Epilogue #2
That was work for next season, though. For now, it was summer, and Vasily and I were enjoying a vacation together.
We had a wedding to attend in Italy, and after that, we’d head to Spain and Portugal for a few low-key, lazy weeks of enjoying the sunshine and each other.
We’d still work out enough to keep ourselves in shape, but the primary goal was to relax and let Vasily’s leg heal. No strenuous hiking. No surfing.
Sitting in the sun by the pool? Indulging in good food and wine? Pretty sure we could handle that.
My PHL salary wasn’t enough to do much traveling unless I budgeted carefully. A boyfriend with a NAPH contract, though, meant first class flights and bougie hotels.
“I could get used to this,” I told him on our transatlantic flight.
He’d chuckled as he’d picked up his wineglass. “Consider it motivation to sign with the NAPH.”
“But it’s so much more fun to have you pay for it.”
He’d just rolled his eyes and laughed. He probably would’ve elbowed me if the armrest between us hadn’t been so wide. Seriously, first class was amazing .
Our first week in Italy, we spent most of our time with some of Vasily’s teammates.
One of them, Theo Mathis, was marrying the head equipment manager, Christian Hayes.
They were having a destination wedding in Florence, and the hockey turnout was impressive to say the least. Theo’s past and present teammates, not to mention players who’d passed through the locker rooms where Christian worked, filled rows of chairs outside a gorgeous villa.
Apparently Theo had a lot of family in Russia, so this made it easier for them to fly out.
Christian was estranged from his father—who wasn’t estranged from that asswipe?
—and didn’t have much extended family, so it was just his mom, sister and brother-in-law along with their baby, and an uncle with his wife and three kids.
Most of the guests were involved in hockey, though, so I was admittedly a little starstruck during the pre-ceremony cocktail hour.
I wasn’t the only one, and I couldn’t lie—the best part was noticing that some of the younger guys were a bit starstruck by Vasily.
Yep, he was a star, and I was the one on his arm. Fuck yeah.
The wedding was gorgeous, of course. Both of the grooms struggled to contain their emotions, which earned them some chirping from their guests.
By the end, everyone—including the grooms and officiant—were laughing so hard we all had tears streaming down our faces.
It was a sweet ceremony between two adorable men who were completely in love, and the hockey chirps just made it that much more memorable.
If I ever get married, I want it to feel just like this.
I glanced at Vasily.
If we ever get married?
Well, no need to wander down that mental road. Though we were basically living together and had already checked off the “yep, we can handle ‘in sickness and in health’” part, we had only been together a few months. No need to rush anything.
After the ceremony, we watched from the sidelines as the grooms posed for photos with close friends and family in front of the sprawling vineyards.
I didn’t know their whole story, only that Theo had been called up to the Rainiers for a while to fill in for an injured player.
During his extended stint in Seattle, he’d met and started dating Christian, the equipment manager and the son of the asshat former GM.
Apparently the GM had outed them to the team, which had resulted in him getting his own ass fired, while the team had fully accepted the relationship.
When Theo moved up to the Rainiers permanently, he and Christian were already living together, and they’d continued like that, both of them traveling with the team.
To my knowledge, there hadn’t been any issues aside from the former GM’s bullshit.
The team loved them both, and if there had ever been any strife between Theo and Christian, no one had known about it.
They roomed together on the road, lived together at home, and had even gotten engaged on the ice during warmups.
I had no doubt they had their squabbles and fights like any couple, but it never seemed to interfere with their ability to function in their respective jobs.
Could Vasily and I do that?
Because I’d worried before that we would struggle with what would effectively be a long-distance relationship if I was in the minors while he was in the NAPH.
But it looked like we were both going to land on the Rainiers sooner than later.
Instead of being long-distance, we’d be functionally inseparable—unable to get away from each other even if we needed or wanted to.
Theo and Christian had made that work.
What if Vasily and I couldn’t? What if he felt stuck with me the way he’d felt stuck with his ex back in Vegas?
Right then, he nudged me gently. “Hey. Where did you go?”
