Three pairs of eyes snapped to my face.
“When?” Eva asked, her hand finding mine under the counter.
“Yesterday. Before...” I waved my hand vaguely, encompassing everything that happened at the arena.
“And?” Cole prompted, his expression unreadable.
“They’re interested,” I said. “You know they can’t sign contracts during an NCAA season, but they intend to offer a spot at their development camp next summer, with a real shot at a contract.” The words felt both exhilarating and terrifying. Our dream to play in the NHL was suddenly within reach, but graduation was still ahead.
“Boston,” Eva said softly. Not a question, just a statement of fact.
“Boston,” I confirmed. “But I haven’t given them an answer yet.”
Alek set down his mug with deliberate care. “You will accept,” he said, his tone brooking no argument. “This is your chance.”
“What about us?” I gestured between the four of us. “We just found our way back to each other, and now I’m thinking about moving after graduation?”
“We’ll figure it out,” Eva said firmly. “This is your dream, Tristan. You can’t pass it up.”
Cole gave a half-smile. “You beat me to it,” he said. “The scout called me too.”
“The same one?” Eva looked between us, blinking rapidly, her pulse fluttering wildly in her throat. “Both of you?”
“Same team, different scout,” Cole said. “Looks like they decided they wanted the package deal.”
Alek rubbed a hand across his jaw, a faint flush spreading across his cheeks. “They offered me an assistant coaching position.”
“What?” Eva’s eyes widened further. “You too?”
“It’s—” He stopped, smiling at the two of us, as if he knew something we didn’t. “It didn’t matter before. It does now. They liked how I’ve been working with the team here, and the owner—” he grinned. “The owner knows Nikolai.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Seriously? They want all of us?”
He nodded. “Starting next fall, after graduation.”
“So you could all be in Boston after graduation,” Eva said slowly, the implications sinking in.
“What about you?” I asked her. “Your med school applications?”
She bit her lip then broke into a grin. “Boston University offered me a scholarship.”
But Cole wasn’t smiling.
“What?” he said defensively when the silence stretched too long. “I’ve already said my piece about the scout.”
“Cole,” Eva said, placing her hand on his arm.
He sighed, dropping the mangled napkin. “I’ve liquidated my shares in the business, but my father left a fucking mess. It’s going to take months to straighten out our personal finances.”
“Why do you have to do it?” Eva asked. Cole looked at her like she was a fucking idiot, but before I could growl my defense of her, she continued, “Just because it’s yours? When has that stopped you from doing whatever the fuck you wanted? Are you still fabulously wealthy?”
“Yes,” he said, looking at her, his face carefully blank.
“Why can’t you pay someone else to straighten it out? Hire a fucking accountant and a lawyer. Your father’s dead—you don’t have to do anything his way anymore.”
Cole blinked.
And then he blinked again, and he burst out into laughter. “Fuck, Eva, I love you.”
