Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

Brantley

“ G ood luck,” Riley says, stepping onto her toes for a kiss. I kiss her sweet mouth and hold her tight, not wanting to let go just yet.

This is the part I hate the most—separating from her.

“Come watch the game with me,” I say, not letting her go.

“What do you mean? In your private box?”

We haven’t talked about this, but why not? We’re engaged, so people will find out we’re together eventually. Why not now?

“Can you imagine the media firestorm that would set off? Half the reporters in the country are here.”

“I don’t care what anyone says about it,” I say, cupping her hand. “After the moment I met you, this is the most important moment of my life and I want you by my side.”

She looks skeptical, but she’s thinking about it.

“I don’t think two owners have ever sat together during the Stoney Cup championships,” she says.

“I don’t think two owners have ever been sleeping together either,” I say with a grin. “It will be a first for many things.”

“Do you really think this is a good idea?”

“Being with you, my love, is always a good idea.”

She smiles, steps up, and kisses me. “Okay. I’ll sit with you.”

We hold hands as we leave my office and walk into the hallway. I’m not sure if the word has gotten out about our status, but we certainly get a lot of shocked looks as we walk to my private box holding hands.

I settle in the front row with my girl as the players warm up on the ice.

“Well, hello ,” Zara says to Riley with a big smile on her face as she comes over. “I’m so happy you’ll be joining us for the game.” She leans in close to whisper. “And congratulations on your engagement. How exciting! If you need a flower girl, I have an excellent throwing arm.”

“I’ll keep you in mind,” Riley says, chuckling. “But you might have to fight my eight-year-old niece for the job.”

Zara flexes her bicep. “Bring it on.”

The girls start chatting about the wedding, which we’ll have on my yacht, so I turn my focus onto the ice. The boys look good. They look healthy and excited to win.

I’m surprised at how on edge I am. I’m having a hard time sitting still.

It’s a win-win situation , I tell myself. If the Hyenas win, great. And if we lose, Riley will win and I’ll be thrilled for her.

Still, I do have a favorite…

After the national anthem and all of the ceremony stuff, the arena is buzzing with excitement. It’s game seven in San Antonio, winner take all.

The boys skate onto the ice and it feels like my pulse is going to burst, it’s racing so fast.

“Good luck,” Riley whispers when the game is about to start.

“But not too much luck,” I say with a grin. She smiles and takes my hand, squeezing it.

Whatever happens, I’ll have my Riley. And that’s all I need.

The arena quiets, everyone too excited to breathe, as the referee skates over with the puck.

“Here we go!” Zara says before screeching like a banshee. “Go Hyenas, Aaarrooooo!!!”

The referee throws the puck down and the boys explode into action. Sebastian Kemp fights for the puck and wins. He passes it back to Edvard Svensson who immediately passes it to Harris Sutton.

I keep my eyes glued on the ice, heart pounding as I watch.

No one scores in the first period. The goalies are too good. We have the best goalie in the league, Nolan Barlowe, but the Vipers have the second-best goalie, Miles Ackerman. They both make several fantastic stops.

No one scores in the second period either, but something even better happens. Carson Rochon slams into Austin from behind, giving him a cheap shot, and Tucker McKinstry takes it personally. He charges over, throwing his gloves onto the ice.

“Oh yeah!” Zara says as all twenty-four thousand hockey fans jump to their feet, us included. “Kick his ass, Mother Tucker!”

“Let’s go, Carson!” Riley hollers as her enforcer drops his gloves, big mean grin on his face.

The referees circle as the two Goliaths collide in an epic showdown. They know it might be the last chance they have at each other and they do not hold back.

McKinstry gets first blood, walloping Rochon with a hard right hook. Rochon staggers, but when McKinstry comes in to finish the job, Rochon hits him with several hard jabs.

From there, it’s just a blur of thunderous punches and splashes of blood. The crowd roars as they grab each other’s jerseys and let loose, pounding one another into oblivion.

One of the referees tries to jump on Carson, but he bounces right off and lands on his ass.

“Come on, Tucker,” I whisper under my breath as the two beasts begin to slow down, throwing slower sluggish punches. They’re still devastating when they land, but they’re not coming in as fast.

Tucker is cut badly above his left eye. Blood is pouring out onto his jersey and dripping onto the ice where it immediately freezes.

As bad as he looks, Carson looks even worse. His lip is cut in two places, he’s bleeding from his forehead, and from a cut under his eye.

Carson knees Tucker between the legs and the whole arena lets out a collective ‘Oooooh!’

It doesn’t bring Tucker McKinstry down. It only angers him and gives him a burst of furious energy. He squeezes his huge fist and lets it rain down on Rochon, cracking him with hard roundhouses and fierce jabs. When Rochon lowers his head, Tucker lets loose with a devastating uppercut that snaps his head back and knocks him out.

Rochon falls to the ground unconscious. The crowd roars as the top enforcer in the league reaches down and grabs Rochon’s skate. My heart is racing as I watch him drag Rochon’s limp body to the Vipers’ bench. He drops him in front of it and then skates to the penalty box as the crowd goes nuts.

“He almost had him,” Riley says as she watches Carson wake up, looking a little dazed.

I smile at her, but she’s so wrong on that one. No one has a chance against the great Tucker McKinstry.

The Vipers get their revenge a few minutes later when their forward scores between Nolan’s legs. Riley leaps up and cheers along with the Vipers fans in the crowd.

I’m disappointed about the goal against us, but I can’t help but smile when I see how excited my woman is. How can I be upset when Riley is smiling so beautifully like that?

The rest of the period is a nail-biter, and so is the beginning of the third. I can barely breathe when Sebastian Kemp steals the puck and launches into a breakaway.

The Vipers goalie hunkers down, getting ready for the shot. But it never comes. Sebastian goes right, but then passes the puck back and to the left where Harris Sutton is coming up fast.

Harris yanks his stick back and unleashes a thunderous slapshot that rockets into the upper corner of the net.

“Yes!” I shout, leaping to my feet as the siren blares.

The boys swarm on Harris as the crowd chants “Flamethrower! Flamethrower! Flamethrower!” in unison. It’s so loud the arena shakes.

Before heading back to the bench, Harris skates over to where his wife Fiona and his five-year-old son Lucas are jumping up and down in the front row.

Harris takes off his gloves, makes a heart with his fingers, and puts it to the glass. His wife and adorable son do the same.

I see that and long for a child of my own. I’ve never wanted kids before, but after meeting Riley, everything has changed. I’d like to make a family with her. I think that would make me very happy.

“That’s sweet,” Riley says, smiling as she watches the touching scene on the ice.

Harris blows his woman a kiss and then skates to the bench as the crowd roars the veteran’s nickname over and over. It will probably be his last year playing, so I’m happy he got one last moment in the spotlight before he has to hang up his gloves for good. It’s a fitting end for one of hockey’s greats.

It feels like two lifetimes go by in that final tied period. All the boys, on both teams, push like never before, leaving everything on the ice, but the teams are so evenly matched that there are no more goals.

Even through two sudden-death overtimes, no one scores.

“What’s going to happen now?” Zara asks when the clock runs down in the second overtime.

“Shootouts,” Riley says with a hard swallow. “We’re going to shootouts.”

I take her hand and gaze into her eyes. “Whatever happens, I love you.”

She smiles and puts her head on my shoulder.

But I still hope we win…