Chapter 33
Mason
Six in a row. Undefeated. The Fusion had kicked off the season on fire, and you could feel it everywhere, from the stands to the locker room.
Fans showed up loud and hungry for more, management walked around like they owned the city, and the guys were already talking Cup runs like it was inevitable.
Sportscasters credited our defense, and my name kept coming up, my trade framed like the missing piece.
Hockey players were superstitious as hell, so here I was at the Sin Bin with my teammates, waiting for Wayne to bring us our round of lucky Fusion Intrusions.
Not too long ago, the thought of drinking during the season seemed blasphemous.
Yet the tradition was quickly growing on me, just like the guys.
This team was different from my old one in Canada. Younger. Hungrier. They had something to prove every time they stepped on the ice. The trade had stung at first, but sitting here with them now, I couldn’t picture myself anywhere else.
Dex launched into another replay of his game-winning assist, but thank God it was interrupted when Wayne appeared with a tray full of shots.
“Fusion Intrusions. Extra Tabasco tonight. You boys earned it.” Wayne slid the tray onto the table in front of us, then high-fived Brody before leaving us to it.
We raised our glasses, and King delivered the post-win toast. “To keeping the streak alive.” The whiskey burned down my throat, the lime and tabasco creating a fire that had my eyes watering.
I’d done my part, shot down the Fusion Intrusion, and celebrated another win.
But now I wanted to see Lila. It had been a week since the Epic Fail video had resurfaced, and we’d spent most evenings ordering takeout and binge-watching shows.
Watching her curl into herself every time her screen lit up made me want to break every phone in the city.
My pocket vibrated. Probably my parents, sending a congrats text. Instead, Lila’s name flashed on my screen. My pulse quickened.
Lila: Congrats on the win! You were amazing. Think there’s room for one more at your celebration at the Sin Bin?
I stared at the text, blinking once like it might change. After a week of avoiding public places and skipping another home game tonight, Lila wanted to come out. In public. Where people might recognize her.
Coming here, to a packed sports bar, was a big fucking deal.
I thumbed out a quick reply.
Me: You sure you’re ready? There’s a crowd here. I can meet you somewhere quieter.
Three dots appeared, disappeared, then reappeared before her response came through.
Lila: I’m tired of hiding. Besides, I want to celebrate with you. Be there in 20.
A grin spread across my face as I slid it back in my pocket.
She was choosing this. Choosing me. I lifted my head and took in the chaos in our corner.
Sawyer was tossing a peanut at Hunter, who was trying to catch it with his mouth and looking more ridiculous by the second.
Roman and Cade were locked in an arm-wrestling match, while Dex and Brody yelled encouragement like they were commentators at a championship game.
I shook my head, amused at their juvenile antics, then my brain went straight to worst-case scenarios. What if they said something stupid and upset Lila? The last thing I wanted was for her to feel uncomfortable.
I watched Cade’s face strain with effort, already knowing he was going to lose the arm-wrestling match.
Cade was outmatched, and I’d never been good at watching the underdog go down.
I grabbed their joined hands, added my strength to his, and forced Roman’s hand down to the table.
The guys went wild, and even King cracked a smile.
Roman crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, scowling at Cade. “Cade always needs to rely on the defenders to save his ass.”
Dex slapped me on the shoulder. “That’s our Captain Underpants. Always coming to the rescue.”
“Who the hell is this Captain Underpants you speak of?” Roman’s gaze settled on me, a flicker of confusion in his expression. “I know it’s our boy Callahan with the bulge, but what is the joke here?”
Dex answered, barely containing his enthusiasm. “Captain Underpants is a classic! Didn’t they have those books in mother Russia? They’re about this dude who fights crime in his underwear—”
I lifted a hand, cutting him off. “Captain Underpants? Seriously? That’s got to be the worst nickname I’ve ever had.” I shot him a look, remembering how one of my teammates in Peewees dubbed me Mason Jar and thought it was hysterical. “Look, Dex, I want a new nickname. And it better be amazing.”
Dex’s eyes darted to the rest of the team like he was searching for an escape route. “Um, I’m not really good at—”
“Shut up, Dex.” I leaned forward, snagging everyone’s attention. “Alright, listen up, guys. Lila is on her way.”
The table went quiet for a second too long. Even Dex shut his mouth.
“Lila?” Cade repeated, his eyebrows shooting up. “As in—”
“Yes, that Lila,” I cut him off, my voice carrying a warning edge.
