“I’m hoping our schedules work out so I can face off against him and kick his ass,” Emmy tells me. “I always was the better skater out of the two of us.”
“You’re so beautiful, but that’s just not true. We can go settle this on the ice right now, if you want,” he says, and I hold up my hands.
“Please don’t flirt in front of me. It makes me sick. Did you tell the boys?”
“Not yet. Figured I’d save that for another day, and I wanted you to be the first to know.”
“I appreciate the heads-up.” I glance at Emmy. “If we can’t win it all, I’d be happy with a Sea Crabs victory so I can cheer you on.”
“Appreciate that, Coach.” She looks down at Murphy in Maverick’s arms. “We’ll let you get back to your party.”
“Are you going to have that seat at the bar for me?” Maverick asks, and I smile.
“Yeah, Miller. Open invitation, whenever you want to come by.”
It takesme ninety minutes to reach my socialization limit, and when Hannah and I head home with the rest of the cake, I glance over at her in the passenger seat.
“I’ve spent two out of my last three birthdays with you,” I say.
“It could’ve been three in a row, except you weren’t talking to me,” she teases. “I”m glad we’re past that.”
“Me too.” I rest a palm on her thigh. “Today was my big day, but tomorrow is yours. Are you ready to announce your retirement from figure skating?”
Hannah made the decision early last week, and I’ve been trying to be there for her however I can. I know her heart is heavy, but after some extended conversations with her therapist and Tierney, this is what she thinks is best for her future. The door isn’t locked, just closed, and from how she smiles when she steps on the ice when we skate every day, I have a feeling she’s not leaving forever.
“Yeah. It’s not a failure but a redirection, and I’m not any less than who I was before just because I’ll never compete at a World Championship again.” She rests her head against the seat. “And I’m happy with that.”
“I only had one night with you when you were still training at that level, but you’re much brighter now, Han,” I tell her. “And I’m so proud of you.”
“You helped! With Liv, with our sessions. With letting me just…beout there.”
“And the time I let you win that race,” I add, and she rolls her eyes.
“We can do a redo so you stop complaining. I’ll even give you a five second head start. You’re in a different age bracket now. You need the advantage.”
“You’re such a shit,” I mumble, pinching her skin. “I was going to suggest we find some creative uses for that cake when we got home, but now it’s just going in the fridge.”
“Home,” she repeats. “I like that you call it that now, and not your place.”
“I know you mentioned not wanting to getting married, Hannah, and I promise I won’t surprise you with a ring. But I’m in this for the long haul with you. If you want to find a new place for us to live together, we can do some browsing. If you want to stay in your apartment and keep your space, I’m all for that too. But my condo will always be open to you, whenever you want it. Even if I’m out of town, I’ll give you a key.”
“Think I might just sit in your closet and stare at all the times you wrote out my name,” she says softly, folding her hand over mine. “I love you, Brody, and I’m so lucky to be a part of your family.”
And to think I almost messed this all up by running away. Hannah was the best birthday surprise two years ago, and I can’t fucking wait to see where we are twelve months from now.
Wherever it is, with her by my side, I’m going to be on top of the fucking world.
FORTY-EIGHT
HANNAH
“Brody,”I say. “Do you want to sit down?”
“Hm? What?” He touches his jaw and looks at me. “No. I’m fine.”
“You’ve been walking up and down the stairs for the last ten minutes.”
“Because I need to get a workout in,” he grumbles, and Kali laughs.
