The Final Move

by Victoria Denault

  “Luc sure can throw a punch. It’s totally hot,” is what she had said, and I repeat it to her now.

  She looks up at me in mock anger as she stands up. “Yes, I used to love hockey fights, but now thanks to you that’s ruined. No longer hot.”

  “Why?” I ask, not wanting to let this go. “Was it that bad? I thought I got some good shots off.”

  She pauses as if replaying what she saw on TV in her head. “Devin, when he hit you, you looked like you might collapse on the ice. That was not hot.”

  “Sorry I don’t make you wet when I throw punches at assholes on the ice,” I snap. I am not a fighter. I don’t like to do it, but I don’t think I’m bad at it.

  She puts her hand on my shoulder and gives it a small squeeze. “I wasn’t worried about how you looked, dumbass. I was worried you were hurt.”

  I look up and our eyes meet. I swear to God it takes my breath out of my lungs. “You were worried about me?”

  She almost frowns but nods a confirmation anyway. I can tell it’s painful for her to admit.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Are you sure?” she counters. “Do they know for sure you don’t have a concussion?”

  “He didn’t hit me that hard,” I reply.

  She starts for the door but hesitates. “Are you sure? Because you hockey players have pretty soft heads.”

  I smile. “Well, you’re welcome to stay in here and wake me up every hour.”

  “That’s concussion protocol?” she asks and I nod with a smirk.

  “And you can wake me up any way you want,” I add and wink.

  She laughs out loud at that but she’s blushing. “Don’t give me any ideas, Devin.”

  “Ideas are a good thing, Callie.”

  She just smiles and stares at me for a long moment. I know there’s a battle raging inside of her—probably between her libido and her brain. I really hope her brain loses.

  “I have to go,” she says and my heart sinks.

  “If you say so…” I reply, not bothering to hide the disappointment I feel.

  She walks to my door but doesn’t quite leave. We stare at each other and then finally I stand up and pull off my underwear. Her eyes go wide as I’m standing there naked in front of her for a second and then I pull back the sheets and slide into my bed.

  “I sleep naked, remember?”

  “Yeah. Hard to forget,” she mumbles with a grin. “But thanks for the reminder.”

  “So…?”

  I can see the eternal battle rage on inside her head. Sadly, her brain wins out.

  “Sweet dreams, Devin,” she tells me before closing the door behind her.

  So close. Dammit. I almost won that.

  Chapter 37

  Callie

  When I walk up to the brownstone a few nights later, I see a rental car parked in front—right next to Wyatt and Donna’s truck. I’m confused. Should I be panicked? Is something wrong? I rush up the stairs and fling open the door. The first thing I hear is chatter—lots of it. It’s coming from the back of the house. I drop my bag and my coat, kick off my boots and rush toward the noise.

  The kitchen is filled with people and through the French doors, past the deck, I see even more people in the snowy yard. Donna is sitting at the breakfast bar next to my sister Rose. Luc is on the other side of the breakfast bar holding a freshly opened bottle of wine and Devin is standing in front of the stove, stirring something that’s cooking in a giant pot. Outside Conner is building a snowman in the yard with Wyatt.

  “What’s this pleasant surprise?” I ask, excited to see everyone.

  Rose jumps up at the sight of me. Her coal-colored eyes are bright with excitement. I get a panicked flash that she’s going to tell me she’s engaged. She straightens her small shoulders and grins.

  “Luc’s been traded!” she announces and she jumps up and down. “HERE!”

  I cross the short distance to her and hug her. My eyes find Luc over her shoulder. He’s smiling happily. This potential trade has been hanging over his head since last summer, and judging by the look on his face, he’s happy about where he landed.

  “You’ll look good in the red jersey,” I say with a proud smile. I can’t believe I missed this news but I was so busy at work I hadn’t even checked my Google alerts for the day—which were all related to these guys and my show. “Better than that crappy yellow and black Vegas wears.”

  He just chuckles at that.

