Page 51 of Offensive Edge
SAP Center, San Jose, California
“Danny, we have to acknowledge coming into this series the excitement that has been building to watch Rowan Foley reunite with his former Flint Jaguars teammate, Theo Lane, to play postseason hockey. When Foley signed with the Serpents at the beginning of the season, opinions were divided on whether Foley was making a wise decision.”
“And, Greg, I think we are all well past arguing that point. Both young men had career-best seasons, and have proven to be lethal on the ice together.”
“The Serpents picking up Foley was an absolute steal, and now, in the postseason, we might get the opportunity to see that gamble pay off for him. When Foley and his former line mate, Felix Becker, left Dallas, they were open about the fact that they did so to pursue the Cup. Let’s see if one of those boys can bring it home.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Greg. These boys have sixteen wins between them and the hardest trophy to win in sports. Tonight we have a truly special anthem singer for you, who is going to bring SAP Center to life, coming up right after the commercial break.”
CHAPTER25
THEO
The energyat SAP Center was unlike anything Theo had experienced before. It was only the first round, but they had won their first game against the Sailors, and their fans weren’t fucking around this year. They were ten minutes into the second game, and Rowan had already scored—off of Theo’s pass, of course.
Playoff hockey was different. The Sailors fought hard to hang on to the wild card slot going into the postseason, and they weren’t going down without a fight. The compete level you brought for even your toughest game of the regular season was nothing compared to the intensity of the easiest playoff game. Theo felt like he was playing hockey with an entirely different part of his brain.
He hopped off the ice, following Rowan as he found a spot on the bench, and settled beside him easily. Mateo had finished the season on the top line with them, and watching Rowan mentor him through his first playoff series (even though Rowan didn’t have a ton of playoff experience himself) was a little heartwarming.
Rowan carried himself with an intensity that he rarely turned off, but he was patient with Mateo, and never hesitated to point out all the things Mateo was doing right. Theo had been on teams in the past where development was based on fear and punishment, but that was nowhere to be seen on the Serpents’ bench this year. He thought it was a big contributor to how unified they felt on the ice.
“Right, Laney?” Rowan said. For some sense of separation as they barreled into both the playoffs, and whatever relationship they were re-cultivating, he realized Rowan had started last-naming him when they were doing anything with the boys. Theo had followed suit.
Theo shook his head, trying to remember what Rowan was telling Mateo about their next shift. He pushed all his horny-for-Rowan thoughts out of the way and remembered the play Rowan wanted for their next shift. “Yeah,” he agreed. They’d been sitting long enough for him to drink some water and wipe the condensation from the inside of his visor before it was time to head over the boards again.
By the end of the game, his legs were jelly. The scoreboard reported a decisive victory. They would take the next two games in Seattle, and even though Theo was working harder than he ever had, he did not know why he was so fucking tired.
He looked up from peeling the tape off of his shin pads to see Rowan a few stalls down from him, already covered in reporters. He heard his own name a couple times and threw a ball of tape Rowan’s way. It hit him on the shoulder, and Rowan’s stoic face broke into a smile as he threw the tape back at Theo with an unspecified threat.
Theo got his shin pads and skates off, and sat back in his stall, taking in the sight of his teammates vibing to the post-game playlist. To his right, Rowan had his hands on his hips as he answered what Theo was sure were stupid questions. To his left, the coaches were smiling, Peters gesturing senselessly with a folded piece of paper. On the wall behind them was a laser-cut piece of Lucite in the shape of the Cup, with sixteen slots for game winning pucks. Two games in, and they already had two slots filled up.
Theo had never been prouder of the boys he was playing with. And himself.
* * *
Theo’s mom had always been a bit of a moving target. She was rootless and followed her whims. It was nice when Theo was a kid and she was willing to move for him to play junior hockey so he didn’t have to live with a billet family.
After Theo got settled in the NHL, she had followed her whims to Oregon, which meant a trip down to San Jose wasn’t rare for her. It also meant that she decided to catch the second two games of the first round in Seattle instead of coming to California for the first two.
Theo almost felt bad for how easily they beat the Sailors in their first game in the Sailors’ arena. Not too bad, though. He always enjoyed winning when his mom was in the building.
“My babies,” she cried as Theo and Rowan headed out of the visitor’s locker room, their suits back on. The air was filled with intensity, and Michelle pulled the two of them into a hug together, smacking a kiss on each of their cheeks. Michelle was Rowan’s de facto mom for a lot of junior, since his own mom was so far away in Calgary. Theo knew that their falling out had hurt his mom, too. “You two just keep getting better and better, don’t you?”
“First round should be easy,” Rowan said, parroting what everyone was saying in the room. As the first seed, they had been set up against the worst Western Conference team, who had barely made the playoffs. The Sailors had been on a roller coaster of success all year, while the Serpents had been playing steady, solid, great hockey.
“You’re still blowing them out of the water. Can I choose where we go to dinner?” Michelle had road-tripped up from Oregon, so they took her car to a seafood restaurant she had scoped out. They got tucked into a booth, and as soon as they received their menus, Rowan ordered the nicest pinot grigio on the menu. How he remembered Theo’s mom’s favorite wine eight years later, Theo would never know. She beamed at him.
“Dinner’s on me, too,” Rowan said. “Since you came all the way here.”
“I’m not going to talk you out of it, sweetie. Theo has been making it sound like you two are right back to being two peas in a pod.”
Color crept up Rowan’s cheeks. His dark hair always made him look so pale. The only times he had any rosiness to him it was embarrassment or helmet marks on his forehead. Somehow, Theo thought they were equally adorable.
“Yeah, it’s been really nice. I’m really glad I signed here.”
“And of course, Mister Theo here is so much happier. I know it wasn’t a smooth transition, and I’m not going to pretend that I know how you’re both feeling, but this is a good thing. My boys are back together.”
“Thanks, Michelle,” Rowan said, his voice quiet. He’d gottencall me Michelle’dabout a thousand times as a teenager and finally stopped calling her Ms. Lane a year into being friends with Theo, when she changed her name back to her maiden name. At first, Theo thought Rowan might have had a hard time remembering her maiden name, but Rowan didn’t forget things. Michelle didn’t want to be Ms. Lane anymore, and Rowan understood.
