I shove him away, laughing.
From a slap shot worth the coach’s attention in high school to the streets of Paris, Beckett Kane has always made me feel seen.
And there’s nothing more I could ask from the man I love.
Chapter 49
Epilogue
BECKETT–FOURYEARSLATER
“Thanks for joining us in the studio today, Coach Blake,” I say once the camera is rolling.
“Thanks for having me,Mr. Blake.”
The glint in my wife’s eyes is something I will never get tired of. I’ve never been happier than the day she agreed to marry me, except for maybe the day we finally got to say I do.
“We’re still workshopping that name,” I add to the camera.
Finley shakes her head, that teasing look still on her face. “I think it suits you.”
I grin at my wife, hopefully reminding her that this is a big deal for me. My first full segment for a national sports network. Normally, I’m just breaking down the plays from the high-tech setup in our house and chiming in when they need a former player’s perspective.
I clear my throat before asking, “You're about to start your fifth season as head coach with the Denver Yeti. I assume all ourviewers watching know that I have a bit of a bias toward the Yeti, but for those of you who don’t, I played with the Yeti during my last season. So, a lot of bias, some may say.”
“If by bias you mean you are twice as hard during your analysis of us, I completely agree,” Finley replies.
She’s eased up a lot when it comes to her professional image in the past few years. Sure, she still wears her full-black pantsuits with the button-up white shirts at games, still has that little Denver Yeti pin on, and still pulls her hair up in her ponytail so tight that it gives her a headache. But off the ice, she’s a little less worried about what the internet is saying about her. The Yeti’s PR department is finally easing back from their rigid stance on never showing she’s a woman, too.
I smile in the way I know makes her wish she could still make me skate sprints. “I just want to make sure that the audience doesn’t think I’m giving you preferential treatment.”
“You would never. Though, let’s not forget the fact that, throughout the course of your career, you played with half the men that you're analyzing. And if we’re going to start claiming favoritism, I don’t think I’ve heard you say one bad thing about Larsen.”
“This interview isn’t supposed to be about me, Finley.”
She shrugs. “I thought you preferred it when everything was about you.”
I level my wife with a glare, looking over her shoulder to see the studio crew laughing behind us.
“Abel.” I call out to my coworker. “Come out here and join us. I think we need a third party.”
Abel walks out on screen, just like we had planned. He sits in the chair next to mine, so we’re both looking across at Finley, who sits completely composed in yet another black pantsuit. Her hair is down, curled lightly, begging me to wrap it around my fist when we get back to our hotel.
“So,” Abel starts, “you two got hitched this off-season, I hear?”
“We sure did,” I agree.
“A small wedding up in the Colorado mountains,” Finley adds.
“Small? You didn’t invite the team?” Abel asks, as if he weren’t there, too. As if he didn’t do shots with Larsen and then proclaim it as the best night of his life.
I look at him in mock horror. “Of course they were there! They’re her team. They’re basically family.”
Finley looks at Abel like they’re co-conspirators. “They’re coworkers… but Beckett talked me into it… eventually.”
Abel nods solemnly. “Clearly a mistake. Can we expect such terrible decision-making from you this season with the Yeti?”
“While Beckett had a say in our wedding, he, fortunately, doesn’t hold any weight when it comes to coaching the Yeti,” Finley answers, and I smile. It’s one of the many reasons we’re putting together this segment right now. There’s a not-so-small subset of hockey fans who like to think I’m calling the shots, and Finley is just a puppet. The people who matter know it’s not true—there’s a reason Denver had her sign a five-year contract. But we’re putting that rumor to bed now, anyway. While also capitalizing on the Yeti’s championship win to expand my career into more than just being a studio analyst.
