This was what I’d been fighting for.
I set the box down and went to him, needing to be close for just a second.
“Thank you,” I said softly.
He smiled. “It was selfish on my part.”
“Oh?”
He stepped closer and pulled me into his arms. “This way, I get to have you close all the time.”
I leaned into him, laughing a little. “It’s pretty great, isn’t it?”
He kissed me in answer.
“I feel so lucky,” I said against his shoulder. “That I wandered into the rink that first night. Derby gave me my life back. And you . . . you gave me love again.”
He tipped my chin up, eyes warm and steady. “I love you too.”
We kissed, slow and unrushed, like we had nowhere else to be.
Like this was exactly how life was meant to feel.
EPILOGUE
ALEX - ONE YEAR LATER
Ayear later, I was back in the stands where everything had started.
Becca sat to my left, already halfway through a basket of fries. Leo was bouncing in his seat, narrating the warm-ups like he was on a sports channel. Ava sat between us, focused and intent, her sign rolled up in her lap, waiting for just the right moment.
And Eleanor’s mother was there too.
She sat a little stiffly, hands folded in her lap, eyes fixed on the track. Things with her and Eleanor weren’t perfect. They never would be. But there were boundaries now, real ones. And, to her credit, she respected them. It was still strained, but she was trying.
That was more than my family had ever managed.
The announcer’s voice boomed through the rink, and the Grimm Reapers rolled out onto the track. My heart did the same little flip it always did when I saw Eleanor in her gear, strong and confident and utterly herself.
When they called her name, Ava jumped to her feet, Leo whooped, Becca cheered, and even her mom clapped, eyes shining just a little.
I leaned back and let the sound wash over me.
A year ago, she’d been trapped in a house that made her feel small.
Now she was out there, taking up space, surrounded by people who loved her.
And I was right where I wanted to be, watching the woman I loved skate into the life she’d claimed for herself.
Later that night,we were back on the couch, just us and the quiet.
Eleanor had an ice pack on her hip from the bout, and I was at her feet, rubbing slow circles into her arches like I always did after a game. Her bruises were a familiar map now, proof of how hard she skated and how fully she lived.
“I heard from my agent today,” she said casually, like she wasn’t about to change our lives again. “They ordered the full set of Derby Girl books. When the advance comes in, we can start construction.”
I looked up at her. “Construction?”
She grinned. “We’re merging the duplex. One big house.”
