Chapter Ten
Ryan
I'm pacing my apartment like a caged animal when Bella finally texts me that she's heading over.
The waiting has been torture—two hours of wondering what she's saying to Tanner Williams, whether his manipulative confession might actually work, whether I'm about to lose the best thing that's ever happened to me to someone who sees her as a strategic acquisition rather than the incredible woman she is.
My phone buzzes: On my way up. I have things to tell you.
Things. Plural. That could mean anything from "I've made my choice and it's you" to "I need time to figure this out" to "Tanner made some points I can't ignore." I force myself to stop pacing and try to look like I haven't been spiraling for the past few hours.
The knock on my door comes exactly four minutes later—I know because I've been watching the clock like it holds the answers to my future.
When I open the door, Bella is standing in my hallway looking like she's just walked through fire and emerged stronger on the other side.
Her hair is slightly windblown from the Seattle drizzle, her cheeks are flushed, and there's something in her expression that's equal parts exhausted and exhilarated.
"Hey," I say, stepping aside to let her in.
"Hey yourself." She kicks off her shoes and looks at me directly. "We need to talk."
My stomach drops. "Okay."
"I told him that I'm with you. And that's not going to change.
" The words come out in a rush, like she needed to get them out immediately.
"I told him that his timing was manipulative, that his confession was strategic rather than romantic, and that what we have is the most carefully considered choice I've ever made. "
The relief that washes over me is so intense that I have to sit down on my couch before my knees give out. "You did?"
"I did." Bella settles next to me, close enough that I can smell her shampoo and see the determination in her brown eyes.
"What did he say?"
"He showed his true colors. When the manipulation didn't work, he basically asked if I was really going to throw away everything we could have together for 'some hockey player who probably won't even be relevant' in my life five years from now."
Anger flares in my chest. "He said that?"
"He said that. Which just proved that beneath all the vulnerability and romantic confession, he still sees you as beneath consideration.
" Bella reaches for my hand, intertwining our fingers.
"But Ryan, I hope you are still relevant in my life five years from now.
I hope you're there supporting whatever dreams I'm chasing, celebrating my successes and helping me through my failures. "
The words hit me like the winning goal in overtime—unexpected, perfect, exactly what I needed to hear.
She turns to face me fully, and I can see tears gathering in her eyes. "I need you to know that this morning, when Tanner was making all those points about practical compatibility and strategic partnerships, I started to doubt myself."
My chest tightens. "And now?"
"Now I realize that the smartest thing I've ever done was trust my heart to know what my head was too scared to choose." Her smile is radiant and certain. "I chose you, Ryan. I chose you because you love me for exactly who I am right now, flaws and neuroses and all."
I lean forward and kiss her, soft and grateful and full of everything I can't put into words.
"I love you," I tell her. "So much that it terrifies me sometimes."
"Good. Because I love you too, and I'm done being scared of what that means."
We spend the next hour curled up on my couch, talking about everything and nothing.
Bella tells me about her conversation with Tanner in more detail, about how good it felt to finally call out his manipulation, about how certain she felt walking away from him.
I tell her about the two hours I spent convinced I was about to lose her, about how proud I am of her for standing up for what she wants.
"So what happens now?" I ask eventually.
"Now we figure out how to be a real couple instead of a fake one." Bella grins. "Though I have to say, we were pretty convincing even when we were pretending."
"Maybe because it stopped being pretend about five minutes after we shook hands on the deal."
"You think it was that fast?"
I consider this seriously. "For me? Yeah. The moment you paid for the broken mugs and proposed that arrangement, I was a goner. I just didn't want to admit it to myself."
"What gave it away?"
"You mean besides the fact that I spent our entire first tutoring session trying to impress you instead of focusing on economics?
" I laugh. "I think it was when you explained marginal utility using pizza.
You got so excited about teaching, about making sure I understood the concept, and I realized I could listen to you talk about anything for hours. "
Bella's smile is soft and slightly amazed. "I was falling for you too. During that same session, when you connected hockey strategy to economic theory. I thought I was just attracted to your intelligence, but really I was attracted to the way your mind works. The way you approach problems."
"So we were both idiots who spent weeks pretending our feelings were fake."
"The smartest idiots on campus, apparently."
My phone buzzes with a text from Jake: Team dinner tomorrow night. Bring Bella.
I show Bella the message. "Want to go? Fair warning: my teammates are going to interrogate you about your intentions with their captain."
"Will there be alcohol to make the interrogation bearable?"
"Definitely."