“Beauty queen?” Brody asked, his eyebrows lifting. “I thought she was, you know...” He trailed off, like the rest of the words were too dangerous to say out loud.
“She’s been keeping a low profile,” I said, my jaw tightening. “But she wants to come out tonight.”
King looked at me the way he did on the ice, like he was reading the play before it happened. “The video,” he said flatly. It wasn’t a question.
I nodded. Most of them had seen it by now. It had been impossible to miss once it started recirculating.
“A sex tape?” Roman leaned back, clearly taken aback.
Dex, never one for subtlety, opened his mouth. “Dude, you didn’t see it yet? Mason’s dating the Epic Fail girl! That video was insane, when the dog peed on her and then she wiped out and those banana granny panties—”
I leveled him a look that promised consequences. “Watch it, or you’ll be drinking through a straw for weeks.”
King, always quick to step in, elbowed Dex hard in the ribs. “Shut it, rookie.”
“What? It’s not like—” Dex started, then caught my expression and swallowed whatever he was about to say. “Sorry, man.”
I glanced around the table. These guys were my teammates, my friends. I needed them to understand.
“Look, that video’s been following her for five years. It’s been a nightmare. She gets recognized. Hassled. Filmed like she’s some kind of attraction. People think it’s fucking hilarious to make her relive her worst moment, over and over. So she’s been hiding out.”
The mood shifted. Even Brody’s perpetual smirk faded.
Hunter frowned. “That’s rough. Social media can be brutal.”
King leaned in, voice all business. “So what do you want from us, Callahan?”
I took a deep breath. “The fact that she’s willing to come out is a big deal. So I’m asking you guys to be…” I searched for the right word.
“Not assholes?” Sawyer supplied.
“Normal,” I said. “Don’t bring up the video. Don’t make jokes about it. Just be yourselves.” I paused, then amended, “Actually, be slightly better versions of yourselves.”
Dex looked offended. “We can be gentlemen!”
Brody snorted. “Says the guy who tried to pick up twins at the club last weekend by telling them he could tell them apart by taste.”
“They thought it was funny!”
“Did they, Dex?”
“Enough,” King cut in, shutting them down. He looked at me. “We’ve got you, Callahan. We’ll behave.”
“She really matters to you,” Hunter observed, his green eyes assessing me carefully.
“Yeah,” I admitted, hating how exposed it sounded. “She does.”
A quiet settled over the group as my request sank in. Then Cade lifted his glass.
“If she matters to you, she matters to all of us,” he declared. “We’ve got your back, Callahan. And hers.”
The others nodded, the kind of solidarity that hit hard. For all their trash talk and locker room antics, they had my back when it mattered.
“She’s met most of you before,” I reminded them. “Just not with… all this.”
“The Epic—” Dex caught himself. He cleared his throat. “I mean, not with the recent stuff. Got it.”
The next twenty minutes dragged. Every time the door opened, my focus snapped to it like a puck drop. When my phone buzzed with her text, my stomach did a weird little flip.
Lila: Just parked. Walking in now.
“She’s here,” I said, already standing. “Remember—”
“Normal. Got it,” Brody said, giving me a thumbs-up.
“Better than normal,” Dex corrected.
“Shut up, rookie,” several voices chorused.
When Lila finally walked in, everything else faded out.
She’d dressed casually in dark jeans and a soft blue top that brought out her eyes.
Her blonde hair fell over her shoulders, and even from across the bar I could see the nerves in the way she held herself.
She paused at the entrance, scanning the crowd.
When her eyes found mine, her face lit with a smile that tightened my chest.
As I cut through the crowd to reach her, I caught several heads turning in her direction. I couldn’t blame them. She was stunning. Still, I wanted to glare them all into backing off. Instead, I kept my focus on her, on the way her smile widened the second she saw me.
“Hey,” I said, pulling her close.
“Hey yourself.” That Alabama drawl came through stronger when she was nervous. “Nice win tonight.”
I slipped an arm around her waist and guided her toward our corner, putting myself between her and everyone else. “You okay?” I murmured near her ear.
“I’m fine.” She swallowed. “Just… stay close?”
“Always,” I promised.
As we neared the table, she tensed beside me. She’d met most of my teammates the night Vanessa showed up, but this was different. This was after everything. After the week. I took her hand and squeezed once, a promise.
“Guys,” I announced as we reached them, “you remember Lila.”
What followed was the most cringe-worthy attempt at normalcy I’d ever witnessed.
“Look who’s here!” Cade boomed with forced cheer that made him sound like a children’s show host.