26. Piper
TWENTY-SIX
PIPER
I can’t make it to the stands to question my best friend about her surprise wedding because the rest of the team comes barreling down the tunnel holding a cooler of Gatorade and a bottle of champagne. I know what’s going to happen before poor Liam does, and as he turns around, the bucket of orange liquid gets dumped on his head.
I wait, wondering how he’s going to react. I’m surprised when he wipes his eyes and lets out a loud laugh. That spurs the guys on, and they erupt in cheers.
“Holy shit !” Maverick yells. “That was un-fucking-believable, Sully, you fantastic fucking goalie.” He kisses Liam’s cheek, and I giggle when Liam rolls his eyes. “A shutout performance. The most saves in NHL history. A win that puts us at the top of the Eastern Conference standings. I’m fired the fuck up, baby!”
“Four minutes until we’re on, Miller,” I call out, and he salutes me.
“Stop manhandling me.” Liam shoves Maverick off of him, but I see the smile he’s trying—and failing—to hide. “I did my job. That’s it.”
God, I love watching him like this.
Unbridled happiness. Joy oozing out of him when he’s surrounded by people who lift him up. Love for the game and the guys who helped get him here.
Liam puts his whole heart into everything he does, and being witness to that work paying off fills me with immense pride.
I love being happy for my friends, and right now, I’m so happy for him and all he’s accomplished.
“You did more than that.” Riley throws an arm over Liam’s shoulder. “One of the greatest of all time.”
“Time to celebrate.” Grant rips off his helmet and chucks it at the wall. I make a note to scoop it off the floor after my interview with Maverick so I can give it to one of the fans waiting outside the tunnel. A group is gathered, hoping to snag some gear from the guys, and I love making someone’s night. “We’re pregaming this wedding at a club. Watching a couple sick in love exchange vows. Then we’re headed to the Strip and burning this place down! An afternoon flight tomorrow means we can rage all night.”
“Coach will chew your ass out if you show up to the plane drunk,” Ryan warns.
“YOLO, Seymour. I don’t give a fuck.”
“The Strip? Really? I thought it would be a wedding chapel and beers after,” Liam says. “Not some EDM club.”
“Dude.” Hudson puts his hand on Liam’s chest. “You know I’m never one to encourage us to get shit-faced, but you have to participate in all the activities. We have a ton to celebrate.”
“Fine.” Liam pulls off his jersey, makes eye contact with me, and tosses it my way. “But only if Everett is buying. He’s off his rookie salary and can finally afford the good shit.”
“Fuck yes!” Grant lifts his fists in the air. “I’ll buy you a bottle at the VIP section we end up in.”
Liam shoves his way to the locker room. “I regret everything.”
“Ready, Cap?” I ask, and Maverick marches toward me. I motion our cameraman, Bernie, over. He holds up a finger letting me know we have one minute until we’re live, and I nod. “I can’t believe you’re getting married ,” I say softly, and Maverick beams.
“Me either. I’m still waiting for the day Emmy wakes up and realizes she can do a hell of a lot better than me.” He laughs and a dreamy look settles on his face. “I love her so much. I saw her six minutes ago, but I miss her. I can’t imagine not spending the rest of my life with her. When we were walking around before we had to head to the arena, I looked at her and told her I wanted to marry her today. She thought I was kidding, so I went in and bought two shitty rings from a gift shop on the corner, took her to the marriage license bureau, picked one up, and now here we are. Hours away from tying the knot.”
It’s hard not to be emotional when you hear the infatuation infused in his words. The deep joy she brings him and how without her, he’d be incomplete. I’ve never been a big believer in soulmates, but these two were destined for each other.
This is what I was talking about to Liam the other night.
In every lifetime, in every reality, in every version of their story, Maverick is going to pick Emmy.
She’s it.
His top priority.
His only focus.
The owner of his heart.
If she disappeared tomorrow, he’d burn the world down to find her.
And if he couldn’t?
He’d leave Earth before living without her.
It hurts my soul to be so happy for them but so envious too. To desperately want what they have while simultaneously being terrified to try again and fail… again.
