Chapter 20
MATT
“CALLY! CALLY! CALLY!”
I walked into the locker room with a shit-eating grin and the glorious sounds of cheering from my teammates. That was probably my best game of the season. I set it up early, sinking two goals in the back of New Jersey’s net in the first period and then getting an assist on Benny’s game-winning goal.
The energy in the room was on fire, all of us in high spirits after a much-needed win. I was buzzing with excitement at the fact Maddie saw me play tonight. I couldn’t wait to see her later and celebrate.
I stripped off my jersey and undid my pads, leaving me in my undershirt, when Riley came over and handed me the silver bucket. I’d never received that before.
“Good job,” Riley told me, and I knew he meant it.
My teammates got riled up, cheering me on, and I shook my head at their antics before putting the helmet on my head.
“Alright, boys,” I said. “We played a good game. Let’s make sure we do it again!”
“LET’S GET FUCKING LIT!” TJ yelled out into the locker room, screaming like a hyena.
I kept the helmet on long enough for our PR team to take photos. TJ’s fiancée, Max, worked for the social media team, and she shook her head at him while she snapped photos. Max was so quiet and mild-mannered, I didn’t understand how they worked.
“Your husband’s out of control,” I teased.
She laughed. “Not my husband yet. I still have time to give him back.”
“Nuh uh, baby girl. You’re not giving me back!” TJ protested.
“Behave,” she told him, and he gave her that lopsided grin like he would do nothing of the sort.
I took the helmet off once PR let me, and I went to get a shower. I had to do the post-game presser since I had the most goals in the game. I was nervous, but I had media training so I didn’t say the wrong thing. There was a reason hockey players were so conservative in their answers to media questions.
I sat down at the press table in the media room and waited for the reporters to hammer me with questions.
“LaVoie has been shuffling your line this season. What’s it like playing next to Bennett and Halls the past couple of games?” the first reporter asked.
“Benny and Hallsy are great. I’m trying to learn from them. Pick up any little thing that they do to make us a better team. Fix little mistakes. Trying to do my best every night,” I rattled off.
“What was your thought process going into tonight’s game?” a different reporter asked.
“Getting pucks deep, trying to find that opening.”
They asked me a couple more prodding questions before the head of PR signaled I could head out.
I went back into the locker room to grab my stuff.
“You’re coming with us to the bar,” TJ told me.
He didn’t ask, he commanded, and since I was a rookie, I didn’t have a choice.
“I have plans,” I tried to argue.
He shook his head. “Nope! Drinks with the team, rookie.”
I scowled. “Doesn’t your girl need to drag you back home to the kids?”
“Max said I’m allowed to come out and play tonight.”
I gnashed my teeth. I wanted to see Maddie tonight, but I couldn’t invite her out to drink with the team. She didn’t want Noah to know about us yet, so I was stuck in a hard place.
“Just invite your girl,” Noah said as he pulled on his coat.
Benny peered at me from where he was fixing his hair at his cubby. He gave me a hard look, and based on our last heart-to-heart, he knew what my problem was. I stared back at him with a ‘help me’ look.
Benny playfully punched TJ in the arm. “He doesn’t want you to scare her off.”
“Me? But I’m so nice,” TJ protested, but with that mischievous grin across his face.
“More like a pain in my ass,” I muttered under my breath.
Team camaraderie was important, but I’d rather spend time with my girlfriend than these assholes.
Resigned, I grabbed my phone from the shelf in my cubby and texted Maddie.
ME: TJ’s forcing me out for drinks. I feel like I’m not gonna be able to get away…
It crushed me when she sent back a frowny face emoji. Then a second message appeared.
SWEET PEA: Dinah’s making me come out too.
Dammit.
ME: I’m sorry.
SWEET PEA: It’s okay. Time with your team’s important.
I was about to argue, but then I felt a presence beside me. I glanced up and saw Benny standing in front of me, giving me a knowing look.
“Ride with me, rookie,” he said.
I grabbed my coat and followed him to his SUV outside. I climbed into the passenger seat, and Benny gave me an annoyed look before starting his engine.
“You’re sneaking around behind Noah’s back, aren’t you?”
I blew out a long, frustrated breath.
“Bro!”
“It wasn’t my choice.”
He pulled his SUV out of the parking lot and drove toward Eileen’s Tavern. “How so?”
“She thinks it’s too soon to tell him. She wants to warm him up to the idea.”
Benny ran a hand through his hair. “Alright. I get that. But it’s better if you tell him sooner rather than later.”
“I don’t disagree. She’s scared of his reaction.”
“I’m in your corner, ya know? I’ve been there. Noah’s not like TJ; he’ll probably handle it better.”
I wasn’t so sure. Not with what Maddie said about how he handled what happened to her last year. I wanted to pound that guy to a pulp if I ever found out who he was. I could only imagine Noah wanted to bury him in his backyard.
“She’s the boss,” I said.
Benny laughed. “Yeah…I got one of those too. Just be careful.”
“I’m working on it.”
He parked his car, and we hopped out. When we entered the bar, he went over to Rox, who was at the bar with her brother doing shots. That was a sign I was in for a world of hurt tonight. I noticed Max next to them, shaking her head at the twins. Maybe Max could reel them in, but I highly doubted it.
I spotted Maddie at the bar with Dinah and Noah. When our eyes met, she gave me a sad smile. I rubbed my chest. I hated that look of disappointment on her face. We wouldn’t have to deal with this bullshit if she told her brother we were dating. Better yet, if she let me sit him down and talk to him one-on-one.
“Hey,” I greeted.
