EPILOGUE
HAILEY
"Absolutely not, you crazy bastard!" I yelled, my palms pressed hard against the plexiglass, the vibration from the force echoing up my arms and rattling through my chest.
I knew he couldn’t hear me. I was too far away. He was tucked into the stands beside my parents, and Mallory, and a few traitorous Rink Runners who’d apparently made it their personal mission to abandon their own rink and camp out in ours these days. I knew they couldn’t hear me.
Maybe that was a blessing.
Still, it didn’t stop me from yelling like a lunatic at my boyfriend.
Lively had the absolute gall to look delighted at my outburst, his smile stretching across his stupidly handsome face, one arm draped around Mallory like they were co-conspirators in some Disney channel skit.
He lifted his hand and waved at me with the same kind of shameless innocence that only made me glare harder.
I’d seen that look before. Usually right before he did something reckless. And usually, I ended up yelling at him then too.
The only difference now was that I loved him. Openly. Stupidly. And every time I looked at him, I felt my insides pull taut with this warm, aching sort of joy that I still didn’t know how to carry properly.
God help me, I’d started expecting them. The three of them. My family—Lively included—to be here.
Which was wild, considering I’d spent two straight years convincing myself I didn’t need anyone watching from the stands. That needing support was weakness. That relying on people meant opening myself up to disappointment. To hurt.
But now…?
Now, their presence filled me with something steady and sharp and sweet. It didn’t matter that today’s game was unofficial. It didn’t matter that the stands only held a handful of people—just our teams, my family, and some of the Blizzard Belles.
It didn’t matter that the coaches weren’t even here. It still felt like the most important game I’d ever played.
Gina skated up beside me and laid a hand on my shoulder. “You know he won’t let her get hurt,” she said.
I turned slowly, fixing her with the iciest glare I could muster. She arched a brow right back, unbothered.
“Remember he threw himself in front of Dani,” she added, like that was a point in his favor.
It was not .
“That’s exactly what I don’t want him to do,” I snapped.
My voice was low but firm. “That idiot didn’t go to the damn hospital the last time he did that shit, and I really can’t deal with that along with the possibility of watching Mal fall and crack her head open just because dumbass boyfriend wanted to dance with her.
Gina gave me an understanding look a second before her game face came on. “Sort it out after the game. Calling time!”
A whistle blew from the far end. Dani gave me a thumbs-up as they started resetting formation.
I turned away from her then and shot one last murderous look in his direction.
Of course, Lively grinned back at me, his eyes bright with mischief, and his chin resting on one hand like he was preparing to watch his favorite movie.
He met my glare head-on and even had the audacity to wink. I was going to murder him.
Later.
Now, I dug in my skates and pushed off the boards, launching into the scrimmage, the cold biting into my cheeks as my blades carved hard into the ice. My body moved before thought did, years of drills syncing muscle to instinct, the ice a second home under my feet.
I wasn’t trying to prove anything. Except I totally was.
Even if the crowd was just two teams, my family, and a handful of chaotic Rink Runners who showed up like groupies, this game meant something.
It felt bigger than any prelim. Bigger than when I’d been fighting for a spot at regionals last year.
When the final whistle blew, I coasted to a stop, panting. My cheeks ached from smiling. My heart thudded behind my ribs, too big for the cage that held it.
I pulled off my helmet, sweat-damp hair sticking to my forehead. They were already waiting at the edge of the plexiglass: Lively. Mallory. My parents. I skated toward them, unable to stop the grin spreading across my face.
“You were incredible, Hailey!” My mom, Karen, said, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. Ah, they always made me feel so embarrassed when they got like that. If she was crying for a scrimmage, how would she be reacting to my real games?
“Yeah! It’s so cool seeing you play live!” Mallory said, her arms flying around my waist the moment I stepped close. I squeezed her back tightly, burying my face in her hair. She smelled like strawberries and that glitter lotion she wouldn’t stop using.