"Then I'm in. But I should probably warn you—Riley's been asking when she gets to properly meet you too. Something about 'vetting the boy who stole her best friend's heart.'"
"Riley doesn't scare me."
"She should. She once made a guy cry just by asking him to explain his five-year plan."
We're laughing about Riley's protective instincts when my phone rings. Coach Patterson's name flashes on the screen, and I frown at the unexpected call.
"I should probably take this," I tell Bella.
"Coach?" I answer.
"O'Sullivan. I wanted to give you a heads up about something." His voice is unusually serious. "I got a call from a scout today. Someone from the Seattle Kraken organization."
My heart stops. "A scout?"
Bella's eyes widen, and I can see her processing what this might mean.
"They've been watching some of our games this season, apparently. Liked what they saw. They want to meet with you next week to discuss possibilities for after graduation."
I stare at Bella, trying to process what Coach is telling me. The Seattle Kraken—the NHL team that just started playing in the city I've lived in my entire life. The possibility of playing professional hockey without having to leave everything I've built here.
"Ryan? You still there?"
"Yeah, Coach. I'm here. Did they say anything specific?"
"Just that they're interested in talking. No promises, no guarantees, but the fact that they're calling means something." Coach pauses. "Kid, this is the kind of opportunity most players only dream about. Don't screw it up."
After I hang up, Bella and I stare at each other in silence.
"The Seattle Kraken wants to meet with you," she says finally.
"Apparently."
"That's incredible, Ryan. That's everything you've worked toward."
"Maybe. It's just a meeting. Could be nothing."
"Or it could be everything." Bella scoots closer to me on the couch. "How do you feel?"
I think about it seriously. Six months ago, getting a call like this would have been the only thing I could think about, the answer to every prayer I'd ever made.
Now, it feels important but not all-consuming.
Because the most important thing in my life is sitting next to me, looking at me like I just won the lottery.
"Excited," I say honestly. "But also... I don't know. Grateful? Like even if nothing comes of it, I'm exactly where I want to be."
"Because of hockey?"
"Because of you." I turn to face her fully.
"Bella, a year ago, if someone had told me I'd have a shot at professional hockey and my first thought would be about how it affects my girlfriend, I would have laughed at them.
But that's honestly what I'm thinking right now.
How this affects us, what it means for our future together. "
Bella's smiles wide. "And what do you think it means?"
"I think it means that if I'm lucky enough to get offered a contract, I get to play professional hockey in the same city where the woman I love is planning her own career. I think it means we might actually be able to build something together without either of us having to sacrifice our dreams."
"And if they don't offer you a contract?"
"Then I'll figure out what comes next. Maybe coaching, maybe sports management, maybe something completely different. But I'll figure it out here, with you."
Bella leans over and kisses me, slow and sweet. "I love how sure you sound about us."
"I am sure about us. More sure than I've ever been about anything." I pull her closer, until she's practically in my lap. "Are you sure about us?"
"I'm sure that I want to be there when you meet with the Kraken scout.
And I want to celebrate with you if you get offered a contract, and help you figure out what's next if you don't. I want to introduce you to my parents next weekend and see if you can handle my mother's interrogation about your career prospects. "
"Your parents are coming to visit?"
"My parents are coming to visit. And they're very excited to meet the hockey player who's been 'making their daughter happier than she's been in months,' according to Riley's somewhat editorialized report to my mother."
The idea of meeting Bella's parents should probably terrify me.
Instead, it fills me with something warm and certain.
Because meeting parents means this is serious.
It means Bella sees a future with me, one that involves family dinners and holiday visits and all the complicated, wonderful things that come with building a life with someone.
"Any advice for surviving parental interrogation?"
"Be yourself. They're going to love you." Bella grins. "Though maybe don't mention that our relationship started as a fake dating arrangement. Some details are better saved for later."
"Noted."
We spend the rest of the evening talking about everything—the scout meeting, her parents' visit, our friends' reactions to our relationship being real, what we want our future to look like.
By the time Bella falls asleep curled against my chest, I realize that this is what happiness feels like.
Not the adrenaline rush of scoring a goal or the satisfaction of acing a test, but the quiet certainty of being exactly where you belong with exactly the right person.
Tomorrow I'll start preparing for the most important hockey meeting of my life.
Next weekend I'll meet the people who raised the woman I love and try to convince them I'm worthy of their daughter.
But tonight, I'm just going to hold Bella and marvel at how a fake dating arrangement turned into the most real thing I've ever experienced.
I fall asleep planning our real first date, our real future, and all the real moments we'll get to share now that we've stopped pretending this was anything other than love.