Page 107 of Hot Shot
“I love you too, Madison,” I say, blowing out a breath and trying hard to keep my voice steady.
I close the distance between us, sealing our lips together. No matter what happens, I’ll always come home.
To her.
At the end of the night.
At the end of the season.
She’s my home.
Epilogue
4MonthsLater
We’re silent as we make our way to the locker room after losing game five of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs to the Montreal Flyers.
I look over at Brody, and it’s written all over his face. He blames himself. Of course he does.
He missed a shot with seconds to go in the game. A shot he’s made a hundred times. A shot that would have tied the game and taken us into overtime.
I don’t know what to say to him. It’s not his fault. Not really. The rest of us played poorly too. We shouldn’t have been in the position to need the goal. Half of us are injured. All of us are exhausted. It’s been a long season. But it’s still heartbreaking.
Brody throws himself down on the bench, a tirade of curse words leaving his mouth. I trade glances with Wes and Holt, who both shake their heads and shrug their shoulders. I get it. I’d be angry too if it was me who missed that goal.
Aside from Brody’s outburst, the room remains silent. I take a shower and get dressed quickly. Madison is waiting for me. I can’t wait to hug and kiss her. Lose myself in her and try to forget about this terrible game.
I’m disappointed our season is over now, but I am excited to spend more time with Madison. The second half of the season was rough because we were constantly traveling. I was grateful that she agreed to move in with me.
The first thing I did after I signed a three-year contract with the Storm was find a place to call home and ask her to move in. The second thing I did was buy a ring.
Yeah, I plan to ask Madison to marry me, I just haven’t figured out when I’ll do it. I don’t want to rush her, things with her business are hectic, and I know she’s still healing from everything with Elliot. I’ll wait until she’s ready.
Coach comes into the locker room while I’m getting dressed and gives a speech about the end of the season that I only half pay attention to.
It’s still weird to me that he’s Madison’s father. I have a hard time not calling him Coach when we’re all together.
He thanks us for a great season and tells us he’ll see us at the end of summer and to stay out of trouble. Everyone claps. He waves and heads out to do interviews.
Caleb says a few words thanking us for the great year and mentions an end-of-the-year party at his house next week. The locker room begins to clear out.
I turn my attention to Brody, who is sitting on the bench hunched over, a towel draped over his head, and still in his uniform and skates.
“You alright?” I ask. He doesn’t answer me. I nudge him to make sure he hasn’t fallen asleep.
“Fine,” he grumbles, not bothering to look up at me.
I lock eyes with Caleb, who raises his eyebrows at me. I gesture at Brody’s unmoving form. He nods and comes over.
“Brod. You alright?” Caleb asks.
Wes and Holt join us but stay silent. I start to leave but stop when Brody lifts his head and pulls the towel off. “I fucked up,” he whispers.
“Hey, man. It wasn’t your fault.” Caleb claps him on the shoulder, sitting down next to him.
I stay silent, letting Caleb take the reins on this one. “If we weren’t in the position we were in, it wouldn’t have mattered whether you got that goal or not. It’s on all of us. We’re a team. There’s not one guy to blame.”
Brody shakes his head. “This might be the end for me.”
