tessa.

Reaching Bristol, I tilted the pitcher before Maddox placed a hand over her cup with a firm, “No.”

The ice-cold liquid splashed off his hand before I realized what was happening, and Bristol shrieked, jumping up as she was coated in the sugary cocktail.

“Shit, sorry.” I jumped back, setting down the pitcher and grabbing a towel to help clean up my mess.

Maddox was quick to rise to his feet, yanking the offered towel from my hands with a growl as he patted his wife dry. “I’ve got it.”

I stepped back, both hands in the air. “Sorry, Coach. It was an accident.”

Braxton eyed our coach. “It’s not Goose’s fault. You’re the one who created the mess. What’s your deal?”

Jenner chuckled. “Yeah, it’s not like we’re at Pipes. Unless Goose has got a karaoke setup down in his basement we don’t know about?” He looked to me in question, and I shook my head. “See? Our ears are safe, and you don’t have to worry about your girl jumping your bones with an audience tonight.”

We weren’t new to Maddox cutting Bristol off. She had a habit of overindulging, especially postgame at our team hangout spot, a popular karaoke joint in Indianapolis called Pipes. Her singing was terrible, not that I ever minded. It took guts to get up on stage, and she seemed to have the time of her life every time she ingested enough liquid courage to do so. Coach’s issue lay with how she was down to fuck the minute she was done singing. He was a caveman, but we loved him anyway.

Dakota narrowed her eyes, using a finger to point between Maddox and Bristol. “Wait a minute . . .” Jaw dropping, she gasped. “Noooooooo.”

Pink rose up from Bristol’s neck to her cheeks as she dropped her gaze to the ground, shifting on her feet.

I looked at Braxton. “You have any idea what just happened?” He’d been around the pair of best friends longer than any of us. If anyone could decode whatever silent exchange had occurred before our eyes, it would be him.

His brow furrowed as Dakota’s hands dropped to her hips. “I cannot believe this!”

Braxton swallowed. “I think—judging from my wife’s reaction—Coach slipped one past the goalie.” Maddox’s jaw twitched in response, so Braxton pressed, “Did I get it right?”

Tessa squealed. “More Speed babies?”

Evie muttered under her breath, “Better you than me. Never again.”

Bristol took a deep breath with her eyes closed. “Fine. You caught me.”

Babies were thrown at husbands as Evie and Tessa ran to hug Bristol. Dakota hung back, still glaring at her best friend.

Sighing, Bristol eyed Dakota. “How long are you gonna be mad at me?”

“We had a deal.” Dakota pouted, stomping her bare foot on the patio.

“I know,” Bristol agreed. “I’m as freaked out as you are, trust me.” Her blue eyes slid to Evie standing beside her. “But what do you want me to tell you? I skirted the post-championship baby boom after the first one, but the second one got me. Too much partying led to too much puking, and it messed with my pills.”

It was well known that any city that brought home a championship saw a wave of new arrivals nine months later as a result of the fans’ private celebrations. With the Speed winning two of them less than a calendar year apart, it was safe to say the population of Indy was on the rise. And it would seem Coach and his wife would be contributing to that number.

Bristol looked at Maddox, a soft smile creeping onto her face as she dropped a hand to her still-flat stomach. “This might not be how we planned it, but it’s by no means unwanted.”

Dakota let out a shaky breath, her lower lip trembling. “I just . . . I just thought we were always going to do it together.”

Braxton was quick to step in and wrap his arms around his wife. “We can make that happen if you want. What’s a few months’ difference?”

Their conversations faded away as reality sank in that, before long, I would go from being the only unmarried friend of our group to the only one without kids.

When was it going to be my turn?