And now they were back in Portland after two tough losses in Wyoming. They were hoping to even things out tonight with the home crowd behind them.
The tension in the dressing room was almost unbearable. His teammates were unusually quiet as they fidgeted in full equipment and waited for Coach Taggert to start his pregame speech. Instead, Taggert walked over to Luke, touched his shoulder pad. "Someone's here to see you."
Holly.
Her name popped unbidden into his heart. Was she here to apologize? Or to tell him she was going live with the story tonight? And why did the prospect of seeing her make his heart race with anticipation? He was mad at her. Furious, really.
"Now's not really the time, is it, Coach?"
The gruff, burly man motioned toward the door with a shake of his head. "You wanna stay a part of this team, you do what I say and trust me when I tell you, you wanna take this meeting."
Luke obeyed. But when he stepped out of the dressing room, it took a long moment before his brain could fully register the sight before him. "You came."
"Yeah, well. There's only so many places you can wear one of these jerseys, so..." Ethan shrugged.
Luke hadn't even noticed the damn jersey. The C on the front. The number twenty-eight visible on the sleeve. "Holly," he breathed.
His little brother nodded. "Yeah, it showed up in the mail the other day. Complete with a scathing letter that threatened me with bodily harm if I didn't get my ass out to one of your games. She's pretty incredible. Too good for you, really."
Luke couldn't even process the joke. "I'm glad you're here."
Ethan stared down at the ground. "I should have come before. It's been a really tough couple of years, Luke. Without hockey, I've got nothing. I've put everything into getting back on that ice, and every day it became clearer that wasn't going to happen, and I couldn't deal with that. But Holly helped me see that there are still opportunities to be part of hockey. Maybe not on the ice, but on the bench. Or in a studio. I can still talk about it, dissect it, coach it and watch my brother play it the way it's meant to be played." He looked up at that.
"You've always been in it for the love of the game. That's what makes you great, big brother. You do it for the right reasons. Not the fame or the fortune or the ladies. Because you genuinely love playing. You've got to stop giving a shit about my feelings, or what's going on with your teammates and just get out there and do what you do. And know that it's good enough, no matter what happens."
Growing up, he and Ethan had always been close, but the heartfelt words made Luke realize how much distance had crept between them since the accident. He'd been so busy trying to take care of things, he hadn't realized how much he'd missed his brother.
"Also, this is for you."
Ethan handed him a beat-up paper bag. Luke opened it and couldn't help but laugh. "No way!"
Ethan blushed as Luke held up a knitted replica of the Storm Jersey he wore, complete with "Maguire" and a big twenty-eight on the back and the coveted C on the front.
"You made this?"
"Yeah, well, I've had a lot of time to think lately. Had to break through some of that mental chatter. Figured if I was knitting, it might as well be something...not like your stupid thirty-foot lengths of nothing."
Luke shook his head. "You always gotta show me up, don't you, you prick?"
"It's not my fault I'm so much better than you at everything. Now got out there and win this game."
Ethan's words were still ringing in his ears as he stepped onto the ice. The game was going to be a battle. Down 2 – 0 in a series was not a great place to be, but for the first time since the play-offs began, Luke was in his element. He belonged there. Tonight, he was going to make sure everybody knew it.
A minute and twenty-seven seconds into the first period, Luke snapped his scoring drought with a beautiful wrist shot to the top-left corner.
* * *
IT WAS A hard-fought, physical game. Players from both teams spent their fair share of time in the penalty box, and despite the Storm's commanding first period, the Wyoming Stallions had battled back to a 3 – 3 draw with seven minutes left in the game.
Luke had thought they were destined for overtime, but with forty-six seconds left on the clock, the rookie redirected one of Kowalchuk's big booming slap shots, and the Storm had gone on to win it 4 – 3 in regular time. There was a tangible relief in the air as his weary teammates filed into the dressing room after the game. They'd held on, brought the series back to within one. Their dreams of the championship were still viable.
It took him a moment to notice that his goaltender was walking in front of him hunched over with the air of a man who'd just lost it all.
Luke grabbed his jersey, stopping him before he stepped into the dressing room with the rest of the team. "Hey man, you okay?"
J.C. barely looked at him as he shrugged. "Huh? Yeah, no. I'm fine. Good goal. You relaxed and played the game. Just like I told you to."
Luke frowned. "For a man who was just part of an epic, kick-ass win, you seem pretty down."
He shook his head. "It's nothing. Just tired. Play-offs are pretty grueling."
"Yeah, okay." Luke meant to drop it then, to give his goaltender-his friend-some space, but there was a niggling thought in his mind. A piece that wouldn't quite fit. J.C. wasn't acting like himself tonight. Hadn't been since... "You went down."
"What?"
"Third period. We were up 3 – 2. Johnson was coming in on his backhand and you went down. He scored top shelf. You never go down when Keith Johnson is on his backhand. You've been playing against him since we were fourteen."
"What are you talking about?"
"It's you." The realization vibrated in every cell in Luke's body. He stood facing his friend in the middle of the hallway, betrayal burning like lava in his veins. "Holly was right. You let that goal in on purpose. What the hell are you wrapped up in?"
For the first time, J.C. looked something other than listless. In fact, he looked downright panicked. He glanced around the hallway. "Would you keep your voice down?"
"What the fuck is going on?"
"Calm down. It's nothing." He put a comforting hand on Luke's shoulder.
Luke shook it off. "Are you betting on hockey? Are you betting on us?"
J.C. went from soothing to defensive in a split second. "What the hell's your problem, Mags? It's no big deal. It's over-under stuff. We've got a real chance this year. All I have to do is keep the score a little closer than it should be in a few games."
Luke's stomach churned with disgust. "I can't believe you! You could go to jail for this! You're about to get married. You've got a baby on the way."
J.C.'s face twisted with ire. "Why does everyone keep saying that like it's a good thing? Tania and I have been together for four years, and she wanted a ring or else. I didn't propose, I followed orders. And when the doubts took over, I was all set to tell her I wanted the damn ring back. But then she dropped the bombshell that I was going to be a dad."
J.C. ran a hand over his play-off beard and his voice turned beseeching. "A dad, Mags. Me. I'm too young to be a dad. I wanted to leave her, and now we're bonded together for the rest of time. And there's not a goddamn thing I can do about it. So I went to the track. A few times. Just to blow off some steam. And I got in a little over my head. But they offered me a way out-a way to clear up my debt. And we still win. Everybody wins. C'mon, man. We're the only ones left who know about this."
"What do you mean, the only ones left?" Realization dawned as soon as the words were out of Luke's mouth. "You got Holly fired? You son of a bitch! You used what I told you on the plane and you sold her out, you sold me out. I trusted you. I'm in love with this girl."
"She's a reporter, Mags."
"You're the one who insisted I was overreacting. That she was harmless."
"That was before I knew she was only pretending to be stupid! She heard Tania yelling about me getting rid of the Porsche. It was only a matter of time until she put it together. No one can find out about this. It wasn't personal, man. I was just covering my bases."
"J.C., what you're doing is illegal. You've put this whole team at risk. Jesus." Luke ran a hand through his hair. "What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking you had my back. Isn't that what you always say? Put the team first?"