Could I learn to trust? Could I learn to believe? Could I feel lovable and like I’m enough?
“You don’t want a wedding?” I ask, retreating from my inner turmoil. “You love being the center of attention.”
“I love her. And I want to marry her. Tonight. I don’t give a fuck about a wedding, and neither does she.”
My eyes well with tears and I brush them away. “I’m so happy for you two. Thank you for loving my best friend the way she deserves.”
“Ten seconds,” Bernie says, and I fan my face.
“Pull it together, P,” Maverick teases, ruffling my hair. “We have to show a little bit of professionalism.”
I laugh when we go live, holding up my microphone. “Thank you so much, Bradley. I’m here with Maverick Miller after a thrilling win in regulation against the Las Vegas Lightning that showed Liam Sullivan setting the NHL’s record for most saves in game. Mav, what kind of growth is the team going through right now, and how is that growth helping the team long-term?”
“We’re hungry. Obviously we all wanted to win The Cup last year and came up short. That loss might have been the best thing to happen to us, though. We’ve had to grow up. We’ve had to stop taking defeats so personally and figure out how we can get better because of them. This isn’t the same team as last season, and if we can keep that kind of momentum going, I think we’ll be sitting real pretty come June.”
“We can’t talk about tonight without mentioning Liam’s performance. You two have played together for years now. What was it like watching him snag that seventy-first save?”
“God.” Maverick runs his hand through his damp hair and grins. “Sully’s a beast. He’s who I want defending my goal when the game is on the line. He just puts his heart in it, man. Doesn’t gloat. Doesn’t make it about him. He’s a good fu—freaking guy, and to be able to witness him make history is pretty incredible.”
“Last thing, Maverick. You’re heading into the new year with the best record in the East and the second-best record in the league. What kind of confidence does that give you with a four-game road trip coming up at the start of January?”
“Job’s not finished,” he says. “Records don’t mean anything in right now. We’re feeling good about the chemistry we have with each other, but until we’re lifting the Cup over our heads, we’ve got work to do.”
“Thanks, Mav. Enjoy your night,” I say, and Bernie cuts the camera. “You know I hate asking questions like that, but it’s what the fans want to hear.”
“That’s okay, Little P. Your questions are some of my favorites.” He pulls his jersey over his head and hands it to me. “You’re coming out with us, right?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“Good.” He grins and heads for the locker room. “Gotta get cleaned up before I see my girl. Catch you on the bus!”
I wave and start grabbing all the gear the guys dropped. Gloves and jerseys get added to my pile, as well as Grant’s helmet. It weighs me down, and I know I’m about to make some kids very happy.
“This is my favorite part of the night,” Lexi says, taking some of the load from me. “One of these days we need to make the guys come back out and sign everything when they finish their debrief with Coach. I could do without the stench, though.”
“Maverick and Hudson sign stuff from time to time. They sneak out and when they get on the bus, they claim they were using the bathroom.” I spot a boy waiting against the railings. He’s leaning into the tunnel, his hand outstretched and a hopeful look on his face. I walk up to him and put a pair of gloves in his palm. “There you go, buddy.”
“Thank you.” His eyes widen. “I love the Stars. I want to be a goalie like Sully when I grow up.”
“I bet you’d be very good at it. Do you live in Las Vegas?”
“No. Maryland. My mom is here for work and brought me with her. I saw the Stars were playing and I begged to come. We always go to games in DC.”
“We do a kids’ camp in the summer, and Liam will be there. You should sign up.” I struggle to reach in my pocket and pull out one of my business cards. “Give this to your mom and tell her to email me if she has any questions, okay?”
“Okay.” The boy nods and I think he might be about to cry. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome so much.”
I move closer to the ice and spot a little girl wearing a pink Stars jersey. I recognize it as Emmy’s from when she was on the team, a special edition the people in merchandise did for Valentine’s Day, and I beeline to her.
“Hi,” I say, squatting down so I’m eye level with her. “What’s your name?”
The woman next to her lifts the girl in her arms and strokes her hair. “You’ll have to speak slowly so she can read your lips. She’s Deaf.”
