Page 217 of On the Breakaway

She snaps out of it and heads for the door. “You have to go. Now.”

“Go? What do you mean?”

“Grayson, go celebrate with your team.”

“But you flew all the way here.”

“Baby, go celebrate with your team. They need their captain, and I think you need a reminder of that.”

I feel like I should stay, but I’m also itching to celebrate with the guys who have fought all season to make this happen.

“You’re sure?”

She nods. “I’m sure.”

I pull her into me hard enough that she laughs, cupping the back of her neck before kissing her like I need one more reminder that she’s actually here.

“Don’t go anywhere.”

She smiles against my mouth. “Not a chance.”

I leave the suite at a jog. Luckily, there’s a private elevator that gets me to the locker room in record time, and by the time the doors slide open, the first players are already filtering through. Relief hits me the second I see their faces. They’re exhausted, drenched in sweat, but they’re smiling.

The room floods with teammates, coaches, and trainers all yelling over one another about the win. Music is already blasting through the speakers before half the guys have even finished taking off their gear, beer spraying through the air as if somebody couldn’t wait another second to start celebrating.

When Wyatt walks through the door, I hook an arm around his shoulders and drag him into a hug despite his lifelong campaign against physical affection. Liam barrels into Nathan, nearly sending them both crashing into a row of stalls.

“Let’s fucking go,” Liam yells as he tosses his other arm around my shoulder. “Four wins until the Cup is in our hands, boys!”

Coach is shaking hands with the training staff, grinning wider than I’ve seen in weeks while the equipment guys start picking up gear that nobody seems interested in putting away.

I take in the scene with Avery’s words rattling through my head.

They need their captain.

For the past week, I haven’t felt much like one, and even now, I don’t fully feel like I deserve to celebrate. I’ve spent three games sitting in the stands while these guys battled to get to this point.

Guilt threatens to pull me under all over again.

“Hey, Grayson, how about a little speech?” Drew snaps his towel at me.

I shake my head.

“Speech.” Liam chants.

“Speech.” Nathan jumps in.

And then, the entire locker room is chanting it. Wyatt shrugs as if to tell me it’s a battle I won’t win.

“Okay, I get it. Damn.” I yell, the room silencing around me.

All eyes land on me as they wait for words of wisdom that I don’t have, so I just start talking.

“For the past week and a half, I’ve felt like I owed all of you an apology.”

“You do,” Liam calls.

Laughter rolls through the room.