by Mia Wilde
God, any one of the Stormbreakers on his own would be the most incredible lay I’ve ever had—and now that I’ve had all six of them, over and over again, just seems too good to be true. Not only that, but the way they’ve performed this season has been legendary. A turnaround like few in the history of the game. They’ve gone from the underdogs to a threat to every team in the league, all with me as their number one cheerleader.
But I know that with the big game on the horizon, the guys need to focus. I go for a walk, a chance to clear my own head before tonight.
As I circle the Tornadoes’ stadium, I can’t help but notice that there still aren’t too many fans in Stormbreakers colors here tonight. We’re not playing at home tonight, and outside of Seattle, the Stormbreakers are far from fan favorites. Here in Toronto, we’re outnumbered five to one.
And I have a good idea who’s still to blame for that.
Me.
I head back to the stadium and pace around the Stormbreakers section, trying to have a bright idea on how to make up for what I’ve done to the team over the last few years. I’m planning on avoiding the guys, but given the tiny amount of space allocated to us as the visiting team and the fact that the entire squad are hanging around warming up or preparing for the game, I know it’s inevitable that I’ll run into one of them.
“Hey, Maddie,” Donovan calls out to me as I pass by the room we’ve turned into an impromptu physio suite. “I see you out there. We were worrying you’d run off on us. Get in here.”
I enter the impromptu rehab room. A bathtub has been set up in the middle, half an inch deep with bags of ice. Donovan is sat in it naked save for a pair of trunks, his muscles tight as they’re frozen down, his skin pale from the chill and contrasting dramatically with that dark hair and his frosty blue eyes.
I know muscle strain he picked up in practice has still been bothering him the last couple of days. And if the only way to make sure he can play is best is to sit balls-deep in ice, he’s going to do it. I have to admit, for such a ladies man, I’ve never met a guy with as much dedication as Donovan has to his boys.
The Stormbreakers, I mean—not his balls.
Generally speaking, dedication to Don’s balls is kind of my work.
Don can see right away that I’m not myself. For one thing, he’s half-naked in the same room as me and I haven’t immediately stripped the rest of his clothes off of him.
“What’s got you so blue, hon? Jared told us what you and him got up to earlier. Seems like you should be in a better mood. Surprised I didn’t see you down here earlier for some recovery of your own.”
I laugh, but my heart’s not quite in it.
“I dunno, Don.” I perch on the side of the bathtub. Gently, I run my fingers up and down the cool skin of his arm where it drapes out of the water near to me. “I was just taking a walk and it seems like the Stormbreakers have less support than anyone else in the league. I’m so proud of how you guys have done so far this year, but how are you meant to keep it up without fans? All because of my stories about you…and now I know they’re all lies, too.”
“Well, it wasn’t all lies,” Don concedes. “You got one thing exactly right.”
“Really?” That’s hard to believe.
“Well, I really am just as much of a sex-crazed maniac as all those stories made me about to be. You heard what I get up to with my teammates and our PR girl?”
This time I really do laugh. But Don speaks again, smile fading, his cold hand taking mine.
“It’s just one season, Maddie. We do well, we’ll bring more fans in next season. And the season after that. With your PR work and what we’re able to do on the ice now that we’re all united and working together…” He’s as serious as I’ve ever seen him. The team means so much to him. I know how he feels. It means so much to me now, too. “We’re building something here.”
That makes me feel a little better. Still, I wish there was something I could do to help right now, to give the guys a big push before tonight’s game. But for all that I’d like to sit around wracking my brains to have some brilliant scheme, there’s something else I need to talk to Donovan about before he goes out onto the ice. After what Garrett said in my room the other day, I need to know.
“Don,” I ask, locking eyes with him properly. “Do you remember the first time we met?”
