I close the distance to where Bex is standing, and her eyes go wide as she sees me.
“What are you doing?” she hisses.
“What I should have done to start with.”
Taking Bex in my arms, I tip her to the side and plant a kiss smack-dab on her lips. I can feel her hesitance in my arms. But then she wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me back.
It’s the best kiss of my entire life because for once, I’m not worrying about another person. I’m putting Bex first. Giving the middle finger to every naysayer that is sure this won’t work for whatever reason.
I don’t give a shit about any of it right now as I pull back and stare down at a stunned Bex. Stunned, but smiling.
Setting her back on her feet, the crowd comes back into view. The team.
Shared expressions of disbelief sit on all of their faces. It’s so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.
Okay, so maybe I didn’t exactly think this one through.
“Uhh, Nick. Got something you’d like to share with the fans here?” Jerry asks, a knowing smirk on his face.
“I didn’t mean to steal your thunder,” I tell him.
“Oh no. I want to know what’s going on now. Please, share.” Jerry walks over and holds out the mic, his smile getting bigger with each step. Dropping my gloves, I take it from him.
Crap. Now all those nerves are coming back in full force. I guess it’s now or never.
“Sorry for stealing your thunder, Jerry,” I acknowledge, before shifting my attention to the crowd. Bex links her fingers with mine and gives me an encouraging squeeze.
I can do this. I can do it forher.
“Jerry’s words tonight got me thinking. About leading with your heart. Some of you might have seen the news about the two of us together.”
That earns me a collective laugh. See, you can do this, Nick. Deep breaths.
“Bex and I love each other. It seems like every headline tries to discredit the love the two of us have. Using one another to get ahead. It’s fake. Too much of an age gap. None of it means anything to us. We know what we have is real. And instead ofshowing you that our love is real, we’ve been hiding because we’ve been scared.”
Another squeeze from Bex.
“We love each other. That’s it. End of discussion. Continue your speculation all you like, be my guest. It’s not going to change the love we have for each other.”
“Yeah! You tell ’em!” Cash cheers out from his spot on the line and starts clapping.
It spreads like a wildfire. The cheers and whoops from the crowd grow louder with each second and, fuck me, does this ever feel good.
“Oh my God,” Bex whispers. Looking down at her, I watch tears well in her eyes as her hand covers her mouth. “Nick. I can’t believe you did that.”
“Like Jerry said, lead with your heart.”
Bex’s smile is so bright, it could power the whole of the arena’s electricity for the night. “God, I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Excuse me, Bex?” The ref skates over to us, an annoyed expression on his face. “Listen, the game is supposed to start in a few minutes. Can we move this along?”
“Sorry about that, Marshall. We’ll clear the ice.”
Giving Bex one last kiss, I hand the mic back to Jerry and get a bear hug from him before they leave the ice. Bex waves to everyone as they continue cheering for her, and I skate toward the bench.
“About damn time, Nicky.” Troy elbows me in the side. “About damn time.”
