29. Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Kevin
The Oasis sits on the edge of Lake Travis and looks like something out of a postcard — which you can probably buy at the gift shop downstairs. Multi-level decks, sunset views that go on forever, and, of course, Liam's favorite nachos.
We arrive around three-thirty. The place is already packed with the usual weekend crowd, but Liam somehow managed to reserve the entire upper deck for us.
"How did you pull this off?" I ask as we climb the stairs.
"I have my ways," Crash says mysteriously. Then he reveals his secret. "I told them we were celebrating two babies and if they didn't give us the deck, I'd post a negative review."
"You're a menace."
He flips his cap backwards and adjusts it over his flow, which looks more like a mop than even mine does. "Wrong, Sunshine. I'm a problem solver. There's a difference."
The deck is perfect. String lights overhead, crisp fall air — which doesn't bother a bunch of hockey players — and Lake Travis sparkling below. Tables pushed together, chairs scattered around, and approximately four thousand dollars' worth of those nachos already ordered.
"This is a baby shower?" Sarah asks, taking in the setup.
"This is a Liam Callahan baby shower," Paige corrects, appearing with Brett. "Which means Crash-style event planning, juxtaposed with some scenery and a bar."
The team filters in over the next twenty minutes. Tyler shows up, still talking about Hercules. Graham arrives with Josh and Landrie, who immediately demands to know where the cake is. Aiden walks in with Quinn and Lindy, all of them laughing about something.
It's everyone. Our whole crazy, chirping, chaotic family.
Liam stands on a chair. "Okay, listen up!"
"Crash, get down before you break something," Aiden says.
"I'm making a toast!"
"You don't need to stand on furniture to make a toast."
"It's more noteworthy like this, Sticks. You've been attending my parties since you were passing fake IDs. Don't question my ways." Liam raises his beer. "To Sunshine and Sarah. And to Paige and Camper. And to the future Stampede players currently in development."
"They might not play hockey," Paige points out.
Brett tries to playfully clap a hand over her mouth. "You hush with that kind of blasphemy!"
"They'll play hockey," Liam says with absolute confidence, pointing right at Brett and nodding emphatically. "It's genetic. Anyway… To family. The one we're born with and the one the league sticks us with. Cheers!"
"Cheers!" everyone shouts back at him.
Landrie, who's three and doesn't understand what's happening, yells "Cheesecake!"
Brett and I end up near the bar, ordering another round. We're close enough to hear the girls at their table but not part of their full conversation. Sarah's with Paige, Quinn, and Lindy, all of them huddled over phones.
"So, I've got good news," Paige's saying. "I found coverage for my maternity leave."
"Oh, thank goodness," Lindy says. "I was worried you were going to work until you went into labor."
"The league is sending Caela Callahan — she's the assistant PR manager for the league’s Foundation.
She'll move down later this season and start full-time with the team next season and then I'll be back full-time after the holidays next year.
I wanted to take a little extra time off and I'm glad we were able to find a solution. "
I glance at Brett. He heard Paige's statement too. Caela Callahan. Liam's sister.
"Oh, that's perfect!" Lindy says. "She'll already know how everything works."
Quinn's face immediately loses all expression. "Caela? Um. That's...interesting."
"What do you mean?" Paige asks.
"She and Aiden were engaged." Quinn's voice is quiet. "They dated through college. She didn't come to Austin when he got called up, but I don't know why they split. I'm not sure if Aiden really knows either."
The group goes silent.
"Oh shit," Paige breathes.
"Does Aiden know she's coming?" Quinn asks.
"I have no idea," Paige says, now tugging nervously at her ponytail. "The league just told me yesterday."
Brett and I exchange a look. This is going to be a problem. A big one.
Quinn's staring at her drink. "I loved Caela. Haven't talked to her in two years, but she was great." She looks up. "She loves hockey. Loves her brother."
Quinn goes silent and bites her lip. Probably thinking not just about Aiden and Caela's broken engagement, but how — if Crash hadn't done his damnedest to live up to his nickname — Caela might have been her own sister-in-law.