“Oh.” I stand and drop the gear so my hands are free. “ Hi ,” I sign. “ What’s your name ?”
The girl looks at her mom who smiles and nods. She slowly uses her hands and spells, “ Lucy .”
“ Hi, Lucy .” I wave. “ My name is Piper. Do you like hockey?”
“ She wants to play in the NHL one day like Emerson Hartwell ,” her mom explains, speaking and signing at the same time.
“ Emmy is one of my best friends. That’s a very good dream to have. Here .” I reach down and rifle through the jerseys, finding the one I’m looking for. “ That belongs to Maverick Miller. He and Emmy are close, and he’d want you to have it. ”
Lucy clutches the jersey to her chest and smiles.
“When did you learn ASL? Not many people know it,” the woman says.
“My cousin is Deaf. I grew up signing.”
“Thank you so much for stopping and giving us some of your time. You made her whole year.”
“Of course.” I grin at Lucy. “ If you’re ever in DC, you have to come to a game, okay? I can see if Emmy can be there too .”
“ Okay. ” Lucy grins back. “ Thank you .”
“I’m Madeline,” the woman says.
“Piper. It’s nice to meet you.”
“We’d love to visit, but I’m not sure we’ll ever make it to DC. I’m a chef at a restaurant here in Vegas, and being a single parent doesn’t give us a lot of time to travel. Thank you for the invitation, though.”
“It doesn’t have an expiration date. You’re welcome anytime.” I smile and press one of my last business cards into her palm. “ Bye, Lucy. It was nice to meet you .”
I distribute the rest of the players’ gear to the waiting fans, and when I make it back to the tunnel, I’m exhausted.
“I need a shower,” Lexi says. “I smell like sweaty boys.”
“It’s disgusting.” I stick my hands under an sanitizer dispenser and rub them together, trying to get some of the stench off me. “You’re going out tonight, right?”
“Hell yeah, I’m going out tonight. I brought the cutest outfit. What are you going to wear?”
“I put a few dresses and skirts in my bag. Nothing that’s appropriate for a wedding, but I’ll see if I can pull something together.”
“That’s the point of a Vegas wedding. You don’t have to be pulled together.” Lexi laughs. “Oh, hey, Liam. Nice game tonight. You were incredible.”
He nods at her and a bead of water rolls down his forehead from his post-shower hair. “Thanks.”
Lexi looks between us and gives me a sly grin. “I’ll give you two a minute.”
When she disappears, I smile at Liam. “What’s up?”
“You’re good with kids.”
“I am?”
“Yeah. I was watching you hand out gear. Your signing…” He tips his head to the side. “It’s beautiful.”
“Oh. Thank you. I’m rusty these days, but I try to watch YouTube videos so I can stay somewhat fresh. You never know when you’ll need it, like you just saw with Lucy over there.” I shrug. “If that makes someone feel included and comfortable, I want to offer that to them.”
“Do you want to have kids?”
I roll my lips and hum. “I’m not sure, to be honest. I like kids, but I’m undecided on if I want my own. I’m still learning to trust people, and that would require a lot of trust.”
“That’s fair.”
“Do you want kids?”
“Yeah. I think so. I could see myself being a dad.” He shoves his hands in the pockets of his slacks. “But that’s a ways off.”
“Did you come out here to ask me about my future as a mother?”
“No.” Liam snorts. “It was to form an escape plan for tonight so we can sneak out without staying at a club until four in the morning. I might die if I’m still awake when the sun comes up.”
“No one’s going to notice if we leave. We’ll just say I’m hungry and disappear.”
“I like how your brain works, Piper Mitchell.”
“Thanks.” I grin. “Lexi and I are going to get ready together, so we’ll probably meet you all at the club. I still need to track Emmy down and give her an earful. I’ll see you later tonight?”
“Sounds good.”
“Save me a dance, Sullivan,” I say, brushing past him and heading for the team bus. “I’m going to be very disappointed if I don’t get a few minutes alone with you in a dark corner somewhere.”
“You want another lesson, Sunshine? In exhibitionism this time?”
“Maybe.” I tap his chest and saunter away. “You’ll have to find out.”