“Thank you, William,” I said, holding out my hand. “You stood up for me, and that means… more than you know.”
He stared at the hand before bypassing it and going for a hug. My eyes prickled at the support. “Not hard when you’re fucking good at your job. Now let’s go. Mac will probably try to join, and I don’t want to be there when him or Booth show up. Booth has been grumpy since his wife left him.”
“Great,” Ivy said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Love that for us.”
The three of us walked out of the stadium, the two of them joking around like my career hadn’t just been saved. I was so thankful. It overwhelmed me that my life could turn out this way. I laughed along with them but couldn’t wait to tell Oliver. We could stay on the same team, travel together, be together openly, while we each kept our dream jobs.
Couldn’t believe I chose to move to Chicago with a hope and a dream, and here I was, living it loudly. I’d never take this job, team, or found family for granted, that was for damn certain. Now I had to go back home and tell the man I loved that we were living our happy ever after.
EPILOGUE
Next summer…four months post-surgery.
Oliver
“Don’t youdare, Oliver. Don’t even think about it.”
I grinned as I held my woman in my arms, threatening to toss her in the lake. Her skin was all warm and sweaty, and yes, she was smoking hot in a black bikini, but I loved her smile and ease of letting loose more. She clung to my neck, refusing to let go as I neared the edge of the dock. “Come on, Doc. It’s a little water.”
“Oliver James. Just because you can carry me around with your new heart and shit, does not mean you throw your girlfriend into a lake!”
Yeah, I smiled even more.
I hadn’t smiled this much in years. Not the fake grins for the cameras, not the tight jaw after practices when I swore I was fine. This was different. I didn’t have a ticking time bomb with my heart. I felt strong, ready, better than I had in years.
Back in February, they’d run catheters up through my femoral vein and mapped every faulty pathway in my chest.Hours of ablation—burning, freezing, rerouting—until the short-circuits stopped. No open-heart scar, nothing worrying.
The weeks after sucked. Stuck to heart monitors. Constant EKGs. Stress tests on treadmills that made me want to hurl. But then came the moment—the first time my heart spiked during drills and came back downclean. No arrhythmia. No blur of vision. No panic clawing at the edges. My rhythm held. Strong. Steady.
For the first time in forever, I wasn’t living on borrowed beats. I felt like I could fucking fly.
Last season had been a blur—grinding through the regular schedule, stealing a playoff win in the first round, and then bowing out the next week. I hated watching from the sideline, but I wasn’t alone. Ivy and Noah made sure I didn’t unravel, Jordan kept things light, and Sloane was there through every high and low. The losses stung, but for once, I had people around me who didn’t let me carry it alone—and things with her had never been better. HR issued her a warning a month after the incident, but no lasting impact on her file, no blacklisting. Hell, even Mac told her he’d be pissed if she left and that the staff needed more people like her. Sloane also received apology flowers from Hayes a few weeks ago, which was a total surprise. He entered the concussion program the league recommended, and while he wouldn’t play again, he was doing better—and credited Sloane for the push to get help.
And June meant minicamp. OTAs wrapped last week, mandatory camp started Monday. A year ago, every practice felt like a countdown. Now I was itching to get back in pads and test out this steady rhythm under the lights. But that was after our long weekend away at Noah’s lake house.
We needed the quick getaway, and they even let my sister join us. Rachel sat in one of the wooden chairs reading a book, while Jordan sat next to her listening to a Cubs game. Ivy andCallum went inside to make lunch for everyone, and Noah sat in an inner tube, a hot pink fizzy drink in one hand and a large cowboy hat on.
Fun fact: Noah loved fruity drinks. The man chugged them like water, and hey, cheers to him.
“Oliver, my hair… I just did it.”
“Well, that’s on you, honey. You’re at a lake house all weekend. You’re gonna get wet.” I nuzzled her temple, smelling the combination of sunscreen and perfume, my chest aching with how much I loved this woman. “What if I gently tossed you?”
“Or, what if…we sat on the dock and dipped our toes in?”
“Boo, I want to show off my many skills and how strong I am.”
“Fine. Fine. Throw me in the water, you big, muscular handsome man.”
I chuckled, and instead of actually throwing her in the water, I set her down like she asked.
Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, her gaze darting all over my face. “You’re up to something. I don’t trust this playful, ornery version of you.”
“Me?” I widened my eyes all innocent, then slipped an arm around her waist and tugged her with me. “Never.”
The second our feet hit the edge, I leaned us forward, and we slid in together, a splash cool enough to make her squeal. She latched onto me instantly, legs wrapping around my waist as we bobbed up.
“Oliver!” she gasped, shoving water out of her face. Her face was right there, her lips wet and pursed, and I bent down and kissed her quickly.