  “Tommy needs knee surgery. He’s out for the season,” Devin explains, turning away from the pot on the stove. “Our GM told me they were talking to Vegas already anyway, but the injury made it happen more quickly.”

  I break my hug with Rose and hug Luc. Then I hug Devin because I know he’s excited about having one of his hometown “brothers” on his team. Jordan, Luc and Devin have never played together professionally but when they were kids, that’s what they dreamed of doing. They all wanted to be on the same team. Plus, he got really close to Luc this summer when Luc was going through problems with his team and problems with Rose.

  Devin wraps his free arm—the one not holding a ladle coated in chili—around my waist, buries his head in the crook of my neck and hugs me back so hard he lifts me off the ground for a second.

  “This is so great,” I whisper in his ear. “I mean, not for Tommy, but…”

  He laughs at that.

  I break the hug reluctantly and move to Donna. She’s smiling at me with a bit of a knowing look. I just don’t know what it’s for but I hug her anyway.

  “You must be thrilled to see them together on one team,” I say jokingly.

  “Now we just have to get Seattle to trade Jordy,” she jokes back.

  Wyatt is climbing the deck stairs and Conner is following. I can hear him repeating my name excitedly as they open the French doors and step inside.

  “Callie! Callie! Callie!” he sings and I reach down and scoop him up. He feels like a plush, damp pillow in his puffy snowsuit. He wraps his little arms around my neck as tight as he can and it makes my heart swell. I kiss his cheek and pull off his hat, ruffling his hair.

  “Hey, sport,” I say. “Did you congratulate your uncle Luc? He’s going to play hockey with Daddy!”

  “Yay, Lu!” he bellows.

  Everyone laughs. I kiss Conner’s cheek and he gives me a tiny but strong hug.

  “Chili’s ready!” Devin calls out. “Let’s get you out of your snowsuit, Con.”

  “I’ll do it. You serve up dinner. I’m starving,” I tell Devin and start unzipping Conner’s jacket.

  The dinner is amazing. It’s not the food; it’s the company. All of us squeezed in around the kitchen table laughing and teasing each other brings back the only warm and loving memories I have from childhood. It makes me feel happy and content and safe.

  Devin is sitting on one side of me and Rose is on the other. Conner is moving from my lap to Devin’s and back every ten minutes or so as he eats his chili and corn bread. We pass him back and forth wordlessly with an unspoken, comfortable rhythm.

  The talk is pure hockey. I glance up and notice Donna watching me as I help Conner hold his spoon properly. As Conner climbs back over to his dad, who wipes his son’s face and hands him his sippy cup of milk, I smile at Donna and she smiles back. It’s different than her normal smile. This one is deeper and softer and she almost looks like she might cry. I guess having Luc and Devin play together has got to be overwhelming. I know that Luc has been taking a lot of criticism in the last year or so, being called a failure, and although she never said a word, I think Donna and all the Garrisons were bothered by it as much as Luc was.

  “So you’re coming to the game with us tomorrow night?” Rose says, giving me a little hug.

  “Of course.”

  “We’re bringing Conner too,” Donna tells me.

  “It’s a big deal,” I reply and smile.

  After dinner the boys head into the living room but Rose, Donna and I stay in the kitchen and finish the wine
. I look at Rose and pull the parental role because someone has got to do it. “Have you applied to graduate programs yet?”

  “Not yet,” she answers as she refills my wineglass. “I still have time. And now I’m focusing on schools in New York, obviously.”

  I give her a cautious glare. She stares back unblinking, not backing down. I sigh.

  “Excuse me for a minute. Bathroom break,” Rose announces.

  When she’s disappeared down the hall, I look over at Donna. “I love Luc and Rosie together but I worry about her. She’s so caught up in the romance, it’s like she’s willing to throw her own goals away.”

  Donna thinks about that for a minute but she shakes her head. “I don’t think you give her enough credit. I know that she’s making her relationship with Luc a priority, but she’s still got her head on her shoulders. She’s just adapting her life to make it all fit.”

  I don’t respond to that, but my brow stays furrowed and she sees that. I sip my wine.

