Page 114 of Risky Play

I tried to distract him, but he darted around me and picked up the piece of paper. The one I had been scared to fill out. He scanned it and raised his eyes at me in question. “What’s this?”

“It’s the business application.”

His eyes lit up. “For the PR company?”

I nodded.

I officially had five authors I was PAing for now. Dinah was still my number one, but I had such growth that I decided to start my own PR company for authors, mostly in romance. Matt and I had talked about it at length after I graduated last month. He fully supported my dreams, and I loved that about him.

“That’s amazing!” he cheered.

I bit my lip. “You think I should do it?”

“Maddie, you’re so good at it. I’m fully in support of this. And don’t worry about money, okay? I’ll support us in the meantime.”

That was something we talked about too. Noah talked about capital with me and whether I wanted to do it on the side or find a full-time job. I was extremely privileged that I had a boyfriend and big brother who could support me financially if need be. For now, I was going to chase my dreams.

He cupped my face. “Love you, sweet pea.”

I beamed. “Love you too. And I can’t wait to watch you hold the Cup over your head tonight.”

“Don’t jinx me!”

“I’m not.”

He gave me one last kiss goodbye, and then he walked upstairs to have his pregame meal and head out with my brother and the other new guys. I was so glad we were moving out soon. It was nice having our space down here, but our own little place to start our life together was going to be great.

I packed up a few more boxes, and then I sat down and filled out the form. I was actually doing it. I was going to chase my dreams with my man by my side. First, I needed to watch him win the Cup, then we’d find forever.

I chugged my beer while I watched from behind the glass as Matt took the face-off in the Bulldogs’ defensive zone. I glanced at the scoreboard, 2-2, with five minutes left in the third period. They needed one final push, and they could bring it all home.

“Come on, baby, you got this,” I muttered under my breath.

Matt’s sister Luna gripped my hand and gave me a nervous look. We were all on the edge of our seats. After Matt’s injury last season, he pushed himself even harder this year. It was a minor setback, but it made him more focused. When the team made the playoffs this year, I thought Dinah was going to have a heart attack. Then they kept on winning. Now, they had to beat the Chicago Renegades one last time to bring it all home.

“They got this,” Dinah said.

“I’m nervous,” I explained. “Matt told me to stop jinxing him.”

“Don’t worry,” Dinah reassured me.

I turned back to the ice, and I held my breath as I watched my boyfriend on the breakaway.

“Oh my God!” I yelled along with everyone else in the arena.

“GO!” Luna and Matt’s parents were screaming on the other side of me.

We were all up on our feet, yelling our heads off and watching as Matt had the puck and deked it around the Chicago defenseman. Benny and Hallsy skated down to join him, but Matt had the opening. I watched in amazement as he slid the puck past the goaltender.

The entire arena went up in cheers, and the goal siren blared.

“Fuck yeah, baby! The motherfucking cup!” Dinah yelled and then promptly downed the rest of her beer.

I laughed at her. I loved my sister-in-law so much.

The cheering on the ice went on for a bit longer as we watched the rest of the minutes tick down. When the game-ending horn sounded, we all screamed our heads off again, cheering for our team.

The crowd kept roaring until both teams lined up for the handshake line. That had always been one of my favorite things about hockey. No matter what, the teams still had respect for each other at the end of the day.