Jake appeared at my elbow. "You made our baby cry."
"Shut the fuck up, Jake," Heath said, still smiling.
"There he is! That's the guy Chicago's getting."
The room erupted again. This time, Heath let himself get pulled into it—hugs and chirps and someone trying to dump a cooler of water over his head before Coach intervened.
I stepped back and watched it happen. I'd been where he was. Desperate to prove I belonged. Terrified someone would look too close and see all the cracks. I wasn't there anymore.
The noise swelled around me—teammates celebrating, Coach trying to restore order, and Biscuit barking from somewhere near Hog's stall.
This was my team. My family. My place.
***
The celebration decided to relocate to The Drop.
It had been going for two hours when I stepped outside. The cold hit me like a wall. Less brutal than January, but Thunder Bay winter didn't quit easily.
Adrian followed me. He jammed his hands in his pockets, jacket zipped to his throat, and a small smile still lingered.
The street was quiet. Streetlights cast orange pools of light. I reached out and took his hand.
His fingers laced through mine, warm despite the cold.
"Thanks for staying," I said.
He glanced at me. "You already thanked me. Like six times in the last week."
"I mean, in general. You didn't have to choose this. Thunder Bay. Me. The local photography gigs and the terrible apartment heating."
"I'm exactly the right size for this life," he said quietly. "For you. For here. I don't need bigger. I needed real."
"You're sure?" I asked. "Because I'm still gonna be a disaster sometimes."
"I know."
"And I'm still gonna be loud and weird and—"
"Pickle." He stepped closer. "I don't want a different version of you. I want this one."
I believed him. I wasn't too much. I was enough.
I pulled him in and kissed him. Right there on the sidewalk in the middle of Thunder Bay, where anyone could see. The cold bit at my face, and snow had started falling again, but all I felt was Adrian—warm and solid and mine.
No hiding.
Adrian kissed me back. One hand cupped my face, thumb brushing my cheekbone. The other stayed tangled with mine.
When we broke apart, I was smiling so hard my face hurt.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing. Just—this. You. All of it."
I tugged his hand. "Come on. Let's go home before Jake sees us and makes it weird."
"Too late," Adrian said, nodding toward The Drop's window.