  “It’s like what you’re doing,” Donna tells me quietly. “You’re adapting your life to fit Conner and Devin into it.”

  I am? I wonder silently. Sure, I don’t go out to bars or party as much as I did in Los Angeles, but my job is more strenuous and leaves less time than my other jobs in the past. To be honest, I would rather pick up Conner and hang out with him and Devin than get drunk at one of the local pubs anyway. And, yeah, I don’t eat takeout every night like I used to in L.A. I cook for Devin and Conner, but I worry that if I don’t, they won’t eat properly, and I like cooking and having people to cook for again.

  “I appreciate it too, Callie. More than you know,” Donna tells me, and she reaches over and puts her hand on top of mine on the table. “I worry about Devin all the time but it helps to know you’ve been here for him. And Conner.”

  “I’m not adapting,” I argue back. “It’s not like it’s a hardship. I love hanging out with Devin and Conner. We have fun. And it feels good for me to have someone here too. I would be all alone in New York if it wasn’t for him.”

  I glance at her. Her big blue eyes have that look in them again like she might cry. It makes me nervous. “Conner is pretty much in love with you, Callie.”

  “Good, because I love him to bits.”

  “And Devin is pretty much in love with you too.”

  That statement is like an atomic bomb going off in the middle of the kitchen. My head spins to look at her—glare at her, actually. She squeezes my hand tightly, as if she’s worried I might jump up and run away and she wants to keep me still.

  “I know that scares you to death. And I’m fairly certain at this point in his life, with what Devin has gone through, it probably scares him too,” Donna explains to me in a confident, calm voice. “But I can’t take my eyes off you two tonight. You work like a team. A family. It looks so natural. I always saw the struggle with Ashleigh and Devin. Maybe that’s why this looks so breathtaking.”

  “Donna…” I swallow down the rest of my wine in one fast gulp and pull my hand from hers. “Please don’t.”

  Devin comes walking into the room with Conner, who is in his pajamas holding his daddy’s hand.

  “He wants Callie to tuck him in,” Devin announces and smiles at me. “Apparently Daddy doesn’t tell good bedtime stories.”

  I try to ignore the smile that spreads across Donna’s face. I know this is proving her point and I want to just get up and walk—or run—away. But I can’t deny the little blond angel. So I stand up and take his hand from Devin’s. I take a deep breath and try not to look as distressed as I feel.

  “That’s because you read from books,” I explain to Devin. “I make the stories up.”

  “Well, aren’t you little Miss Creativity?” Devin rolls his eyes in mock annoyance. “Thanks for showing me up with my own kid.”

  “My pleasure,” I joke back with an easy wink and then stiffen. This is the exact thing Donna was talking about. Without another word, I lead Conner through the house to say his good nights to everyone one by one and then I take him upstairs. I weave a tale about a purple dragon and a green bull who become friends. Before I can get to the part where the dragon and bull meet a giraffe, he’s out cold.

  I smooth his wheat-colored hair from his forehead and sneak out of his room. Devin is coming up the stairs as I pull Conner’s door almost closed, leaving it open an inch. I raise my hands to my lips to indicate we have to be quiet.

  “He’s out?” Devin whispers.

  “Yeah,” I reply and pause for a second. “Listen, I found a place.”

  “What? What place?” He looks completely baffled.

  “I found my own place to live,” I tell him and his hazel eyes look instantly devastated. I move my eyes to the carpet.

  “Why?”

  “It’s time,” I reply, trying to sound confident. “You and Conner are settled. And I can’t live here forever.”

  He doesn’t say anything to that. He doesn’t have to, because I can tell by his face that he’s upset. There’s nothing I can do about that. If I stay here a minute longer, it will just get worse. Donna made it clear Devin and I aren’t on the same page about our friendship.

  As I start down the stairs, he reaches for my hand. “When are you leaving?”

  I feel a flutter at the feel of his long, powerful fingers around my wrist. My brain fights to remain calm. I have to figure out an answer.

