Chapter Thirty-three
A nthony stood in the middle of the ice with his stick in hand, watching Brodie and Nick go head-to-head for the puck. It had been a few years since he’d played a game, but he was ready to dive in and take out his aggression on some of these guys. Again.
He scanned the crowd again, searching for Delilah, but there was no sign of her in the small metal bleachers with Holly and Merry. Anthony knew it was just a stilly scrimmage game, but he hated her making that two-hour trek alone, especially with a storm coming.
I should have offered to go with her.
Only would she have even said yes? The point of this impromptu trip was to talk to her parents. She probably didn’t want her anxious boyfriend tagging along.
“Anthony, look alive!” Pike’s loud order brought Anthony back to the present, where they stood on opposite sides of the makeshift center, waiting for Clark to release the puck into play. They were teams of five on five, although Declan had been a last-minute addition as goalie when Mr. Franklin had to bow out because his wife said he was quote, “out of his mind.” Declan had played in a junior hockey league growing up, so he wasn’t completely useless.
Anthony couldn’t afford to be distracted, not when they had two snowmobiles on the line. Losing them would cut them down financially and Anthony wanted to kick himself for leveraging them to begin with.
Waiting for the puck were Nick and Brodie, staring each other down mildly. Anthony had wanted to be the one at center ice, but Pike was afraid one word from Brodie and they’d never get the game started.
The minute the little black disk hit the ice, Nick’s and Brodie’s sticks were all over it, knocking it across the ice where Pike snatched it up, carrying it down the ice toward the other team’s goal, passing it back and forth between him and Paulie, their other teammate. Paulie lost his balance and pitched forward, leaving Pike alone. Anthony raced to help but Trip plowed into Pike from the side, knocking him off his feet and snatching the puck up, heading the opposite way. Nick caught him on the edge and checked him into the foam walls they’d set up around the perimeter of the outdoor rink, but Trip kept coming, winding back, and letting the puck fly into their goal past Declan’s glove.
One–zero.
“Shit,” Anthony said, collecting the puck and putting it back in the play. They were all out of shape and practice, whereas Brodie and his team had been playing in a rec league out of Boise for years. How had he forgotten that detail?
Anthony didn’t know why he suggested hockey as a winter game, except that it has been a popular request among the people of Mistletoe when he’d sent out the email survey for activities. Like the Romans who watched the gladiators fight to the death, the townspeople were bloodthirsty and enjoyed the violence of the game.
Nick had the puck in his control and was racing down the makeshift rink with Brodie hot on his heels. Nick wound up his stick and hit the puck at the goal. The shot went wide and bounced off the metal pole of the net. Brodie picked it up, taking it back down toward their goal. Pike chased after him with Anthony too far behind to do anything and could only watch helplessly as they scored another goal.
“Declan, you are a giant!” Pike hollered. “Do something!”
Declan flipped Pike the bird and Anthony took a deep breath. Pike was losing his mind thinking about those snowmobiles, same as Anthony, but they couldn’t start turning on their friends. It was his fault they were in this mess, not theirs.
“Declan, switch,” Anthony hollered, skating toward the goal. He smacked the bigger man on the shoulder. “Thanks for doing this.”
“You sure you want me out on the ice? If Pike mouths off again, I might trip him.”
“As long as you wait until the game is finished.” Anthony swallowed, hard. “We’ve got those two snowmobiles riding on this. We can’t afford to lose.”
“Shit, man,” Declan said.
“What do you say, fellas?” Brodie said, grinning behind his mask as he skated by the net. “Should we say first team to three and stop this torture?”
“Whatever, I can do this all day, son!” Pike said behind Brodie, huffing and puffing with exertion.
I can’t , Anthony thought.
“Anthony, look out.”
Anthony realized too late he’d been so in his head that he hadn’t seen Brodie racing straight for the goal. He braced for impact as Brodie launched him off his feet and onto his back, knocking the wind out of him. Brodie hovered over him and asked, “Are you okay, man?”
Anthony nodded, dazed.
“Yeah, I’m good,” he wheezed.
To Anthony’s surprise, Brodie held out a hand to him. Anthony took it and Brodie helped him to his feet. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”
“No worries.” Brodie took a step as if he was going to skate away but stalled. “Look, I know I haven’t exactly been your biggest fan and vice versa lately. I don’t even really know how it started, but I don’t hate you.”
“I don’t hate you either. I just didn’t like the way you talked about my girlfriend, even before she was my girlfriend. The way you discuss women in general, man.”
Brodie shook his head. “You mean that thing with me and Trip in the locker room?”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.”