“Oh, Maddie. I know what you want me to say. You want me to tell you about that time you came to get a quote from me after our old coach got fired my first season on the team. I told you to get lost.” That was the first time I’d met Don as a Stormbreaker, true. Enemies right from the start. But then he keeps speaking. “But the first time we met, I was on a hockey scholarship at Aldridge U. You were a journalism major…”
I gasp. He does remember.
“You were my first time,” I tell him. It feels like I’m confessing something secret. After all, he was Donovan Stone, the swaggering hotshot. He took girls’ virginities for breakfast, lunch and...
“And you were mine,” he responds.
Woah. I didn’t know that. All those legions of women I’d written about, and I was the first? I can’t believe it.
“Never really forgot about you, either,” he continues. “Sometimes I’d be out at a bar with one of my exes and I’d see you and God, even though you were writing for The Shredder, I just wanted to...” Those blue eyes flicker with sexual energy. If he weren’t frozen from the waist down, I feel like he’d be ravishing me already. “Well, I wanted to do all those things I’ve done to you lately.”
“Why didn’t you ever say something?” I ask, my voice soft, my fingers still tenderly brushing his cool skin as I hold his other hand delicately.
“By the time I saw you again, you were already such a big deal. I mean, you have, like, what, a million followers on Twitter? You were basically a celebrity. And I was just a rookie, whereas The Shredder had already given you the star columnist’s salary after that big story about…”
Oh.
Oh, shit.
That’s it.
“Oh, my God!” I cry in my excitement.
The lightbulb clicks on above my head and I can’t help but grab Don and kiss him. He didn’t even know what he was saying, but he’s given me the perfect idea. He kisses me back, pulling me close. The next thing I know, I’m slipping falling into the water and yelping at the icy water. It doesn’t bother me for long, though, as I can’t help but grab the handsome team captain and continue our deep make-out until he pulls away to get his breath.
“Not that I don’t appreciate that and everything,” Don says, smiling eagerly as we lay together in the ice bath, sharing the heat of each other’s bodies as we press together in the tiny tub, “but what got you so riled up all of a sudden?”
“Oh, Don…” I run my fingers up his sculpted chest, teeth flashing white in the bright lights of the physio room. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
44
Donovan
It’s overtime in the big game.
The score’s a draw at 5-5.
A season ago, this wouldn’t have been possible. The Tornadoes have eaten us alive every year for as long as I’ve been playing. But this year, today, tonight, is different.
I’ve never seen the guys play so hard. Hell, I’ve never played so hard. I’m sweating even on the freezing rink. My muscles are burning with exhaustion, but my mind is clear. At ease. Focused on the win.
We’re pulling together. We’ve already turned the tide, coming back from 2-0 down. They’ll be talking about tonight’s game for years to come, I just know it. It’s the culmination of everything. We’re putting everything we’ve got into this.
For the Stormbreakers.
For each other.
For Maddie.
One minute into overtime and things are getting dangerous. Tempers are flaring, the team is losing their shape and their focus.
“Come on, guys!” I yell, struggling to be heard over the roar of the fans and the clash
of bodies around me. “We can do this! Get your heads back in the game!”
No one wants this to go past the next four minutes. We might be good enough to win this game in a shootout, but that’s leaving too much to chance when we know that we deserve this win.
Another minute passes. We’re nearly two minutes into the five and there’s no breakthrough in sight. I’ve got as much faith in my team as anyone, but I’m starting to wonder if we can do this.
I drop back. We can play defensively, hold onto the draw. Maybe a shootout wouldn’t be so bad. We can take our chances. Hope for the best.
It’s not surrender, I tell myself. Just tactical retreat.
And then, out of nowhere, a miracle occurs.
As the clock rolls over into the final half of overtime, a rush of blue and grey floods into half of the stadium from every entrance. Where previously our section was at maybe a fifth of its capacity, now it’s bursting with more fans than I knew the team even had.
