29. Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Well, now, looks like someone’s been getting a little too cozy in the escape room!
Heard tell our favorite homegrown hero and that video coach with the killer style got mighty close during the Renegade’s First Responder Night.
Seems like the action off the ice is even more exciting than what’s going down on the ice.
I’m all about spilling the secrets, so stay-tuned, friends!
I’m on the case! ~Penni’s Puckleberry Tea
Shep
For a moment, nothing happened. Silence descended and everyone in the room held their breath. Even the simulated moans of the zombies outside the room quieted.
Then, the room erupted in blinding white light and a shrill alarm blared. A crisp mechanical voice barked over a loud intercom. “Initializing shutdown protocols. Please evacuate immediately.”
The two doors on the far side swung open on their own, revealing two rooms beyond, each lit up with sterile, fluorescent lighting, the sort you’d find in a laboratory. A mad scientist’s lab. Or an escape room, of course.
A thrill surged through me. I bit back another smile. I’d bet my last game puck that Zacha and Coach hadn’t made it to their next room yet. No way. They didn’t have a good luck charm like mine.
“Well, where to next?” The sheriff’s voice cracked with demand, his hands in fists at his hips.
Merri crept closer to the openings, her eyes widening as she took in the scenes within each. She poked her head into one, then the other. “This one.” She pointed upward in the second doorway. “The ceiling—it’s a star map. This has to be a clue.”
Her voice fired me up and I led the way into the next room.
The second room fell to our combined wits in record time. But room three? Room three had other plans.
A low hum vibrated through the walls, raising the hair on my neck. Dark wood shelves loomed overhead, each one crammed with leather-bound books and brass artifacts that gleamed under flickering lights.
“Welcome to the research library,” a voice boomed from somewhere above, rich and deep as some James Earl Jones voiceover. “Your final challenge.”
“Awesome. Just awesome.” My dry tone earned a snort from the paramedic.
Merri glided between the towering shelves, her fingers dancing over spines and statues. “There must be clues somewhere. Any thoughts?”
Silence answered her question. I yanked off my cap, raked my fingers through my hair, then settled the hat back in place. “Let’s pair up, work the room section by section. Call out anything unusual.”
From the other side of the massive oak table, summer-green eyes caught mine. Her face lit up with that competitive spark I’d grown addicted to. The one that said she’d crack this puzzle or die trying. The corners of her mouth curved up, drawing my gaze to those soft lips.
Every tiny shift of her expression called to me like a perfect passing lane. I wanted to learn her tells, recognize each flash of those eyes, predict her moves before she made them. Like reading plays on ice, but so much more important.
No way was I letting her slip away again.
Hammer dropped his grumpy ass onto one of the chairs at the table, the wood creaking under his weight. The room plunged into darkness, replaced by an eerie green beam shooting from one of the wall boxes. The light carved a path across the room, highlighting a spot on the far wall.
He lurched up like someone had tased him, stumbling in the dark. The overhead lights snapped back on, leaving the green glow dead in its box.
“Back in the chair, Hammer.”
His grunt echoed through the darkness as he dropped back down. The paramedic claimed another seat, triggering a weaker green glow. Her shifting weight made the beam flicker.
“Weight triggers,” the sheriff called out. “Need someone heavier in that seat.”
Sure enough, the green light blazed as soon as a heavier body filled the chair.
“But what does that tell us? All I see is a green light?” The firefighter’s confusion matched my own.
“Everyone grab a chair and let’s see what happens.” Merri’s voice sparked with authority.
Five seated bodies, five green beams—each one different. Too little weight dimmed the beam, too much turned it to fog. We switched seats, hunting the sweet spot where each beam locked into focus. Mine faded halfway across the room, despite my hockey-built frame.
Merri spun, searching for a solution. I caught her hand and tugged her down into my lap. The second she landed, the green glow flared to full strength. “Well,” she muttered, “that’s one way to solve a puzzle.”
One person remained standing, their shape outlined in murky green. “What am I supposed to be looking for?” The paramedic’s voice sounded in the dark, laced with a hint of panic as the last person standing.
“That’s half the puzzle,” I said, my voice a low rumble as I savored the feel of Merri in my lap. “Check those glowing boxes.”
