Her face breaks into the biggest smile I’ve ever seen.
And I kiss her.
Pull her into my arms and kiss her like I’ve been wanting to for thirty days. Like I’ll never let her go again. Like she’s the only thing that matters.
She kisses me back. Hands in my hair. Tears on both our faces. The foam ox horns fall off her head and tumble down the steps.
The crowd loses their minds.
Chanting. Clapping. Stomping.
Someone’s playing “We Are the Champions” over the loudspeakers.
The Jumbotron is showing us—I can see it out of the corner of my eye. The kiss. Us. Together.
My teammates are leaning over the boards, whooping and hollering.
“Way to go, Candy!” Torch yells.
Derek is grinning. He catches my eye and gives me a thumbs-up.
I pull back just enough to look at Chloe’s face. She’s wearing sparkly eye makeup and her mascara is running and there’s glitter everywhere.
“You look ridiculous,” I say.
“I just didn’t want you to miss me,” she says, laughing through tears.
“How I missed you.” I kiss her again. Softer this time. “I’m so sorry. For everything. For asking you to break up with me. For the contract?—”
“Stop.” She puts her hand over my mouth. “I’m sorry too. For what I said. For comparing you to—I didn’t mean it.”
“You were right,” I interrupt. “I was running. Just like him. Trying to control everything instead of trusting. But I’m done running. I’m done hiding. I’m done pretending.”
“Good. Because I’m done hiding too.” She grins. Touches my face. “I love you, Brody Kane.”
“I love you too.” I’m grinning like an idiot. “Also, is that glitter on your jersey?”
“Yes. I made Jessa help me bedazzle it. It took four hours and six containers of craft glitter.”
“It’s perfect.”
“It’s hideous.”
“It’s perfectly hideous.” I kiss her forehead, her nose, her cheeks.
“You smell,” she says, wrinkling her nose.
“I just played three periods of hockey?—”
“Shower. Then meet me at Ironclad. Jessa’s gonna drive me.” She grins. “I need a giant chocolate chip cookie and a late-night latte. And you. Not necessarily in that order.”
“I’ll be there.”
“You better.” She picks up the fallen ox horns, puts them back on her head. Crooked and ridiculous and perfect.
I kiss her one more time—quick, sweet—then climb back over the boards.
My teammates are waiting, all of them grinning like idiots.
