Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
[Video description: Inside a sold-out T-Mobile Arena, Nevada GM Tony Murphy stands behind the bench for a pre-game interview with reporter Amelie Parks.
In the background, the crowd is full of all colors of the rainbow.
The Dragons wear their Pride jerseys, and almost every skater has Pride tape on their sticks.
Jonathan Picard has taped his entire goalie mask with rainbows.
Murphy has a small rainbow hockey stick pinned to his lapel. ]
“So, Tony, we can’t help but notice you’re a man down this evening,” Parks says. “Brad Burrows was not scheduled to be a healthy scratch for tonight’s game, and he skated this morning, but I don’t see him on ice. Has there been a late-stage injury to contend with?”
Murphy’s face remains impassive. “Brad Burrows chose to voice his refusal to join his teammates in upholding our commitment to inclusion within this sport, and while I respect that decision made due to his personal beliefs, it is my personal belief that if a player is not willing to dress with his team for warm-ups, then that player does not get to participate in the game.”
Parks’s surprise is visible, and it takes her a second to collect herself. “So to clarify, you scratched Burrows from the game because he didn’t want to wear the Pride jersey?”
“That is correct,” Murphy says with a nod.
“Was this a team-wide decision or did you put the hammer down?”
“Every other member of this team is excited to be wearing these jerseys, and agreed with me and with the rest of management that Burrows does not get to pick and choose which parts of the game he participates in. There was no hammer necessary here, Amelie.” Murphy cracks a smile.
“The only conflict in tonight’s locker room came from not having enough Pride tape to go around. ”
Parks smiles back, turning to face the camera. “Well, there you have it folks. The Nevada Dragons, making a bold statement on Pride Night. Certainly a change of pace from what we’ve seen so far this season.”
—Pre-Game Report, Dallas @ Nevada, February 26th, 2023
When the final buzzer goes and the Nevada goal song starts playing in victory, Nick feels like a weight has just lifted off his shoulders. Thank God. They needed that win.
He joins his teammates lining up to thank Picard, the goalie’s exhilarated laugh ringing out as Sunny plants a firm kiss on the front of his rainbow-taped helmet.
“Good job, kid,” Nick says, bumping their foreheads together and nudging him towards the locker room. Picard beams at him.
“That one felt good.”
“Damn right it did.”
It’s a party in the locker room with music blaring and guys enthusing over plays made and goals scored.
Nick escapes media quickly, checking his phone as he gets dressed.
There’s a message from Matt, confirming they’ve got Lindsay and are headed over to the bar, where they’ve got a private room booked.
It’s been a while since the whole band made it out for a game with how busy they’ve been lately, and they want to celebrate.
“You ready, Trix?” Marco asks, dabbing cologne on his neck.
“Ooh, where you boys headed?” Duke cuts in, grinning playfully. “Date night?”
Nick blushes despite himself; Duke’s more accurate that he realizes.
“The guys from Sticks were at the game tonight. We’re gonna meet them at Velvet. Linds is already there,” Marco explains casually, always coming to Nick’s rescue.
“Oh, that’s a good call. Game like this deserves a night out.
Mind if we tag along?” Moose jumps in—literally, throwing an arm over Duke’s shoulders as he appears out of nowhere.
With Patts out injured, the younger defenseman has taken up the role of Duke’s D-partner with much enthusiasm.
“Hey, Sunny! You and Mars wanna go to Velvet with Trixy and Marcs? Meet their rockstar buddies?”
Sunny perks up across the locker room. “Hell yeah! I’ll text her. Johnny-boy, you gotta come with. I owe you a drink. Besides, you might meet some girls,” he adds with a wink towards Picard.
It’s too late for Nick to protest as half the team invite themselves along in quick succession. He sends a panicked look to Marco, who’s grinning.
“All right!” Marco shouts, shutting the team up.
“If you wanna join us, that’s chill, but I’m not driving any of you fuckers home.
Get Ubers or have Kat get cars, I don’t care, not my problem.
We’re headed out, and we’ll see you there.
Room’s booked in my name. Trix?” he adds, jerking his chin towards the door. “Let’s go. My wife’s waiting.”
Nick waits until they’re well out of earshot to turn on his friend with narrowed eyes. “What the fuck, man?” he hisses. “You couldn’t have said it was a private thing?”
“Yeah, because that’s not suspicious,” Marco retorts, rolling his eyes. “It’s gonna be fine,” he promises. “It’ll be cool for the guys to get to know everybody. Meet the guy you’re dating, even if they don’t know it.”
