Epilogue
JASPER - SIX MONTHS LATER
“Are you going to sleep all day?” I press a kiss to Quinn’s bare back.
“What time is it?” Her voice is scratchy with sleep.
“Nine.”
“Nine?” Quinn groans. “You kept me up until two.”
I smile against her warm skin, kissing each notch on her spine. “You didn’t seem to mind last night.”
Tugging the sheet down lower, I expose the swell of her ass. The bite marks I left there.
“A girl needs her beauty sleep.”
She flips over, her naked body making my dick harden.
“I hear sex can also be good for you.”
She waggles her fingers, beckoning me closer to her. “I have questions about the validity of that statement.”
I shift her so she’s under me, rocking into her.
“Sex burns calories, Quinn. It has to be good for you.” She wraps her legs around me as I slide into her on a gasp. “I also hear orgasms are good for your skin.”
“Must be why I’m always so radiant.”
My moves are slow and tender as our mouths lock. Before I know it, Quinn flips us and she’s riding me. Watching the power she takes as she comes apart over me, taking me with her, is something I’ll never take for granted.
With how chaotic our lives are going to be, I relish every quiet moment spent together.
Quinn starts to doze off after I clean her up. Tucking her back under the covers, I press a kiss to the crown of her head.
“I’ll go make breakfast. Come out when you’re ready.”
She doesn’t stir.
Grabbing my boxers and a sweatshirt, I pad out to the kitchen in our small cabin. With only a few weeks until Quinn’s tour kicks off, we escaped to a small town in Montana—Pinecrest. I’d never heard of it, but Quinn found a place where we could hide away for a long weekend, just the two of us.
It’s cold. After spending the night curled up in front of the fire, we moved into the bedroom.
The mountains spread out beyond the kitchen window as I start a pot of coffee and warm up a few cinnamon rolls from yesterday morning.
It’s a weird feeling, being here right now. Having announced my retirement after finally—finally—winning the Stanley Cup, it’s weird not to be playing with the season starting a few weeks ago.
My only job now is groupie to a pop star. It’s going to take some getting used to, but thankfully I know what life on the road is like.
“Something smells good out here.”
Quinn walks into the kitchen, robe tied around her waist and hair piled into a bun on top of her head.
“You could have slept in longer.”
“Not when it smells so good out here.”
I hand Quinn a cup of coffee and she take a long gulp.
“Morning.” I hold my arm open for her to burrow into my side.
“Morning.”
“So, what’s on the docket for today?”
“Well, we could do horseback riding…” She trails off.
“Or?”
I try not to think about how much that would hurt. Me? On a horse? Something about that just doesn’t feel natural.
“Or we could stay in.”
“I like it.”
“Order some room service. Curl up in front of the fire and play games.”
“We are not playing Monopoly, Quinn.”
“Oh, come on! I love it.”
“And you should love me enough to know I do not want to play that game with you.”
She hops up onto the counter, facing me, crossing one leg over the other. I do my best to ignore the way her robe parts, exposing her creamy thighs that I had wrapped around me last night.
“You’re just mad that I’m a better player than you.”
“There is no rhyme or reason to the game, other than it takes forever.”
“We can play strip Monopoly,” she says.
“That doesn’t make it better.” Although it does make it slightly more enticing. But I refuse to give in.
“You are such a poor sport.”
I set down my coffee mug and step between her legs. “Quinn, I love you. I will eat Brussels sprouts for you and never make you eat cereal and always clean up after the cats. But Monopoly? We have to draw the line somewhere.”
“Boo.” Except she’s smiling at me. “I think I saw Connect Four in the living room. Would you want to play that?”
“I think I could muster up the energy to play that.”
“We could also go for a hike too. The woman at the front desk said today would be a good day to go exploring before it gets too cold.”
“I’m on to you, Quinn.”
“What?” An innocent look is on her face.
“Throwing out Monopoly knowing I’ll say no to playing, and then giving me things I can say yes to.”
“I am doing no such thing.”
I nip at her bottom lip. “Your face gives you away, baby.”
“Nothing like working up a sweat before coming back and hitting the showers.”
“Maybe we can grill out tonight, too, before watching some movies.”
“I love it all, Jasper.” She sighs, her warm breath ghosting over my lips. “Promise me we’ll have nights like this on the tour.”
“I don’t know if we can do it here or in Switzerland, but I promise we’ll curl up every night after your show and do whatever we want.”
“We might have to catch a hockey game every now and then.”
“What a hardship,” I deadpan.
“You know, it won’t be the same watching the Knights without you.”
“Same. It’s going to be weird for a while. But getting to watch you perform? It’s the best trade-off.”
“I mean, if you had to win the Stanley Cup as one last victory lap, you couldn’t have asked for a better way to go out.”
I smile down at her. “You know fans are going to lose their minds when they see that we took the Cup into the studio with you.”
“I hope they do.”
It was the best way to spend my day with the Cup. We took it to the studio while Quinn recorded. After that? We put the cats in it, who did not like it. If we did something, the Cup came with us. Getting to celebrate with the person I love most was the dream ending to my career.
Quinn hops off the counter and takes my hand. “Why don’t we go start this next chapter on a high note?”
“If you say Monopoly…”
“Jasper, if you think I’m going to take you into the bedroom to play Monopoly, I really have to teach you a few things, old man.”
I slap her ass, running in after her.
“Then teach away.”