  “Friday,” I blurt out. It’s only two days away and hopefully I can find a place by then, even if it’s just a hotel room. “It’ll be great. You can have your place back to yourself.”

  “I don’t want my place to myself.”

  “Then invite Luc and Rose to live with you for the rest of the season. He’s going to need a place too and he’s your family,” I rationalize and try to smile lightly like I don’t have a care in the world—like I don’t feel sick about leaving him, which I do. “But I have to warn you that Luc and Rosie are loud in bed.”

  I pull my wrist from his grip and continue down the stairs. There. Done. Everything will be better now.

  Chapter 38

  Devin

  When I walk into the dressing room to get ready for the game, my eyes scan the room until they land on Luc. They’ve given him a locker directly across from mine. He’s sitting below the nameplate, “L. Richard,” and pulling on his Under Armour. His number on the Vipers was 4 and I see it’s still going to be 4 here—that means Dmitri Kortin, our rookie who was wearing it, offered it to Luc because he’s a veteran. I smile at Dmitri as I pass him and tap him on the shoulder. He nods and smiles.

  Luc’s jaw is set in a hard line and he’s got his brow pinched together like he’s concentrating really hard on something. I walk over to my locker and hang up my suit jacket. Then I head toward him as I start to loosen my tie. He glances up and nods, his face still stern, but I can’t help but smile. I can’t wait to play with him.

  “I just did twenty minutes of pregame interviews with everyone from Wake Up, Brooklyn to Hockey Night in Canada,” I tell him, not hiding the amazement in my voice. “Hockey Night in Canada flew their asses out to Brooklyn, Luc. And it’s not even a Saturday or a play-off final. You’re big news.”

  He shakes his head and shrugs. “They’re all eager to see me fail here like I did in Vegas.”

  I smile lightly at that. “It’ll be fine. You’re skilled, Luc. Forget the past and play the way you know you can.”

  He nods and continues dressing. I walk back over to my stall and get ready. The PR coordinator for the team, an uptight woman with frizzy red hair named April, comes in and tells Luc to sit next to me when he’s tying up his skates. The NBC Sports crew wants to get footage of us together. Luc just nods curtly and switches places with Loops.

  “Are you feeling confident with the plays?” I ask because I know Coach gave him a playbook yesterday.

  He nods. “Can we talk about anything but hockey? Just for a minute?”

  He’s bordering on terrified. I can see it in his
dark eyes. I try not to frown in concern. I can’t make this worse. I have to talk him off the ledge. I glance around the room. The TV crew hasn’t come in yet and the other guys are busy with their own pregame chatter. I hold Luc’s eye for a second and then reach down for one of my skates.

  “So I’m sleeping with Callie.”

  I glance back over to him and his jaw is hanging wide open. “You’re fucking kidding me, right?”

  “Nope. Not only are we sleeping together but I’m kind of, well…how should I say this?” I pause and shove my right foot into the skate. “I think I really like her.”

  “Callie? Caplan?” he questions, and I nod and chuckle.

  The camera crew comes in and starts setting up. He shakes his head and reaches for his skate as they start to film. We glance at each other again. There is no sound on this. It’s one of those B roll locker room pieces they’ll splice in as the announcers blab on about Luc’s debut as a Baron.

  “Dude,” Luc mumbles barely above a whisper but with a smile on his face for the camera’s sake. “That’s the worst possible thing you could do right now.”

  I tug on my skate laces, glance up and smile. The camera is sweeping by us now and then the light above it goes off. They’re done.

  “Oh, I know,” I tell him once I know we’re not the center of attention again. “I didn’t plan it. But she’s been there for me, you know? She’s helped me through everything. And she’s Callie. Funny, adorable, sexy as hell Callie.”

  “Callie will be your best friend,” Luc surmises and stands to pull on his shoulder pads, which he dragged over from his cubicle earlier. “You should see her with Rosie. She’s always checking up on her. She sends her money even though Rose never asks for any. She offered to fly to Vermont and punch a professor that gave Rose a bad grade.”