Wasted Time (The Steel City #1)

67. Declan

CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN

declan

I’m physically side-stepping people who try to talk to me. I did one interview, but for the life of me, I can’t remember what I said. I just won the fucking cup. I hoisted that thing over my head. All my dreams just came true, and I need a second to wrap my head around it.

I don’t want to talk to reporters, even if it was my final shot. Talk to Saltzy. He’s good at this. He cares more about those moments than I do. He always knows what to say, anyway. I’ll probably say the word ‘fuck’ twenty times in twenty seconds.

The eight-year-old kid inside of me is screaming, throwing his gloves in the air, and holding his water bottle over his head like it’s the trophy.

I can’t stop these tears from burning at the back of my eyes.

I did it.

We did it.

I will enjoy every second of this with the team later. And boy, do I want to hug the fuck out of those guys for the next two weeks straight. We’ve already had our big moment at center ice, but there will be more of those. Forker and I shared a few stunned tears, unable to speak much. Boss was there too, but that man doesn’t cry. His smile lit up the whole fucking room, though.

There will be press and parades, and all the other shit that comes along with a win. Until then, there’s only one person that I want to see. She’s the only one I need to look dead in the eyes and hear her say that she’s proud of me. I want to be a man who can do the things he sets out to do.

And fuck, I did it.

I look around. Wives, girlfriends, siblings, parents, kids—they’re all slowly climbing onto the ice and rushing to their player. Forker’s sister nearly wipes out, trying to push her parents out of the way so she can get to her big brother first. Her big, blonde ponytail swishes when he scoops her up and spins her around.

Where is mine ?

I look for her honey-blonde hair, for those eyes that I can find in any crowd, and pray she didn’t stay up in the stands with the rest of the crew to give me whatever kind of time she thinks I might want.

I turn in a small circle, my new hat that brands me a champion sat on top of my soaking wet hair. I feel her. I feel her eyes, the weight of her gaze. She’s here. She’s close. I search through the chaos until I find her, leaning against the boards in her customized jacket, waiting for me away from the rest of the crowd.

She stays leaning on her elbow but cracks a smile. As if this is any other day, she raises her hand and wiggles her fingers at me in a wave.

I stop, my heart stilling in my chest. A smile slowly grows on my lips.

There’s Lucky .

I’m barrelling across the ice before I can process another thought, and she’s pushing herself off the boards, trying to run to me in those boots. I get to her much faster than she’s capable of moving, skidding to a stop just as I reach her. She leaps into my arms, and I catch her under her thighs. She wastes no time; I don’t even get to see her face before she’s crushing her lips to mine.

And now I’ve really won.

Her hands are splayed on my cheeks. Her mouth moving against mine in a way that always makes my stomach flip around like a damn kid. I taste her tears, or maybe they’re my own. It doesn’t matter. What matters is her. What matters is us. What matters is that I already won the world when she showed up in Pittsburgh, but now that little boy playing in the Pee-Wee’s won something, too.

The happiness that I feel in my bones right now is incomprehensible.

Penny pulls back just enough to look at me. Her smile is so wide that I’m going to melt into the ice beneath my feet. She sweeps her thumb against my bottom lip, those storm clouds in her head searching my face like something is different about me now.

“My Stanley Cup Champion,” she says, and my god—if that doesn’t get my dick hard.

“All yours, baby,” I remind her, my voice cracking a bit.

“You bet your ass you’re all mine,” she agrees.

She leans down, kissing me again. This time it’s slow. This time, I feel all the worry, stress, and undeniable happiness that she feels just as profoundly as I do. This was a team effort between me and the boys, but it was also a team effort between her and I.

I don’t think people realize what the wives and girlfriends have to put up with during the playoffs. It’s not for the faint of heart.

Camera lenses click repeatedly somewhere nearby. I have no idea if they are aimed our way, but I’d put money on it. I don’t care. We just won the cup, and I finally won my fucking girl. Let the world know.

