Hot Damn (Hot as Puck #3)

34. Epilogue

Beckett

Less than a minute until the end of the third period and Vegas pulls their goalie.

It’s a good move when we’re tied up in the final game of the series and I’m surprised Coach Alcott hasn’t done the same.

Then again, Chase has proved almost impossible to get past all season and if anyone can keep us from conceding a goal, it’s him.

This is our last chance to make it to the Cup and I’m pulling hard on every ounce of energy I have left to make sure we fight right up to the final horn.

Vegas moves into our end, their extra man giving them an advantage, but fuck if we’re letting them use it.

Bran gets his stick on a puck edge and sends it out of the huddle against the boards in my direction and I’m pretty sure I don’t breathe when Caron, Vegas’s top scorer, gets between it and me.

But we aren’t giving up that easy even if my legs feel like they’re about to give out and I’m positive Bran and Mikel feel the same.

A cheer shakes the arena when every player on the ice forms a huddle in front of the goal. Chase is at the back, guarding his goal like a troll guards his bridge. He’ll eat any fucker alive who dares to cross the line.

Sticks are flying, poking at skates and feet and empty space.

No one seems to be able to get to the puck and the mash of players and equipment looks like a bunch of newbies let loose on the ice for the first time. None of us appear to have a clue what we’re doing.

A gap opens up to my left, the space right in front of the net open wide except for Chase holding position.

There’s a flash of black right before Chase pulls his stick back and sweeps it over the ice. The noise is barely a blip, but I hear it.

Blade on puck.

And the flash of black speeds away toward the other end of the rink.

Head up, my gaze locks on Chase but he’s staring down the ice. Turning to see what has him focused so hard, I freeze.

Everything seems to go in slow motion after that. The players are still hunting around beside me for a puck that isn’t there.

Chase straightens, his gaze locked firmly on Vegas’s goal, and I move beside him.

The noise of the arena muffles, drones in my ears like the buzz of a thousand bees, but I don’t take my eyes off the same thing Chase is looking at.

The puck.

What feels like a lifetime but is milli-seconds, I watch history in the making.

The puck, traveling at a speed my eyes can barely keep up with, whips down center ice, straight and true, sliding right over the goal line into the back of the net.

Chase’s clearing shot is a goal.

Our goalie scored the game winning goal!

Pandemonium erupts around us.

Players, fans, officials.

It’s a cacophony of noise that threatens to raise the roof .

“Holy fudge sticks!” Chase’s shout swivels my head and I launch myself at him.

“We’re playing for the Cup,” I yell in his ear as I take us both to the ice. Bran jumps on next, followed by Mikel, Tasman, and Gannon.

More bodies pile on and it’s then I realize the whole team is off the bench and on the ice. We’re a pile of Rogues in front of our goal, the hero of the day lying at the bottom.

Chase’s gaze is on me, his eyes wide in shock and I grab his mask, give it a shake.

“We’re going to the Cup!”

“Holy fudge sticks!”

“I think you can say holy fucking shit right now, Chase,” Bran laughs. “The kids aren’t out here yet but they’re coming.”

Turning my head, I see it isn’t only the team taking the ice. It’s the coaches and staff, the GM and owners.

The second I see Cam, I’m shoving my way from beneath the pile. There’s no way I want her walking on the slippery surface of the rink in her condition.

At five months she’s barely showing and we’re past the danger zone of the first trimester but I’m not risking her or our baby.

Two pushes and a glide and Cam is in my arms.

“You did it!” She smacks her mouth on mine. “You won!”

“ We won long before tonight.”

“Dad!” Whit crashes into me from behind. “Oh my god! Dad!”

Laughing, I lower Cam to her feet, keeping one arm around her to be sure she’s steady before wrapping my other arm around my daughter. “Whitbee.”

“You have to name my brother Chase now.”

“What?”

“Why?” Cam leans around me to see Whit.

“Because we want him to have a strong winner’s name and Chase isn’t just a Rogue now. He’s a hero. ”

She isn’t wrong. We might have earned our place in the finals but winning was never a guarantee and we all knew it. Chase isn’t just a Rogues hero, he’s going to be the inspiration of every underdog in the world after tonight.

Looking down at Cam, I say, “I’m not opposed to it.”

“Chase Nelson Higgison.” She ponders that for a moment. “Has a nice ring to it.”

“We’ll add it to the list.”

A list that grows longer every day. A list I’m hoping to use more than once in the future. For now, I’m thrilled to be making a list at all.

For years, Whit has been my greatest joy and the thought of more never seemed possible. Until Cam worked her way under my skin and showed me there was more to life than I had, than I was settling for.

With her love and understanding, Whit and I have the family I secretly wished for. And as my eyes cruise over the players and staff around me I’m thankful for the Rogues and all they’ve given me.

Without them I wouldn’t have the men I now call brothers, or the woman in my arms and the life she’s growing inside her.

Beckett and Whitney Higgison were born out of an inexcusable situation. One that could have had devastating results, except like the Rogues, I never gave up, never let the past drag us down.

And from the ashes of a scandalous beginning, we’ve risen above and beyond all I’d ever hoped for.