“Thanks, Mal,” I said, brushing her bangs out of her eyes, my heart pattering in the base of my neck, and it wasn’t from the game.
“I wanna go on the ice,” she said immediately, her eyes wide with that hopeful gleam that always made me feel like the villain when I said no.
“Absolutely not,” I replied, deadpan.
Her face fell. “But Lively said—”
“Lively says a lot of things,” I said, eyes narrowing.
“It’s true,” my dad, David chimed in, surprisingly amused. “He says some very dumb things.” That made me snort.
“Hey!” Lively’s voice called as he stepped onto the rink, skates on now. “I’m standing right here.”
Lively vaulted onto the ice and skated to meet me, his arms scooping me up and spinning me around without hesitation.
“Fuck, Hailey,” he murmured into my neck, voice thick. “You’re a goddamn hockey goddess, you know that? Watching you play… never gets old.”
“Hey,” I said, tilting my head up and pulling his chin down with my glove. “You’re hard again, aren’t you?” I whispered, and his cheeks flushed as if on command.
Fucking adorable. It was always fun to tease him like this.
I smirked, “My parents and sister are right behind you, you pervert .”
“Damn, Hailey,” he whispered back, “I wasn’t that hard before, but now…”
I laughed now, my heart swelling in my chest. “You’re so pathetic, fuckface.”
“Yeah,” he said, his voice dipping low, “Only for you.”
And then he kissed me. His lips brushed mine like he wasn’t sure he was allowed to take more.
But I pressed closer, curling my fingers into the fabric of his hoodie, tilting my head, deepening it.
It wasn’t wild or desperate like the first kiss we’d shared—it was something else.
Something slower. Intimate . Which was pretty darn wild considering where the hell we were, but I found that I really didn’t care. Not enough to pull away first.
"Now that they're together, we all know one thing: we're all fucked." That was Matt, that mouthy bastard.
But the chatter washed over us like a wave, and I barely registered their subsequent jabs because Mallory chose that moment to do so.
“Stop sucking face and let me skate!” She griped, and Lively pulled back, his eyes flying wide with amusement a split second before he burst out laughing.
“Yeah, get a room!” Zoe yelled from all the way on the other side of the ice.
“At least keep things PG.” Gina deadpanned.
Lively grinned. “It is PG. Her parents are right there, guiding us.” He said, and our teammates erupted into groans.
Turning back to Mallory, I was about to say something when I heard my mom say softly, “Let her go on the ice, Hailey.”
I blinked. “What?”
“She wants to,” she said, gently. “And she’s with you.”
I hesitated. Looked at Lively, and then looked back at Mallory. I couldn’t say no to that now, could I? No .
“Fine,” I said, sighing. I turned to him and narrowed my eyes. “I’m going to kill you if you let go of her hand.”
Then we took her hands, mine on the left, Lively’s on the right; and together we stepped onto the ice. Slowly. Carefully. Her laughter echoed through the rink like a melody.
Our teammates stopped teasing. The Rink Runners leaned against the boards, watching with fond smiles. I caught Dani dabbing her eyes. Gina pretended to retch.
And in the center of that rink, surrounded by the people who’d become my family, I realized something that stole the breath from my lungs: I already felt like a champion.
No, that wasn’t quite right, either. It wasn’t that I felt like one…
but I was one. Maybe not because of medals.
Or titles, but because of this. Because they were all here.
Cheering. Seeing me. Loving me. I didn’t need to win regionals to feel worthy anymore.
I already was.
And as Lively pulled Mallory into a wobbly spin, his free hand finding mine again, and as our teammates erupted into cheers and laughter, I looked around one last time.
At the girl I used to be. At the family I had found again. At the boy who loved me through it all. Maybe this messy, complicated, beautiful thing between us had been inevitable from the start. Like a perfect shot on goal.
Sometimes the best plays were the ones you never see coming.