I move to deepen the kiss, but Penny laughs instead, pulling away with a gentle shake of her head. She gives me a look like I’m playing naughty, and I can’t help but smirk at the silent scolding. Too many eyes around for me to shove my tongue down her throat and feel her up over those absurdly tight jeans.

I set her down, our heights drastically different on skates. She clings to the front of my jersey, not letting me get too far. Like I’d allow that. No, I keep her face in my hands. We aren’t even talking, but the way we’re looking at each other is enough. There’s so much being said without a single word being spoken and that, I think, is what love really is.

“I’m so proud of you.”

My eyes flutter shut. Yeah, that’ll do it.

I pull her to my chest, knowing that if I keep staring into those eyes, I’ll lose it completely.

I’m so proud of you.

Those are words I’ll never tire of. I will strive every day of my life to make her proud. I will root for her to reach her own goals the way she does with mine. I will be her biggest fucking cheerleader until I’m ninety-two and forget my own name. Even then, I’ll look across the senior’s home and see those stormy blue eyes and fall in love all over again.

Every day. Even if I don’t remember.

“Sweet, sweet, Sweeten!”

Penny pulls back, wiping her eyes.

Forker glides toward us—hat backward on his head. Pen smiles at him like they’re old buddies. Reaches for him like they are too. I guess that’s what a week of scheming together gets you. He hugs her, his eyes darting to me, and keeps his hands at a polite height on her back.

“Congratulations! You must be on cloud nine,” she says, slapping his back.

“ Sweeten ?”

All three of us glance toward Boston as he slides into our circle. Dark, long hair. Green, lethal eyes. Stupidly handsome and stupidly looking a bit too closely at my girl.

“Hi,” Penny says, her smile lessening a bit as she meets his hard stare. “I’m Penny. Lovely to finally meet you.”

She holds out her hand, and Boston’s eyes drop to it. Seconds pass, and I feel my blood start to boil. He looks from her hand to my face, a million little questions dancing in his eyes.

If he doesn’t shake her hand in the next two seconds, I’m going to be swinging at my teammate right after he assisted my championship goal.

“Penny,” he says slowly.

My jaw ticks.

Shake her fucking hand, Boss.

“Yeah,” I snap. “ Penny. My girl.”

Boston’s brows skyrocket, but he turns his attention back to her. Thankfully, he reaches out and takes the hand that he left hanging there for a bit too long for my liking. He gives it a firm shake, studying her carefully—like she’s a mysterious puzzle that he is suddenly desperate to solve.

“Nice to meet you, Penny,” he says.

If she wasn’t in front of me, I’d ask what the fuck his deal is. But she’s here, and by the way her smile wavers, I can tell she feels this less-than-warm reception. I’ll be damned if Black ruins our moment for whatever the hell this is .

“Congrats,” she continues, dropping her hand. She’s suddenly acting like a shell of herself, and I don’t like it. “You guys were incredible. Nice assist at the end there.”

“Thank you,” he says, smiling tightly. He turns to me, angling his head like he can’t figure her out. He doesn’t voice it. He just slides forward and clasps his hand on my shoulder, tugging me into his chest.

“You good?” I mutter into his ear, not bothering to hide the bite in my voice.

He laughs under his breath, not pulling away.

“Fantastic. I’m just wondering why you put my ass through hell this year if the reason for it is wearing your name on her back right now.”

I let out a breath of relief. There is no malice. He’s just confused and is piecing all of this together. I hadn’t necessarily shared the news with anyone but Forker, and Boss doesn’t have a girl that Penny would have gotten to know over the past few months of sitting with the other wives and girlfriends. With the finals so close, it’s not like we wanted to pull back on practices or drills, either. Plus, I really didn’t think Boston cared about the particulars. I figured he just cared about the win.

“Introduce me to your friends!”

Boston pulls back just as a leggy, little blonde confidently strides up to her brother. Clad in a leather jacket and heels that are not built to be on ice, Ariana Forkerro enters our circle. She cocks an angled brow at her brother, hands planted firmly on her hips, but when she looks around the ice, she’s looking nowhere but the man beside me.

