25. Matt
MATT
Maybe the Nighthawks not winning the Cup the last few years had been written in the stars. Maybe the universe wanted us to wait until we all had someone special to share it with. Maybe that was the plan all along.
The last two weeks have been a blur of the most beautiful and special moments in my life. Nonstop celebration, press tours, happy tears, and endless love. Best of all, I got to spend it all with Shay right beside me, celebrating in her own right.
But the best is still yet to come because Shay, the Cup, the Keeper, and I are arriving somewhere incredibly special right now. It’s my day with the Cup, and there’s only one place I was ever going to go and one thing I was going to do.
It’s a sunny day here in Ann Arbor, just enough cloud cover for my liking. My mind starts to ramble, but I stop it the moment I catch it, forcing myself to be present and in the moment, however great or hard it may be.
Shay’s thumb brushes the back of my hand, her fingers interlocked with mine.
Sometimes, I swear she can read my mind because she always seems to know exactly when I need her.
My mom’s sitting on one of the benches, her face buried in her phone.
But when she looks up, noticing us heading her way, she flies up with a gasping shriek.
“Matty!” she cries out and takes off, racing across the pavement. “My Matty!”
“Careful, Mama.”
I brace for her impact as she barrels into me, but she still manages to knock me back a step or two.
Bending at the waist, I wrap my arms around her as she sobs into my shirt.
I rub her back, up and down, letting her get her fill.
Her fingers are digging into the middle of my back, but I don’t wince or say a word because I think she needs this just as much, if not more, than I do.
“You’re all right,” I murmur to her, petting her head. “I’m right here.”
“Oh, Matty,” she cries out once more and takes a slow, deep breath before stepping back and wiping beneath her eyes.
Her gaze falls to my now-wrinkled shirt that she hastily tries to fix with her hands, but it tickles slightly, and I laugh.
“Mom”—I reach up and gently grab her wrists, stopping her manic clothing assault—“it’s okay.”
Her pinched gaze flicks up to mine, and I nod, assuring her that the last thing in the world I could care about right now is this shirt.
“All right.” She huffs out a fast sigh and drops her hands to her sides before turning to Shay, a big smile taking over her face. “Ahh, look at you. You’re so beautiful, Shay. And thank you for coming with Matty.”
Shay snakes her arm around my waist and leans into me, my arm falling over her shoulders. “Nowhere else in the world I’d rather be.”
I can see my mom’s shoulders lighten because she knows I have someone to hold close.
But I can also see the pain in her eyes because her person is inside the nursing home behind us.
My mom steps beside me, and we walk toward the entrance, the Keeper and his prized possession on a rolling cart behind us.
We get checked in, and a few residents eyeball the trophy behind me. I can’t help but wonder if they played hockey, if they’ve ever seen it in person. After we see my dad, I’ll be sure to stop in the commons area to take it on a little tour to anyone who wants to see it.
The air gets heavier as we walk down a hallway, my mom leading the way to my dad’s room. She says that he’s usually napping this early in the afternoon. But when she opens the door, he’s sitting up in his recliner, watching TV.
My heart leaps into my throat, and time slows as my dad hears us enter. I’m glued on to his side profile, everything else disappearing around me.
Will he recognize me? My mom?
Slowly, his head turns, and blue orbs I’ve spent my life looking into for advice, for love, for guidance lock on to mine, and my breath halts. And then the scales tip, his smile forms, and wrinkles crease beside his eyes.
“Matty,” he murmurs, standing up from his chair and waddling over. “Oh my God, Matty!”
He breaks through all my shields and emotional barriers as his arms wrap around my shoulders and he pulls me down, cradling my head into the crook of his neck.
Suddenly, I’m not thirty years old. I’m the little boy who crawled into his dad’s lap for comfort, the little boy whose first coach was this man right here. I’m little Matty who learned how to be who I am because of him.
My chest breaks open, and my eyes catch fire. I pull him tightly against me. My voice cracks as I say, “I love you so much, Dad.”
“I love you too.” He cries with me, not caring at all about whether or not I won the Cup, about how I performed on the ice, or anything other than being exactly as I am. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I missed you,” I whimper, clinging as tightly as I can to him and to this moment, unsure how many more times we’ll have where he’s truly here.
He pats my back and kisses the side of my head. “I’m right here, Matty. I’m right here.”
Fuck. I can’t even describe the emotion coursing through me.
It’s agonizing and brutal, but beautiful all the same.
Because how fucking lucky am I to have a dad so incredible to love this much?
It’s a blessing and a curse, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
All I know is that he’s the best dad in the entire goddamn world.