I buried my nose in her hair. She twisted, probably aiming those emerald eyes at me with lethal intent. “Shh,” I whispered against her ear. “Let them concentrate.”
Her warmth melted into my chest, and every reason she’d given for staying apart felt like excuses, not walls. The same way my old fears about commitment had crumbled when faced with Hannah’s trust. Sometimes you just knew when something was right.
Like how a perfect shot felt leaving your stick. Like watching your sister find her future. Like seeing your kid’s eyes light up when you got something right.
Merri could push me away, spout rules and risks all she wanted. But I’d learned the difference between playing it safe and playing to win. And this? This was worth going all in.
Stanley Cup? Done.
Fatherhood? Bring it on.
Being Merri’s man? The ultimate win.
I could have it all. Put in the work, fight for what mattered. Hockey used to be everything. Now? Hannah, Merri, and yeah, still hockey.
I snickered into Merri’s soft hair. I was a man of many talents. Dad, partner, hockey god.
Around the table, the rest of our group argued about the pattern of laser beams and topography maps but I couldn’t focus beyond the woman perched in my lap.
The scent of her hair—of Merri—filled my senses, as fine as morning sunshine at the top of Sapphire Mountain in Three Corners.
She stiffened a second and I stilled my hand on her leg.
But then she pressed into my chest and my hand shifted, sliding along her thigh, up under the flouncy fabric of her dress.
The warmth of her skin beneath my fingers thrilled me, heating my blood between one breath and the next.
I wanted to touch every inch of her, explore her body until I discovered every freckle, every hidden spot that quickened her breath, every secret to her pleasure.
Breining spoke into the darkness. “There are too many lights to make sense. I don’t think we’re supposed to have them all lit up at once.”
“Wait. The galaxy card…” Merri said, her breath warm against my throat. “There were six stars on it. Maybe we need to match that.”
She shifted closer, practically curling into me. The green lasers cast weird shadows, but even Breining, closest to us, looked like nothing more than a hulking shape in the dark.
I tucked a finger beneath her chin and tilted Merri’s face up, finding her lips with mine in the shadows.
I might have missed her neck, but I found her lips on the first try.
All I needed was a little practice, see?
I’d always put my faith in “practice makes perfect”.
Her lips parted beneath mine and I swept my tongue inside to explore, to discover, to taste the heaven of her mouth.
And the decision solidified in my mind. No matter what. I belonged with this woman. She belonged in my life.
We just needed to discover the magic recipe that allowed her to continue the pursuit of her dreams and yet allowed me to be a part of her life, too.
My fingers tightened along her thigh. She’d pushed me away before, denied starting any sort of relationship with me.
But, then, she’d assumed I wanted nothing more than to continue our games.
Nothing serious. Once she understood I was after more than fun, that I wanted the whole package and I wanted it for all time…
She’d see me differently. She’d understand.
The four other voices in the room faded into white noise. I cupped Merri’s cheek, holding her close, and whispered into her ear. “I’m in love with you, Merri Wylie. We can make this happen. Help me make us happen.”
She gasped softly, her fingers tightening against my chest. For a moment, the world held still. The puzzle, the room, the others—none of it mattered.
A chime cut through the moment.
Then—click—the final door swung open, spilling bright light into the room. I helped Merri to her feet, my smile lingering on her face as she fixed her gaze on me, her lips parted. The perfect image of surprise.
Maybe I should have held the words back.
Found a better time. Somewhere private, intimate.
The others rushed through the door and with a quick glance to confirm we were alone, I swept Merri up against me, finding her lips again with my own.
She clung, her fingers digging into my shirt, her curvy body pressing hard against mine.
The sound of distant applause broke through my infatuated fog and I pulled away, guiding her out with my hand at her back when she remained silent.
She hadn’t answered me. My stomach tightened. Had I misread this? But then, as we stepped into the light, she glanced back, her lips parted—like she was about to say something. Like she wanted to say something.
Instead, the applause of our teammates swallowed whatever words she might have spoken.
Outside the escape room, we discovered we were the first team to finish. Of course we were.
We’d proven once again, when it came to challenges, we knew how to win.
Together we were unstoppable.