“Trouble in paradise?”
I shake my head. “We’re fine now, but my hormones are kind of scary.”
He laughs. “They can be, but hell, I thought you two would stay in the honeymoon phase for a second. It’s only been two days of marriage?”
I grin. “Twelve.”
“Twelve days. Lord, and this was the first fight?”
I nod. “Yeah, I was a bitch.”
“It happens. You apologized?”
“I did.”
“Then you’re good. He loves you.”
My heart swells. “He does.” We both fall silent as I watch the screen, taking deep breaths in, when I notice something. “Have they been aggressively playing the forecheck the whole time?”
Jakob’s brows come in as he leans forward, his elbows on the desk. He squints as he watches what I am. Their offense is taking chance after chance, and we’re letting them. We’re not ready for their attack. We’re trying to play a strategic game, and they’re playing a balls-to-the-wall kind of style. “I thought they were being sharp, but they aren’t. They don’t even have plays. Look, Chandler isn’t even calling anything.”
Jakob nods his head. “You’re right. You’re fucking right.”
“We need to switch up the lines, press even harder. Basically, unteach them everything we’ve taught them since I was brought on.”
He pats my head like I’m twelve again and picks up the tablet. “Let’s go fix our play.”
As we head out to go talk to Coach, an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment comes over me. I found the fix; now it’s time to execute it.
And bring that Cup home.
For the second time.
Chapter Eleven
Boon
So apparently, Aiden is just great at everything.
Great scorer.
Great teammate.
Great golfer.
Great soon-to-be son-in-law.
Great, great, great, great. Not that I’m salty or anything. I watch as Shea and Aiden high-five after one hell of a shot by Aiden that got him birdie. I want to hate him, I want to push him into the pond where he made that great shot, but alas, I know we need him. He’s scored four out of the six goals we’ve made in the last three games. We have dug out from the trenches of our demise and tied our series with the IceCats. The coaching team completely changed everything up, and it was rough to adjust, but it was for the best. And now we’re even.
These wins haven’t come without consequences. Just as soon as Sinclair came back for his first game, he scored, but he also took a nasty hit into the boards. We got a man advantage for it, and their best defensemen was kicked out for the rest of the series, but we lost Sinclair once again. Rumor is, he’s done. But I know him, and he isn’t done. I’m also battling a sprained ankle, Aiden has two broken toes, Wes has a sprained elbow, and a lot of the team is beat-the-fuck-up. But we aren’t giving up. Proud is an understatement.
One more win.
That’s all.
One win and the Cup is ours.
I lean back in the golf cart as Aiden and Shea come back toward me. Shea is totaling everything up—not that I need to know the score to know I lost. I still suck, but it’s okay. I’m not here to win; I’m here to get my father-in-law to like me more than Aiden. “Well, Aiden won.”
Aiden does a fist pump that annoys Shea.
Ha. I’m well on my way to favorite son-in-law.
Shea slaps Aiden on the back fondly. “I’ll get you next time,” he jokes and then glances over at me. “Boon, maybe we can get you lessons so you can be competitive?”
Well, back to the bottom I go. I grin. “I’m here for the coffee and company.”
Aiden laughs. “He knows what he’s good at—running his mouth and drinking.”
That has all of us laughing. Shea gets in beside me as Aiden rides in the back seat of the cart. “Lunch?” Shea asks. “Or do you guys need to head back to pack?”
We leave tonight for Carolina for the Cup final. “I’m packed.”
Aiden nods. “I’m not, but it won’t take me long. Don’t need much but my lucky underwear.”
I laugh. “Posey is pissed I wouldn’t let her wash mine. They are rank.”
Aiden laughs. “Legit. Mine are too. Shelli ignores it. I’m surprised Posey isn’t.”
“She is, but she makes me put them in a plastic bag. With her thyroid shit, she’s sensitive to smells.”
Shea nods. “Yeah, Elli was always good with my crazy superstitions until she could smell them. Then it was an issue.” I hear him on that.
“Posey is driving me mad,” I admit, and Shea looks over at me as he turns up the cart path toward the country club. “She won’t relax. She’s on edge twenty-four seven. It’s giving me an ulcer.”
Aiden leans between us on his elbows. “Shelli is the same. She is obsessed with tapes.”
I point to him. “All fucking night long! I’m like, you need sleep, and she tells me to stuff it.”
Shea laughs as Aiden yells out, “Exactly! Like what the fuck, babe? I’m trying to make sure you’re good.”
“Right? And I’m in the wrong.”
“For real. As if that makes any sense. I’m the one on the ice, and she’s stressing more than I am!”
“Dude, you’re speaking to my soul right now.”
I’m lucky in the brother-in-law department. Aiden has always been my brother, but now that we're connected by the crazy of the Adler family, it makes it hard to be salty that he’s the favorite. I’ll always be his brother; we got each other. “You know what we should do? Trade. Stick them together, and then we can sleep.”
I laugh. “We know for next time.”
“Legit,” Aiden agrees as we bump knuckles, and Shea scoffs.
We both glance over at him.
“Oh, you two don’t even know yet.”
“That doesn’t sound supportive, Shea.”
He cracks up. “Let me tell you, these Fisher women—and yes, I use Elli’s maiden name because this is all that family’s crazy—are fierce, obsessive, and insanely competitive.”
He isn’t wrong, Shelli stabbed me with a fork when we played Forks a couple weeks ago. Posey didn’t talk to Ally for a week because she murdered her in Risk.
“I love my wife, I love my girls, but I will not play Monopoly with them. Not only does Elli steal from the bank, but Posey and Shelli will cry if you make them pay rent.”
I snort as Aiden nods. “I won’t play with Shelli either. Or Quinn, for that matter. He’s too damn smart and kills me at everything.”
Shea nods. “I’ll only play with Owen and Evan. They are level-headed and competitive but not to the point of bodily harm.”
“I’m surprised you’re not used to it with Emery and Stella,” I say to Aiden as I laugh, and he shakes his head.
“Dude, Shelli makes those girls look like puppies when it comes to games.”
We all laugh at that because, really, I’m more terrified of those girls than Shelli and Posey put together. The Brooks girls are sneaky and will stab you in the back. Shelli and Posey will stab you in the front and laugh in your face as they claim victory. “But hey, at least she’s not driving you crazy with wedding crap.”