Page 84 of Bro Code

Riley reached over and took his hand. Louis leaned in and let his shoulder rest against Riley’s, which was awkward with all the shoulder pads and armor in the way, but he pressed back, and they sat like that for a long time, staring at the ice.

“I’m on your side, too, you know,” said Riley.

“I know,” said Louis. “Thanks.”

“I mean it. You don’t have to…hide things from me. Or risk your job for me. And…I feel really grateful for everything you’ve done, but you shouldn’t’ve put working with me ahead of dealing with your family. Sorry — I don’t mean you should’ve done anything — do whatever you have to do, I just…I don’t know. You know what I mean.”

Louis squeezed his hand and sighed, nodding against his shoulder. “Remember when you said you felt like the only person sticking your neck out? I think maybe I felt like that too. I think maybe I’ve always kind of felt like that. I spent my whole childhood getting picked on for being a nerd, and then picked on for being gay — by my own dad, even — and no one ever stood up for me. I think I just started assuming I couldn’t count on anyone to take my side. And so when my boss didn’t, and management didn’t, I just…I don’t know. My mom says I always have to do things my way. Which…is kind of her fault, to be honest. Not that I hold it against her anymore. Or at least…I’m trying not to. But I think I just always did that because I assumed I didn’t have anyone to rely on to do things for me.”

Riley nodded, linking their fingers and watching their clouds of breath coiling into the arena. He felt big, scary words coming up inside him and wasn’t sure if he should say them or not. But at this point, after everything Louis had done for him, he felt like it would be cheating him not to tell him the truth. He swallowed, his heart beating fast. He took a deep breath.

“Well… Well, you have me now,” he said. “Not just to rely on but like…you really have me. You’ve pretty much completely ensnared me. I do need you. But I want you to need me too. I’m here. For anything. Just…so you know.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Louis

As predicted, Madison Square Garden was packed to the rafters that night. Eighteen-thousand and six people (Louis had checked the exact capacity). It sounded like more.

His hands were trembling as he set up his tablet and laptop in the press box, the silence between him and Holly even louder than the crowd. The silent treatment was making him a thousand times more nervous than yelling, snipping, or punishing him with menial tasks would have. He’d deleted everything like she’d requested, and was operating under the assumption that as long as he didn’t hear anything else about it, he was in the clear.

It didn’t stop him from anxiously checking Riley’s metrics every ten seconds.

He was out there warming up at center, and Louis could see on the heart rate monitor that he was nervous. The building felt like a tinderbox that could go up at any moment. He’d told Riley earlier today that people were on his side, and he hoped he was right about that. He couldn’t stand it if he told him things were going to be fine and he turned out to be wrong.

Not again.

Warm ups finished and the teams went back to the locker rooms to put on their game jerseys while the Zamboni trundled out. Louis turned his attention back to the data. He could see Holly in his peripherals, going through her pre-game checklist, and wondered if she was as uncomfortable about the silence as he was. He felt bad about lying to her now. He hadn’t realized he’d been risking not only his job, but hers too.

The lights went down and the music started. Lasers swept the ice and fog billowed out of the tunnels where the teams would make their entrances. Over the PA, the announcer was hyping up the already frenzied crowd by telling them to get on their feet and make some noise – as if they weren’t already. He announced Montreal and the boos were deafening as Nic, Liam, Riley and the other guys skated out onto the ice. But that was normal, Louis reminded himself: fans always booed the visiting team.

The announcer started winding them up again – Laaaadies and gentlemen, the moment you’ve all been waiting forrrrr – and the noise in the stadium began to rise. People screamed into megaphones and pounded the bleachers with their feet. Your home team, the main event, batten down the hatches and lock your doors, it’s time for…

He finally announced New York and the crowd reached a fever pitch.

And no one came out of the tunnel.

The announcer paused while the crowd continued screaming, and then he announced them again.

Still nothing. New York didn’t take the ice.

The sound in the crowd began to shift. Louis heard it fragmenting all around the arena as cheers turned into confused yelling. His heart began to race as he stood up and scanned for Riley.

The announcer was telling people this had never happened before, and for them to please remain in their seats, and gave it one more shot and announced them again. He was halfway through when the first New York player came barreling out of the tunnel. Cheers erupted as he lifted his hand and waved to the crowd with a big smile, like he’d just been running late and was sorry to keep them waiting. He ripped around the first corner of the rink as the next player came out behind him, then the next and the next.

Louis wasn’t quite sure what he was seeing.

They’d done something to their helmets. Instead of the Ranger’s usual royal blue, each player who emerged from the tunnel was wearing a vibrant shade of neon. It looked like the whole team had taped over their helmets to make them different colors. They all appeared and arranged themselves into a line as they skated around the outside of the rink, and Louis suddenly saw what they’d done.

It was a rainbow.

The announcer didn’t seem to get what was happening, and was awkwardly chuckling and telling the crowd that New York was late because of a costume change.

“Well, folks, I’m not sure what we’re seeing here, but it looks like New York has decided to do some redecorating,” he said, as the Jumbotron picked out each player one by one, grinning and waving up at the crowd. “Ah – we don’t really understand what’s happening…”

Louis understood.

His heart swelled as he watched New York finish their lap of the rink and skate up to the red line on their side of the ice. They lined up in rainbow order and held their sticks with one hand while they reached across the red line with the other like they wanted to shake hands with the Montreal team.