“ No .”

Ariana smirks, placing her hand on Forker’s arm, all but ignoring him. “Hi, I’m Ariana. I’m Carter’s younger and much smarter sister. ”

She extends her hand to Boston, her attention never wavering. I might as well not even be in the room.

Boston’s eyes burn into her, intrigued. His lip twitches upward, just enough for me to clock it.

Forker is watching with the look of an older brother who’d rather die than witness his sister’s clear proclamation of interest in his friend.

And boy, it’s clear.

Penny’s smiling from ear to ear. Like, seriously, it’s blinding. I can see it out of the corner of my eye. She stares at Ariana like she does at the dogs that pass by her in the street. If you ever want to see love at first sight in the flesh? Watch Penny watch a dog.

“Boston. Carter’s older, and much more talented teammate,” Boston counters, reaching forward to shake her hand.

Didn’t hesitate on that handshake, did you, big guy?

“More handsome, too,” she adds, those glossy lips pulling up into a flirtatious smile.

A laugh rumbles through Boston. I glance at him. That’s a rarity from him when a woman shows him any attention.

Forker rolls his eyes dramatically, gently shoving Ari back when her touch lingers a second too long.

“Say hi to Lowesy and his girlfriend, Penny, you animal.”

Ariana blinks innocently, but her bright blue eyes linger on Boston for a second or two more.

Again, the big grump huffs a laugh and just shakes his head.

Ariana finally averts her attention to me, and her smile widens, but it’s a much different look than what she offered to Boss.

“Nice to see you again, Declan,” she says, walking forward to give me a quick hug. “That was a beautiful shot. Hi, Penny!”

She gives Penny a smothering hug, and by the way my girl is looking at her, I can tell she’s totally enamored by the hurricane that is Ariana Forkerro. She might create chaos everywhere she goes, but this girl has meant business since she was old enough to walk.

Forker’s glare is burning into the side of her head. “Let’s go, you fucking weirdo. I should make mom and dad put you on a leash.”

“Ooh,” she sings, turning her attention back to Boston. She winks at him. “Did you hear that, Black? A leash .”

“Jesus,” Forker grumbles, physically removing her from the circle. He looks over his shoulder as he skates her away from us. Winces a bit. “Sorry, Boss. Don’t tell HR. She’s got a record.”

I bark out a laugh.

Boston shakes his head, but I don't think he minds. I’m certain that face gets a warm reception everywhere he goes. I’m not sure he’s phased by a forward woman, but I’m not sure he typically chuckles around them, either.

Look at this giggly little shit now.

I eye him carefully. He watches Forker pull his sister away, still smiling after them. When he feels my gaze, he glances back to me, and the smile vanishes entirely.

I cock a brow.

“Got something to say, Lowesy?” he grumbles.

“Depends. See something you like?” I ask.

He glares at me, those green eyes cold and hard. I say nothing more, and neither does he. He just blinks, glances back at my girl, and dips his chin. With one last, extremely cold look in my direction, he turns and heads back toward the team.

I watch him go, an inkling creeping up my neck that I can’t make sense of.

“ Lowesy! ”

My name erupts from the stands.

I turn toward the boards just as Penny does. She takes a couple of steps back to stand right in front of me, and I wrap my arms around her from behind, my smile widening when I spot a line-up of my favourite people banging on the glass.

“Should we go see our crew?” I whisper in her ear.

“If we don’t, they’ll break that glass to get to you.”

Laughing, I take her hand in mine and guide her to the glass. I leap—slamming my body against the boards right in front of them. They go fucking crazy.

I meet Wyatt’s eyes through the glass, thumping my hand at the spot by his head.

His eyes are full of tears. Dark eyes, warm and happy and full of life.

I point to him.

“You’re going to kiss that cup, Caulfield.”

Because you’re still here.

Because you still can.

The crooked smile grows until it takes up his entire face.

Penny’s hand squeezes mine.

Once, twice, three damn times.