I chuckle. And the words come easier. “No,” I say. “Thank you for being you. And thank you for letting me love you, exactly as you are.”
“No more secrets,” she whispers.
“No more secrets,” I vow.
“And lots and lots of sundaes.”
I touch her cheek. “And syrup.”
“And coos.”
Laughter bubbles up in my chest, and I know, finally know, that while things won’t always go perfectly and I will definitely fuck up again and we have a huge legal mess to deal with in the morning, that right now I’ve made it better.
No, that was Joey.
Because for the first time ever…
It doesn’t matter that the person making it right wasn’t me.
EPILOGUE
Joey, Six Months Later
The whistle goes…
And pandemonium explodes—the crowd roars, the guys’ equipment hits the ice in a chaotic jumble of sticks and gloves and helmets. There are hugs all around, smacks on the back, huge smiles that threaten to split our faces.
Because we’ve won.
Because we fuckingdidit.
The Cup is ours.
After eighty-two games. After four brutal rounds of the playoffs that were filled with fights and injuries and two bouts of triple overtime, we’vedoneit.
Kaitlyn grins at me. Tommy claps me on the back. Dave is his normal quiet, but I don’t miss that his eyes are misty. He’ll probably only be coaching for another season or two, so winning this now,here, after all the adversity we’ve faced…
It means a lot.
It meanseverything.
My gaze drifts away from my coaches, slides through the stands, not stopping until it reaches a box poised high above the red line.
Okay, so it doesn’t meaneverything.
Because my life isn’t just the job, isn’t just hockey anymore.
I have a summer RV trip planned with Beth and John. We’re going to hit up Yellowstone—though, Damon and I have our own camper because I’m not sleeping on a table that folds into a bed, not even for Beth and John.
Who am I kidding?
If they asked, I would have bent over backward to accommodate that request.
But Beth had emailed the reservation confirmation, told me she picked out a great RV for us that will “allow Damon and you the privacy young lovers need.”
Needless to say, she’s beyond the moon that we’ve navigated our way to happiness.
And currently up in the owner’s box, likely chattering Damon’s ear off, John next to her, looking on with quiet pride.
