Page 71 of The Best Parts of Him
Well, damn. He did owe Bellamy thanks, didn’t he? Snorting a laugh he didn’t quite feel, Ryland shook his head. “We definitely had fun. I mean, we named a pumpkin after you.”
The puck dropped, and Ryland chased after it.
The Pilots earned themselves yet another penalty late in the third period. Given that they were down by two—the Trailblazers had scored right after intermission, bringing the score to 4–2—they couldn’t afford it. With the Trailblazers on the power play, it was everything Ryland and his teammates could do to defend their net.
And fuck, it was exhausting. These were the Stanley Cup champions—they knew what the fuck they were doing. He’d known playing against them wouldn’t be a cakewalk.
That didn’t make Ryland feel any better.
What did make him feel better was that the game ended with the Pilots still down by two—and not by three.
“We played a good game,” Ryland told the media afterwards. “Sometimes you play a good game and you still lose. This is the Trailblazers—they’re not cup champions for nothing. This was never going to be an easy game. But don’t discount the fact that we managed to keep them from scoring every time we were down a player. That’s a win in my book.”
“What was it like playing against your boyfriend?”
Ryland forced a smile and lied through his teeth. “As fun as you’d imagine.”
Later, he dragged his feet to the players’ exit, his mind as exhausted as his body after that clusterfuck of a game. His family waited for him when he arrived, along with Denver—and other players’ friends and families. His nieces, Callie and Tasha, rushed toward him, adorable in their matching Ryland Zervudachi number 29 jerseys. Arms out, Ryland bent just in time to catch them as they launched themselves at him, and he kissed the tops of their heads.
“Sorry you lost, Uncle Ryland,” Callie said.
“Thanks, munchkin. It always sucks to lose.”
“But he tried his best,” Brie, his sister, piped in with a warning look over her kids’ heads.
“And he had fun doing it,” Ron, her husband, added.
“What they said.” Ryland winked at his nieces and whispered, “But it still sucked.”
They giggled.
He hugged everyone, and when it was his dad’s turn, Dad said, “Thanks for organizing the friends-and-family suite.”
“Anytime. I hope you enjoyed yourselves even though we lost.”
“Ry.” Dad squeezed his shoulder. “I didn’t come to watch you win. I came to watch you do what you love.”
Why Ryland got choked up over that, he couldn’t say. “Thanks, Dad.”
Dad hugged him again. “We’ll talk soon, okay? Love you, kiddo.”
Everybody left, leaving Jason and Denver behind.
“You good?” Jason asked. “Shoulder okay?”
“Yeah, it’s back up to snuff.” Ryland rotated it. Even though it felt good, he’d purposefully stayed out of all the brawls tonight so he didn’t re-injure himself.
“Glad to hear it,” Jason said.
“Thank you both for coming.”
“You can thank them—” Denver dipped his shaved head in Jason’s direction. “—for letting me crash.”
Ryland gently punched him in the arm. “It’s the friends-and-family suite, dumbass.”
Jason’s expression lit up at something over Ryland’s shoulder, and Ryland didn’t have to look to know it was Bellamy.
“Hey.” Bellamy sidled up to their little group and landed a quick kiss on Jason’s lips.