“All right, all right.” I pull back, righting myself.
Finding tears in his eyes nearly guts me to pieces. This all must be just as confusing and scary to him, not always understanding the cloudiness in his mind.
“Now, who do we have here?” He smiles big and bright as he turns to Shay.
She giggles and accepts his offer for a quick hug. “I’m Shay.”
“Shay.” He mulls the name over, and for once, I hope his memory fails him because there were many times over the last few years when I gushed about her, both as an athlete and as the most beautiful woman I’d ever known.
But apparently, his time embarrassing me as a father isn’t over yet. He juts his fingers into the air, and I can practically see a light bulb glow above his head.
“Shay!” His gaze flicks back and forth between us, a smirk forming on his face. “Matty, is this the same Shay Rooney you were obsessed with?”
“Oh my God,” I groan, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I hate you.”
Shay and my mom burst out laughing, and even Gregg, one of the staff, can’t help but join in.
“Yeah, Dad.” I wince. “Same girl.”
Shay bumps my hip with hers. “Obsessed, huh?”
I look over to find her flushed and smiling big and bright.
“I do remember finding a message from you a little while back.”
A chuckle slips past my lips, and I shake my head, reaching around her shoulders and pulling her into me. “What can I say? I always knew who I was going to marry.”
“You’re engaged?” my mom shrieks, clapping her hands, and I realize that I should have chosen my words carefully.
While I’m trying to figure out the perfect thing to say, Shay cuts in, “Not yet.”
My eyebrow cocks up. “Don’t give me any ideas, Rooney.”
She shrugs, looking up at me with the purest joy. I tug her toward me, flattening her back against my front with my arms around her shoulders, and I pepper the top of her head in kisses.
Gregg coughs slightly behind me and tries to cover it up, but it’s too late. Now we’re all turning to face him, and a new wave of embarrassment hits me, knowing he’s been witness to all of this unfolding.
“Gregg, I bet you have some killer stories locked away in that brain of yours.” I chuckle as he fiddles with one of his white gloves.
His eyes bulge, memories flashing in his stare. “Oh, yeah. Definitely.”
“God, Matty,” my dad gasps, and I turn to see him shaking his head side to side. “You did it. You really did it.”
There go those damn eyeballs of mine. When did I become such a crier?
He steps beside me and walks toward the rolling cart carrying the trophy, and we all follow him.
Lifting his hand up, he gestures to touch it, and Gregg nods.
My dad stretches his arm forward and trails his fingertips along the top of the Cup, down across the decades of names carved into the sides, taking it all in.
Winning this has had many special moments, but this has got to be the best one yet.
We spend the next few hours sitting and visiting with my dad, some of his new friends, and curious other residents until my heart feels like it might actually burst.
Gregg’s the first to leave, needing to get the Cup to its next destination. My mom, Shay, and I follow not that far behind him.
The goodbye is heavy, knowing I can’t bring him with me. But this is the best place he can be, and it’s just a hard pill to swallow. My mom is a blubbering mess when we part ways in the parking lot, and I promise to either fly her out as soon as possible or come back and visit.
Shay’s hand finds mine after we slide into our Lyft to the airport. “You know …” She trails off, waiting for me to meet her stare. “We could come back here and stay for the summer. I’m sure Kyle would love it, and we can get as much time with your family as we can before next season.”
My face must not show the deep love burning through me because her smile falls, which is unacceptable.
In the blink of an eye, my hand finds the back of her head, pulling her sideways toward me, and my lips are on hers.
“You are … everything to me, Shay Rooney.”
She giggles into my mouth, and my other hand finds her waist, tickling her, causing her laughter to explode.
“Stop! Stop! Stop!”
I laugh along with her and still my hand, stealing one more kiss. “I love you so much.”
She bites down on her smile, peering up at me with doe eyes. “I love you too.”
“I think that’s a great idea though, seriously.” I beam. “And then when we go back, we can just get a place together.”
“Whoa. Says who?” she teases, her eyes twinkling.
I scoff. “Good luck stopping me. Kyle and I are best friends. And you’ve lost your mind if you think I’m ever sleeping apart from you again.”
Rolling her eyes, she leans into my arm, now draped over her shoulders. “Maybe I should make you wait and earn another Cup first.”
I gasp. “How dare you, you little brat?! That’s a horrible idea.”
Reaching up, she interlocks her left hand with mine. “I don’t know. Making you wait to be with me last time seemed to pay off.”
“And nearly killed me,” I murmur.
Tipping her head back to look up at me, she’s flushed and giddy. “You survived.”
“Because I had you.” I lean down and kiss her forehead.