Awkward doesn't even begin to describe what this whole arrangement is going to turn into.
All four of them turn to look across the deck where Aiden's standing with Tyler and Graham.
Aiden notices immediately. "Why are you guys staring at me? Paige, stop flirting with me. You're married."
"You wish, Sticks!" Paige yells back, giving a laugh that sounds completely fake. Hopefully Aiden doesn't pick up on that.
The girls huddle closer. Keep talking quietly. Making plans or strategizing or whatever it is they do.
"That's going to be a mess," Brett says, in a tone meant only for me to hear.
"Yeah," I agree. "But not our mess. Not today anyway."
The guys have naturally migrated to the opposite side of the deck. Bear's talking about Landrie's soccer ambitions. Tyler's showing everyone his Instagram analytics. Aiden's explaining some defensive system adjustment.
Then Graham pulls out his phone and the sound of his voice raises above the other conversations around the deck. "Did you guys see Gerritsen's hit last night?"
"Vegas?" Liam asks from the other end of the bar, where he's getting another drink. I have no idea how he’s going to get on the plane tomorrow and play Monday, but somehow he always does and never misses a beat. Lesser players could never.
"Yeah. ACL. He's done."
"Fuck," Josh says, immediately covering Landrie's ears. "That's brutal."
"This one’s a career-ender, if you ask me," Aiden adds. "He was planning to retire after this season anyway, but damn. Not like that."
"Vegas is going to be scrambling now," Graham says. "They needed him to have any shot at the playoffs. They barely have enough depth this season as it is."
"They'll be looking for defense," Josh looks at the replay again on Graham's phone and whistles. "Veteran preferably. Someone who can step in immediately."
The words hang there.
I don't even have to look. I can feel Sarah's energy shift from across the deck. She's heard this. Heard "Vegas" and "defense" and put two-and-two together.
When I glance over, her face has gone carefully blank. I watch the mask lower just like a curtain.
Shit.
"I'm going to check on Sarah," I say casually.
Brett nods. "Go."
I make my way to where she's standing. The touch of my hand on her lower back startles her slightly.
"Hey," I say quietly. "Want to check out the view? I hear it’s Crash’s favorite."
She looks up at me with an expression I recognize as “scared puppy.”
"Yeah. Okay."
"We'll be right back," I tell the girls.
Paige gives me a look that says she knows exactly what I'm doing, and she approves.
I guide Sarah to the far railing, away from the group. It's quieter here. The sun’s got a lazy glow filtering through the hills, painting everything with the first streaks of fall orange and gold. Below us, Lake Travis reflects the late afternoon light.
Sarah grips the railing. Stares out at the water.
"So, they're really going to call," she says quietly. "Vegas is going to need defense and they're going to call."
I stand next to her, my arm running across her shoulder, my hand cupping the curve. "Maybe."
"And if you say no, your career is over. No one will touch a player who refuses assignment. You'd be blacklisted."
"I know how it works, Sarah."
She turns to face me. "I can't ask you to do that. Hockey's who you are. It's what you love. I can't be the reason you lose that."
The word "reason" lands like it's radioactive.
And then it all makes sense. This is it. The moment we've been deking around since I found her hugging the toilet in her bathroom after Wing Wednesday.
This is the conversation we really need to have but keep finding ways to only inadequately address.
"Hockey's a game." I pull her closer. "The best game I know. But Sarah — you're not a game. Hockey is what I love. You are who I love. There’s a difference. A big one, and I know it in my soul, Sarah. I'm not walking away from you. Not for Vegas. Not for anyone."
Her breath catches. I can hear her struggling to express exactly what she wants to say. "But Kevin—"
I'm not letting this ruin her first baby shower. I'm putting an end to it right now.
"They can call Carl in the front office anytime. That’s how the league works.
But they can’t talk to me. Not about money.