I shook myself. “I… nowhere. Nowhere.” He was far too intuitive to believe that, though, and the way he arched his eyebrow said he saw right through me. So, I shrugged and sighed. “Well, look at them.” I gestured at the grooms.
Vasily did, then looked back at me. “What about them?”
“I mean, for all intents and purposes, they’re on the same team.” I studied my boyfriend. “They’ve made it work. So, like… that means we could too. Right?”
His eyebrows shot up. Panic surged through me as I realized what I was inadvertently implying.
“I don’t mean we have to get married!” I said quickly. “I was just so worried this would be a bad idea if we were teammates. Especially since it didn’t work out for you before.” I tipped my head toward Theo and Christian. “But there’s the evidence that it can work, you know?”
Vasily’s expression was unreadable for a moment, and I was kicking myself as I waited for him to speak.
I just had to go and say something stupid, didn’t I?
Things had been going fine between us. Sure, it was still the off season and we weren’t both on the Rainiers’ roster yet, but it had been good.
It had been relatively easy, even with our recoveries.
Now he probably thought I’d been second-guessing this the whole time and?—
He slid an arm around my waist. “I know we can make it work.”
I tensed. “Really?”
Vasily laughed softly and kissed my temple. “We’ve been making it work. When we were both fucking miserable, too. Why would it be any different once we’re healed and aren’t feeling like shit anymore?”
Some of my panic died away. “Oh. Huh. Yeah, you’re right.” I swallowed. “But we’re probably both going to play in Seattle after next season. What if we’re stuck together when we don’t want to be?” I hesitated. “Like you were with Drew?”
He winced and looked away.
I touched his chest. “I’m not saying I want to be away from you. Not at all. But I’m worried this will turn into a rerun of what you went through with Drew. Where you’re stuck with me, and you feel like you can’t leave if you want to.”
Vasily was already shaking his head. “No. It won’t be like that with you.”
I chewed my lip. “How can you be sure?”
He was quiet for a moment. Then he sighed, and he gently clasped my hand on his chest. “Like I’ve said before, looking back, the red flags were all there.
He and I were never going to last. With you…
” He smiled as he brought my hand up to his lips.
“I don’t think I have anything to worry about.
” He paused, then added with a mischievous grin, “Except maybe socks by the hamper instead of in them.”
I snorted. “What? That’s my love language!”
He rolled his eyes, drew me in, and kissed me. “Brat.”
I just chuckled and wrapped my arms around him. He smoothed my hair, smiled, then kissed me again.
“To be serious,” he said, “we’ll be fine.
I don’t have to walk on eggshells with you.
If we need some time alone, we can ask to room separately on the road or something.
Drew and I—we could never talk about things.
I couldn’t ask him for space without it blowing up.
But you’ve understood from the beginning that these things take work and they aren’t always perfect.
Look at how we got started—you were pissed at me, and then after we talked, everything was fine.
And that was when we were strangers. Before we were this invested in each other. ”
As his words sank in, the tension in my neck and shoulders unwound. He had a point. We hadn’t started out on a great foot at all, but once we’d talked it through, things had been fine.
Exhaling, I rolled my shoulders. “You’re right. You’re—yeah. You’re right.” I laughed nervously. “I’m just overthinking.”
He reeled me back in and kissed me lightly. “You overthink everything.”
“Hey. Shut up.”
He just elbowed me. Then he gestured at Theo and Christian. “Do you think you’ll ever want to…?”
I gulped, sobering in an instant. “I mean, I’d like to?”
He looked in my eyes, the warm afternoon light making his even prettier than usual. “Someday?”
I nodded. “Someday.”
That made him smile, and he didn’t push the issue any further. We kept watching the photo sessions. Then we moved inside for the reception. We had a fantastic time at the wedding before eventually making it back to our hotel.
And all the while, that little exchange made my stomach flutter. No, there wasn’t any hurry. No, there wasn’t a ticking clock or a strict timeline. No, we hadn’t been together long enough to know for sure what the future looked like.
But all signs pointed to Vasily and me being in it for the long haul. We’d figure out the future as we came to it. Right now, we were going to enjoy each other, and this vacation, and the upcoming hockey season.
The rest, well…
Someday?
Someday.