Hemi and Shilpa call us over and we join the rest of the group as the game gets underway.
They’re all playing hard, but the Seattle Storm went to seven games in both series before this one. They’re tired, and the Terror had some downtime to recharge before the final series. Time off can go either way. Sometimes it causes a team to lose momentum, but in this case, it rejuvenated the Terror and added enough fuel to their tanks to make them a formidable opponent.
In the first period, Grace and my boyfriend score a goal together. Seattle tries to even the score, but defense is playing tight, and Romero and Palaniappa are working hard to make Ryker’s job easier. Bright scores a goal at the end of the first and we keep that lead through the end of the second period. In the third, Stiles scores with Phillip as the assist. Seattle finally puts themselves on the board with ten minutes left in the game. They try for another goal, but Phillip gains control of the puck and scores again for Toronto.
The last ten minutes of the game are intense, with lots of hard hits into the boards, but the Storm can’t recover, and the Terror bring home the Cup.
It’s a glorious win.
A perfectly epic end to an epic season.
And a beautiful start to the next chapter in our lives.
EPILOGUE
FLIP
THREE YEARS LATER
“Phillip? Baby? Are you ready to go?” Tally calls from down the hall.
“Coming!” I flip the tiny velvet box closed and tuck it into my pocket.
“Not without me, I hope.” My girlfriend (soon to be fiancée) pokes her head in our closet. We’ve been living together for two years, now, and I’m more than ready to make it permanent. “What are you doing in here?”
“Grabbing my wallet.” I nab it from the dresser and tuck it in my pocket as well. “Ready to go?”
“Do I look ready?” Tally does a full-body shimmy.
She’s wearing the dress I bought her, her athletic dancer’s body stunning in the flowy, clinging fabric. “You look incredible.”
“Incredibly edible?”
“Don’t start.” I wind an arm around her waist. “I will spend all night edging you.”
“It’s my birthday, though.”
“You think that gives you a free pass from the edging?” I kiss a path up her neck. “We need to go, or we’ll be late.”
“You’re terrible,” she grumbles.
“You love it.” I bite the edge of her jaw.
“I really do,” she agrees.
“When we get home, I’ll fulfill whatever new fantasy you come up with,” I promise.
After three and a half years together, we long ago exhausted her original list. Cammie’s fics-turned-published works definitely keep things creative these days.
“Will you at least give me a hint about where we’re going tonight?”
I gaze down at my girlfriend. “No hints.”
“Obviously we’re having dinner somewhere.”
“We are definitely having dinner,” I agree.
“And then what?” Tally fingers the hair at the nape of my neck and bites my chin.