“We’re not dating!” Nick insists, only getting a dismissive hand-wave.
“The guy you’re banging and pining over, whatever.”
Nick lets out a growl of discontent but otherwise doesn’t say anything. It’s too late now.
He pulls out his phone, opening his text thread with Matt.
Nick
Heads up, we’re bringing teammates. Not sure how many.
Matt
We’ll be on our best behavior ;)
His response makes Nick flush, even as anticipation bubbles in his stomach.
He couldn’t go with Matt to the music industry party, but he can do this. It’s just the team. It’s not weird for them to hang out. He doesn’t have to tell them anything.
He can totally do this.
They get to the bar at the same time as a group of their teammates—Hugsy, Moose, Duke and Picard file in beside them as they head for the doors. “Sunny and Mars are on their way over with Beau,” Picard tells them, a faint red line still imprinted on his forehead from his goalie mask.
“Splits and Motor not coming?” Marco asks, brows raised. The four rookies usually travel as a pack, Sunny following like a harassed older brother. Picard shakes his head.
“Nah, they’ve got dates lined up.”
“Damn, really?” Nick hums. “I didn’t know they had girlfriends.”
For some reason, that makes Sunny blush and he ducks his head. “Oh, they don’t, really. It’s … first dates. Don’t worry about it.”
Nick frowns, unable to question his teammate further as a waitress arrives to show them up to their private room.
He has vague memories of a couple of the guys teasing the rookies about first dates weeks ago—what has he missed there?
A pang shoots through his chest; he should know more about what his kids are up to off the ice.
Having so many of them isn’t an excuse to be a shitty captain about it.
Maybe he can talk to them next time Matt is at band practice; they’ve been spending so many evenings together lately, it’s hard to get time with his team outside of the rink.
Snapping him out of his thoughts, the waitress nudges the door open with a smile, resting a hand on Nick’s forearm.
“I’ll be through to take your drink orders in just a second,” she says, meeting his gaze intently.
“If you need anything, sir, just let me know. Ask for Jessie.” She giggles as she says this, pointing to her nametag—positioned strategically next to the impressive cleavage showing above the low-cut front of her uniform.
“Thanks, sweetheart,” Nick replies, winking at her, because that’s what’s expected of him.
That’s another reason he doesn’t go out much these days. Playing straight is exhausting in a way it never used to be.
Inside the room is a large U-shaped booth of black leather seating with several small tables placed at intervals, a TV set to ESPN and an upbeat song playing that Nick recognizes from Matt’s current favorites playlist. The band is all there, squeezed in together to look at a phone.
It’s Lindsay’s phone, he realizes, and the woman herself is grinning from the other side of the booth. They all look up at the new arrivals.
“Marco, your new puppy is the cutest fucking thing in the entire world, and I can’t believe you haven’t invited me over to play with her,” Joel says by way of greeting as he points accusingly at Marco, who laughs.
“Dude, come over whenever. I could do with a break from playing fetch for three hours straight every night.”
The puppy is a new addition to the Perez household, rescued from a shelter to surprise Lindsay for her birthday.
Her name is Marshmallow, and she’s a five-month-old fluffball of a puppy that’s going to be absolutely enormous when grown, pure white with three little golden-brown paws and utterly adorable.
Determined to play it cool in front of his teammates, Nick slides into the seat beside Matt, peering over his shoulder. “She’s a cutie,” he agrees. “Hey, bro.” Blocked from sight by his own body, he sets a hand on Matt’s thigh, squeezing briefly. Matt grins at him.
“What’s up, man. Solid game tonight. Congrats.” He looks past Nick to his teammates, raising a hand in greeting. “Hey, guys, nice to meet you. I’m Matt.”
There’s a chaotic five minutes where introductions are exchanged and large bodies are arranged in the booth seats.
“Oh, hey, news for you guys,” Matt adds, looking towards Nick and Marco.
“So y’know Zane was trying to get us a really sweet interview spot for when the EP comes out?
” Nick nods. “He got it. It’s, uh … do you ever listen to those StarlingFM Acoustic Lounge things? ”
“Hell yeah. Those are sick.” Nick always loves hearing something unexpected out of his favorite artists. The petty part of him also loves it when someone who usually autotunes proves they can’t hold a note without it.
“Well, it’s, uh, that.” Matt’s lips curl in the corners, a pleased little grin breaking free.
“Dude, that’s awesome! When?” Marco exclaims.