“You never just talk shit with your boys and don’t mean it?” Brodie asked.
“You seemed to mean it when you told Delilah to her face you were just trying to fuck her because of her size.”
“Alright, so I’m a jerk sometimes,” Brodie admitted, “I fully admit it. I thought she was cute and when I tried to shoot my shot, you were always in my way.” Brodie shrugged. “I guess I took it a little too far when she picked you and not me. I’m not exactly the guy women chase.”
“Well,” Anthony said, unsure if Brodie was extending an olive branch or if this was another trick. “A good way to get them to run in the opposite direction is to keep doing what you’re doing.”
“You’re right,” Brodie said, holding out his hand to Anthony. “I’ll apologize to Delilah for my behavior. Are we cool?”
Anthony took it. “We’re cool.”
“And about our bet—”
“Hey,” Pike yelled, “are we gonna braid each other’s hair? Or are we gonna play hockey?”
Anthony would have choked Pike if there weren’t so many witnesses. What had Brodie been about to say?
“Doesn’t that guy ever get on your nerves?” Brodie asked.
“Yeah, but he’s my brother.” Anthony cleared his throat. “You were saying about—”
The other players started hollering at them to get on with the game. “After,” Brodie said, tossing him the puck. Anthony dropped it, launching it back into play.
After twenty more minutes of chasing their tails, Anthony, Pike, and Nick admitted defeat, and Brodie and his team were crowned Mistletoe hockey champions. Anthony and Pike presented Brodie’s team with a makeshift championship belt they’d ordered online. Brodie and Trip shook first Pike’s hand, then Anthony’s.
“We’ll drop off the snowmobiles tomorrow,” Anthony said.
“Yeah.” Pike grimaced. “A bet’s a bet.”
“Actually, I have a proposition for you,” Brodie said, grinning.
“You do?” Trip asked.
“I do. You obviously need a boat and I have one. How would you guys feel about a partnership? We can iron out the details, but you can rent my boat for a fee.”
Anthony couldn’t believe it. It had taken everything in him not to cry as he said they’d deliver the snowmobiles, and after everything, Brodie was standing here offering him another option? One that would grow their business instead of cripple it?
“I think—”
Anthony cut Pike off before he could fuck up and say something stupid. “We’d love to sit down and draft something up with you sometime next week.”
“Great,” Brodie said, nodding at Pike as they walked away, lifting the belt in the air.
“Why are you entertaining that asshole’s proposal, after you’ve spent the last month wanting to pummel him?”
“Because renting his boat puts us in a better position than losing two snowmobiles, don’t you think?”
Pike grinned, slapping him on the shoulder. “That’s why you’re the brains of this operation.”
Anthony laughed, bringing Pike into a headlock. “Don’t forget it.”
While Anthony was changing out of his gear in the contestant tent fifteen minutes later, Holly barged into the room and approached him with her arms crossed over her chest. Her red hair was up in a high ponytail that swayed as she walked and Anthony couldn’t help wondering how hair could be angry.
“I think she’s going to do something stupid,” Holly said.
Anthony waited for her to elaborate, and when she didn’t, he prodded her.
“I’m going to need more than that.”
“I think she is going to tell her parents she’ll move in with them just so she doesn’t have to inconvenience us.”
Anthony’s stomach twisted into a knot, but his voice gave nothing away. “Then that’s her choice.”
Holly glared at him. “I’m sorry, can I please speak with Anthony Russo, the guy who is desperately in love with my best friend and does not want her to move away?”
“What would you like me to do about it?” he asked. “I tried to give her options, and she brushed off every single one.”
“Go after her? Make her see reason,” Holly said, pointing toward the outside of the tent. “I have been doing my best to show her she belongs here but I need help.”
Anthony’s frustration mounted with every flailing hand gesture and he finally said, “I did help.”
“Well try again.”
Anthony sighed, dragging his hands over his face. “I don’t know what else to do, Holly. I told her I loved her and I asked her to move in with me. I offered to help her find a new place and pay for it until she got back on her feet and she said absolutely not.”
“But you didn’t tell her that she was the one.”
“Have you not been listening? That’s exactly what I did.” What was he missing? Anthony had offered her everything he had and somehow it wasn’t enough to make her want to stay.
“You’re coming to her like a white knight instead of like a boyfriend. What are you willing to do if she leaves? Do you want to be driving back and forth and not spending every night with her? Is what you have here more important than what you could have with her?”
“She’s never been anyone’s first choice,” he whispered to himself, the realization hitting him like a ton of bricks.
“Wait, what?” Holly asked.
“I’m going after my girl.”