They cheer, they chant. Two girls hold up a sign that says DON’T GO STORMBREAKIN’ OUR HEARTS. Four burly, hairy bros in bright pink Stormbreakers tank tops unfold a banner that reads ASH-HOLES 4 LIVE. There’s even a gaggle of thirty-something-year-old women who’ve photoshopped my face onto a movie poster of The Godfather. Their sign reads, THE ONLY DON FOR US.
I may not know exactly how this has happened, but I know who’s responsible. I spot Maddie in the stands. She’s up on her feet with all the rest, cheering and yelling. The second she catches my eye, she stops, flashing me that stunning grin of hers.
The second we can get her alone, I just know that we’re going to reward her properly. She knows it, too. But that’s for after the match.
Right now, I need to focus on what’s in front of me. Maddie’s given us thousands of people, all here to watch us win the game. We’ve got to give them exactly what they want.
The Tornadoes’ forward slips past Ash, swinging for a shot on Piotr. Piotr knocks it away with his stick, carefully tapping the puck to Garrett. Garrett doesn’t even have to look to know that Ash has gotten ahead of him. He hands it off effortlessly as Ash powers up the ice.
We’re playing like a perfect unit, better than we ever have before. Our understanding of each other has become stronger than ever this season. Our shared trust. Our bond through our shared feelings for Maddie and our work together to earn this win.
Ash passes it to Chase. Chase knows he can’t score from his position and I can see his composure flicker for a moment.
Any other time, that would have been our big chance blown. But there’s less selfishness in the team now, less short-sightedness. He can see he can’t score, so he gets it to Jared, who pivots and looks for me as I shred towards the goal.
Suddenly, I’m leading the attack.
“I’m open!” I shout.
Jared grunts in response.
The puck comes to me.
I heave it towards the Tornadoes’ goalie, sending it straight over his shoulder and into the net.
It’s the final touch of the game. 5-6.
We’ve won.
The stadium explodes. There’ve never been this many Stormbreakers fans at one of our games before. There’s never been so much passion.
And speaking of passion, I can’t wait for after the game to get my arms around the gorgeous genius who made this win possible. The crowd watches on as I push past the barrier, clamber my way to where Maddies’s standing at rinkside and kiss her so deeply that it feels like she’s melting into me.
The fans cheer almost as loud for that as they did for our winning goal. And then they watch on as Chase, following behind me, kisses her, too. A second cheer. We’ve just played the best game the Stormbreakers have played in decades. We’ve earned this.
“Maddie, you crazy bitch. What did you do?” Ash asks the second that he steps away from his own kiss.
Maddie’s flushed from all the attention. And probably from knowing what we’re going to do to her the second that we’ve gotten her alone after this, too.
“It was Don’s idea, really,” Maddie explains, giving me way too much credit, since I still don’t know what the hell’s going on. “We talked before the game and he mentioned my Twitter followers and how much The Shredder used to pay me for my biggest stories about you guys...”
I’m impressed. Her skills on the ice and in the bedroom are one thing, but Maddie has her own set of other skills, too. Passion, wit, willingness to do whatever it takes to win.
She’s a real Stormbreaker. If I have it my way, she always will be, too.
“You filled the stadium with Twitter?” Piotr asks in disbelief. For a man of so few words, you’d think he’d have more faith in what 140 characters can do.
“I just started tweeting, yeah. Corrections. Revisions. To everything. Every bad thing I ever said about you guys, I took it all back. Told everyone about Chase’s dedication, Garrett’s wits, Ash’s cleverness, Piotr’s sensitivity, how protective and brave Jared is, Donovan’s willingness to do anything for the team…” Jesus. She’s really gotten to know us. “And then I promised any fan who came and cheered you guys on a free piece of merch. Used my savings from The Shredder years to pay for it.”
“You know what this means, right?” Piotr asks, his deep voice rumbling in satisfaction at how well we’ve played, a grin splitting that bearded face of his, making him look a little less intimidating even in all of his goalie gear.
“You saved this team. Won us the game,” Jared tells her.