Not about a contract. There are rules. Between now and January, I'm going to move heaven and earth to make sure Austin knows the worst mistake in this team's history would be trading me. "
She turns her face up and looks at me and I see the beginning of a glaze of tears. "What if it's not enough?"
"It will be. I'll make it enough." I turn her, keeping my hands on her waist, keeping that connection between us. "I'm not losing you. I'm not giving up on being a dad. And I'm damn sure not quitting on our family before we’ve even gotten started."
She's staring at me as she tries to process everything I’ve said. The sunset's happening behind us and Lake Travis is turning gold, but all I can see is her.
She licks her lower lip tentatively and lets out a long breath. Shifts from foot to foot, then straightens her spine.
And then, her green eyes look straight into mine.
"I love you," she says. Finally. The words I've been waiting months to hear.
Holy shit.
She said it. She actually said it.
My heart's pounding like I’ve logged twenty-seven minutes and am climbing over the boards for OT.
"I love you, Kevin. I do. And I believe in you. I've watched how you defend what you love since the day I met you and you took Ranger home. I've seen what you're capable of when you commit to something. So, if you say you're going to make Austin keep you…I believe you."
Words won't come. I don't need them anyway.
I cup her face in my hands. Tilt her chin up. Give her half a second to change her mind, to pull away, to take it back.
She doesn't.
Thank you, God. There's only one thing to do. I kiss her.
Not the desperate kiss in my condo when I came home from Vancouver that led to way more than either of us bargained for. Not the kiss after we went back to Zilker Park, where it all started.
This is different. This is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life, something I will build the next twenty, thirty, forty years on.
Sarah makes this sound — half gasp, half relief — and her hands slide into my hair, pulling me closer. Like she's been waiting just as long as I have.
I back her against the railing. Careful. Gentle. But needing her close enough that nothing can get between us.
She kisses me back like she's all in. Like we both know this is real. Heat pools low and urgent.
My body's responding in ways that would be embarrassing if I cared. I don't. Not even a little. We're in public and I don't give a damn. Every part of me wants more — closer, deeper, her hands everywhere.
Later. We'll get to it all later.
This is the shot that wins the game.
"About fucking time, Sunshine!" Liam's voice carries across the deck.
Sarah breaks away, laughing against my mouth. When I look over, the entire team is watching us.
Liam's standing on his chair again, throwing a fist into the air. "I told you this was the best baby shower!"
"It's the only baby shower you've ever thrown," Aiden says matter-of-factly, shaking his head at his slightly deranged best friend.
"Exactly! Undefeated!"
Tyler's filming on his phone. Josh is slow-clapping. Graham's grinning. The girls are squealing — I can hear Paige from here.
"They're all watching," Sarah says, but she's smiling as she snuggles a little against me.
"I don't care." I lean down and kiss her again, quick this time. "I love you."
"I love you too." She rests her forehead against my chest. "Your teammates are never going to let you live this down."
"Worth it. You're worth every fucking chirp, baby."
We make our way back to the group. Paige immediately pulls Sarah into a hug. Brett claps my shoulder. Liam's still bragging about his baby shower planning skills.
"Sunshine finally made a move!" Tyler announces. "Someone post this! Wait, I already did."
This kid and his social media. "You posted us kissing?"
"Obviously. It's good content. Also, Hercules's adoption application got approved, so today's a win all around."
"You adopted Hercules?" All of a sudden, I question Sarah's judgment.
"Bear said I can come live with him. So, I'm getting a dog, Kev. Try to keep up."
Now I question Josh even more than I question Sarah. But we’ll deal with that later.
The celebration continues around us. Nachos and sunset and Landrie demanding her promised cheesecake. The string lights are glowing now, the sky’s gone purple and pink.
Sarah leans into me. Fits perfectly next to my heart. Right where she belongs.
"This is insane," she says quietly.
"Yeah," I agree, watching the friends who've become the family we've chosen — and have chosen us in return — celebrate around us. "It is. And it’s fucking perfect."