“Hey, nice goals,” Dinah said.
Noah nudged me. “You did good.”
“I don’t know…you could have scored a hat trick,” Maddie teased.
I laughed. “Maybe next time.”
I ordered a beer and rolled my eyes when TJ came over with a bunch of shots. “You’re doing a shot. To our rookie, Cally, for being a straight-up beautician!”
I shook my head at him but downed the shot like everyone else. If anyone thought Max or their babies would tame TJ’s wild ways…they didn’t. Not by a long shot.
“T’s so extra,” Dinah laughed as he sauntered back over to Max with that lopsided grin on his face.
“That’s our TJ,” Noah agreed.
I sipped on my beer and nodded.
Noah bumped his sister’s shoulder. “Hey, stranger.”
“I’ve been busy,” she explained.
“How’s school going?” he asked.
“Good. Like I said, busy. Working for your wife, class, hockey, and —” She clamped her mouth shut and took a sip of her beer.
“And what?” Noah asked. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a suspicious look.
She dipped her head down and nervously pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “I didn’t want to tell you because it’s new.”
I felt my heart in my throat. Was she going to tell him about us?
A scowl formed across Noah’s face and he narrowed his eyes, the action matching his already pissed off stance. “What’s new?”
Maddie lifted her head and straightened her shoulders, like she was squaring up against him. “I’m seeing someone new. Not that it’s any of your business.”
Dinah raised an eyebrow, and her gaze pierced into me like she had already detected who the new guy in Maddie’s life was. Shit. Dinah was scarily perceptive.
“Oh, really? Who is he?” Dinah asked with keen interest.
Me. Obviously. I kept my gaze on Maddie, gauging if she was ready to reveal that information, but her pinched expression was on her brother, ignoring my presence completely.
“It’s too new. I didn’t want to tell either of you about him yet,” she explained.
“Who, Maddie?” Noah asked, ice lacing through his tone.
“It’s none of your business, Noah,” she seethed through gritted teeth. “It never is.”
The siblings sent matching death glares to each other, while Dinah sighed and took a swig of her drink. I clenched my hand around my bottle of beer, trying to hold my tongue from saying something that would’ve gotten my face punched in.
“I’d like to meet him. Make sure he’s not like the last one,” Noah bit back at his sister.
Christ. I wasn’t like that last asshole. Rage built in my chest that Noah would think that about me. Would he feel differently if he knew I was Maddie’s new boyfriend and not some stranger he didn’t know?
“This is exactly why I didn’t want to tell you. I’m not subjecting him to your overprotective shit,” Maddie told him, the annoyance at her brother written on her face.
Too late, sweet pea.
This was why I wanted to be upfront with Noah. The longer we waited the worse his reaction would be when he found out she was talking about me.
“It’s not my fault you pick losers who end up hurting you. I’m just looking out for you,” he argued.
That did nothing to assuage her anger. “Who I date isn’t your fucking concern.”
Noah dragged out an annoyed sigh. “None of the guys you date are good enough for you. You pick the biggest fucking douchebags you can find. I swear it’s like a game for you to pick one worse than the last!”
“I don’t need your approval on who I fucking date,” she screeched.
“Maddie…”
She held up her hand to him and set her unfinished beer on the bar. “You know what? I’m out of here. I’m not dealing with this with you tonight. Fuck off, Noah.”
Then she spun on her heel and stormed out.
Now it made a hell of a lot of sense why she didn’t want to tell her brother about us. It wasn’t just about me being his teammate. Noah didn’t approve of anyone dating her. I wanted to get up in his face and tell him tough shit, that I’d never hurt his sister, and I was good enough. But I was more chicken shit than I realized.
I wanted to comfort my girl, but since no one was supposed to know about us, I couldn’t go after her.
Dinah gave Noah a sharp look. “You remember how annoying it was to deal with my brothers?”
“Lovey, I know,” he sighed.
“Stop sizing up her boyfriends. You gotta stop with that overprotective shit. I don’t like that side of you.”
“She’s my baby sister.”
“I have a little sister, and I don’t do that bullshit,” I blurted out.
I didn’t mean to say that, but it was true. Luna had dated some losers, but that was her business, not mine.
“You have a sister?” Dinah asked. “I thought you said you were a miracle baby?”
“Luna was the bonus miracle.”
Dinah looked back at Noah. “See! Matt’s not that way. Be like Matt. You need to apologize to Maddie. You’re treating her like a child, and that’s not okay.”
Noah looked down at the ground, guilt marring his face. I could tell this protectiveness came from love, not a way to control Maddie or anything like that, but it didn’t make it cool. It was why she wanted to keep quiet about us, and I hated that.
I needed to go see my girl and cheer her up.
“How long do I have to stay to appease TJ?” I asked Noah.
The three of us looked over to see TJ on top of the bar, holding up a bottle of whiskey and yelling out into the crowd. The fact none of us thought this was weird or that the bartender just rolled his eyes should have been concerning.
Dinah belted out a laugh. “He’s preoccupied. You’re itching to see your girl, huh?”
“Yeah.”
The way she studied me unnerved me, like she saw through me. Almost like she knew without a shadow of a doubt who my girl was and why I was being so coy.
“Great game tonight,” Noah said. “You keep doing that, and you’ll be here to stay.”
I nodded in thanks.
I didn’t care about finishing my beer; I just needed to go see my girl. I got a rideshare over to the townhome and packed a bag to stay over at Maddie’s. I had off tomorrow, and I didn’t know Maddie’s plans yet, but I wanted to make it up to her. She deserved a fun date, and I had the perfect plan for my little bookworm.