“Yeah,” I say, unable to pull my eyes off of Maddie. All those other girls I’ve been with and I’ve never felt like this in my life. We might have been trying to drive her off at first, but now I can’t imagine being without her. “Well, what do you say, guys? Take it to a vote? You wanna keep her around?”
45
Madeleine
Somehow, in between the partying and the celebrations, the selfies with fans and the press questions, the Stormbreakers and I find our way back to my hotel room.
First, there’s lots of sloppy making out to be caught up on, more than I could give them out on the ice without looking kinda slutty.
Then again, I have six boyfriends. No point being ashamed of it.
The guys are slipping out of their gear, lounging half-naked around the room. The game has wiped everyone out completely. We cuddle together, my head in Jared’s lap while my feet are across Ash’s legs.
And then, out of nowhere, Don produces a bottle of champagne. We begin to pour glasses and make toasts. Chase makes the first.
“We all did well out there, but I think there’s one person here we owe more to this season so far than anyone else. We’ve made the play-offs, and it’s all thanks to her.” He turns to me. “Boys, to Maddie.”
I can’t believe that I get a toast before anyone else. I didn’t even play in the damn game, and Don’s the one who made the winning shot! I flush pink with complimented embarrassment, hiding my face in the crook of Jared’s hip while he brushes his hand across my hair.
“Hey, I wanna say something too,” says Garrett, rising to his feet and raising his own glass. “And I know it’s something we’ve all been thinking, and I think I might be the only one of us with the balls to say it.” Some of the guys roll their eyes, preparing themselves for whatever filthy joke or outrageous statement he’s about to come out with. “Maddie, honey, you’re more than just a great public relations officer. You’re even more than just a fucking great lay. You’ve brought this team together. You’ve made me a better player, and I can’t imagine anything better than getting to share you with the rest of the Stormbreakers. So, I guess what I’m saying is, I love you, Maddie.”
There’s tension in the air. Of course Garrett was the first one to say it—he’s always the first one to say everything . But then, above me, Jared’s deep voice rumbles so that I can feel it in my chest. “Yeah, Maddie, I love you, too.”
And then Chase speaks, his voice quivering with the emotion of it, his te
nderness obvious. “And I love you, Maddie. More than the rest of these dummies do, I bet.”
“And I love you,” Donovan says from where he’s sitting across the room from me, his eyes glimmering in the low light of my room. “Think I always have.”
“You know, I reckon’ I just might love you, too,” Ash says from his place beneath my feet, that cocky lop-sided grin of his splitting his face just right.
“I was going to wait to do this until the time seemed right, but if we are all saying it...” Piotr stands from where he’s reclining and fumbles in the deep pockets of his slacks, producing a small black box. It pops open and there’s an elegant ring, small diamonds arranged in an elegant circle around a larger teardrop-shaped sapphire, white gold shining beneath all those rocks. “I love you, Maddie. We all do. Will you marry... us? All of us? I want us to keep sharing you forever.”
“Forever,” the other guys agree. Like a fucking hivemind. “Forever.”
“Oh, guys.” I’m almost sobbing as I stand up to take a look at the ring, glittering in the box as Piotr holds it out to me. It’s perfect. These stupid boys can’t even imagine how perfect it is. “Fuck. I love you all, too.”
Who would have thought that I’d fall so perfectly for all of these guys who were only out to try and break me and send me running from the team I’m now a part of? My eyes glimmer deviously as I blink back tears and shift my lips into a saucy little smile.
“And you know,” I add, caught up in the moment and too overwhelmed with it all to stop myself. “Now that you’ve popped the question, if you’re serious about making an honest woman of me…”
“I think that happened as soon as you quit at The Shredder,” Garrett jokes.
I give him my dirtiest smile. “I’m thinking it might be time for me to go off birth control.”
No one voices any objection. They’ve seen how desperate I’ve been to get one of these studs to knock me up. After all, if we’re going to be married, it seems like they ought to go hand-in-hand.
