Epilogue
ROWAN
Two Months Later
I parked my Mustang in the late evening sunshine at the curb and looked at Tyler’s family home in the Chicago burbs. The place was a modest split-level house with white siding and brick accents around the doorway, tucked inside a long front porch. The sprawling lawn held an old oak tree inside square retaining walls made of railroad ties.
Tyler had driven home with Myles a few days before me, and now it was time for me to start living with Tyler’s family after my long drive here. I’d had to stay behind and help coordinate the movers Dad had hired to bring my things here and leave them in a storage unit for now, while Tyler and Myles had left all their things at the squad house for Ace and Zoma, who planned on living there over the summer. The last time I’d seen Tyler’s family was at graduation, where my family had met his. Mom had been well over her flare-up and had only used a walker to help her keep her balance. All in all, things had been going well, and the families had gotten along.
I turned off the engine, stepped out of the car, and grabbed my duffel from my trunk .
The door to the house flung open, and Tyler jogged across the lawn. “Rowan.” A wide smile stretched across his face. “’Bout time you got here.” As he reached me, he threw his arms around my shoulders and planted a hard kiss on my mouth. “Come on, we’re having a backyard barbecue to celebrate the start of our NHL careers.” He wrapped his arm around mine.
My heart flooded with warmth. “Yeah? Guess your family is pretty confident about my prospects.” None of them had any doubt I’d be signed by the end of camp, not even Tyler’s brother.
“Of course they are, they watched us play the championships. We’re unbeatable.” He guided me up the grass, to the front door, and inside the house. Leaning in, he whispered, “Just so you know, we’re staying in my old bedroom. They don’t care about…well, you know.” His brows ticked.
“Oh good. Not like my parents.” I huffed a laugh. Maybe they still needed time to process my relationship with Tyler, or maybe they were more old-fashioned than they’d let on all those years. I scanned the home. A comfortable family room rested to the left of the hallway, and to the right of us, a set of stairs led to the second floor.
“Mom set us up with a Realtor, so we can start looking at houses.” He led me up the stairs.
“Already?” We’d talked about buying a place together when his signing bonus came through. But he was moving full steam ahead. I followed him down a hallway and into a bedroom at the end.
“Set your bag down in here, and let’s go see everyone. My brother and Myles are both here too.” He walked a circle around the room and back to the doorway. “Come on.”
“Okay, wait a minute.” Damn, he was wound up. “Can I put on some deodorant and change my shirt first? I’ve been driving all day.” And I probably stank a little.
“Oh yeah.” He leaned against the door jamb.
I dropped my duffel at the foot of a double bed with a gray comforter and sheets with a hockey stick and puck pattern on them. “Really?” I pointed at the pillows and then scanned the dark wood furniture in the room, a pair of nightstands with white lamps and a long dresser. A television was perched on the wall behind the dresser. Perfect. We’d be able to come up here and chill.
“Yeah, Mom thought it’d be funny.” He rolled his eyes. “She still likes to pretend I’m twelve sometimes.”
“I get that. My mom’s the same.” I fished my deodorant out of my bag, rolled it over my pits, and then changed into a nicer short-sleeve button-down. I wanted to look good for my first day here.
“Babe, you might be the sexiest D-man alive.” He raked his teeth over his lower lip.
Arching a brow, I said, “No, my boyfriend holds that title.” I stepped to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling our hips together and grinding my plumping dick against his through our shorts. As I pressed a slow kiss on his mouth, he freed a breathless moan.
“Later. We’re on the opposite side of the house from everyone.” He kissed my nose and grabbed my hand. “We still have to be quiet, but you know.” He flashed a wicked grin at me.
“Oh, I know.” I followed him down the stairs, through a hallway and open kitchen, and then out a set of patio doors.
Frank and Nathan stood over a long, smoking barbecue pit with beers in hand while Cheri sat at a rounded wicker patio table with Myles, both of them drinking wine. The whole area was on a concrete patio with grass and tall trees all around.
“Nice backyard setup.” As my gaze caught on Cheri, I walked to the table.
She stood. “Rowan, so nice to have you in our home. Welcome to the family.” She gave me a warm hug.
“Thank you for having me. It’s really nice.” I kissed her cheek.
Myles rose, side-hugged me, and patted my back. “Hey, man. Beer or wine?” He lifted his brows .
“Uh, beer.” My gaze shifted to a bucket with canned beers and a wine bottle all stuffed into it.
“Rowan Mackenzie, the new hot D-man of Chicago.” Nathan slapped my back and hugged my side. “Nice to have you here. Makes me want to see if I can get traded to the Blackhawks.” With a warm grin at me, he sipped his beer.
“Could you imagine?” Tyler shook his head. “All of us on the same team?”
“Yeah, but I’d be first string. You two…” He twisted his lips. “On second thought, I’m happy where I am.” He smirked at me and held up his beer.
Myles handed me an opened beer, and I tapped it against Nathan’s. “Decided you can’t take the heat, huh?” I chuckled. Tyler’s brother was awesome. Here he was, a great player in his own right but humble as hell.
“Yeah, you two are going places. I can feel it.” He faced Myles. “And Cummings here, what are your plans? You’re the last of the squad at ASU.”
Tyler hooked a brow. “He might have found a new squad.” He patted Myles’s arm. “With the football team?”
“Stop. I don’t know yet.” He dipped his head, his cheeks flushing pink. “At least I’ll still have Ace, Mason, and Archer in Arizona.”
“That you will.” Tyler wound an arm around my waist. “When are the burgers going to be done, Dad?”
“Any minute now.” Frank turned and did a double-take of us. “If it isn’t the dynamic duo.” He held out his arm. “Come here, son, and give your temporary coach a hug.”
“Yes, sir.” I jogged to Frank’s side and gave him a swift hug. He was going to put us through our paces before camp started, and we’d be that much more in tune. “Thanks for everything.”
“You betcha, Rowan.” Frank squeezed me and let me go. “You have no idea how happy it makes me to be doing this for you both.” He scanned the patio. “I feel like the luckiest man alive right now. ”
“Dad, let’s not get sentimental.” Nathan strolled to Frank with a platter in his hand. “Dad’s going soft in his old age.” He set the plate on a table next to the barbecue.
“You mind your own business, New York.” With a snicker, Frank plated the burgers.
It was the last day of development camp, and the week had been brutal, but Hodge and I had shown our worth, as far as I could tell. As I worked the puck down the ice, passing to Hodge and him shooting at me, my gaze caught on Dean stepping behind the bench. I skidded to a stop. “Hodge, look.” I ticked my head toward Dean.
Hodge skated to me. “Shit, something’s up.” He held his stick against his thighs and a smile crept over his lips. “There’s only one reason he’s here.” He turned his smile on me. “We did it, babe.”
My heart thundered in my ears. Holy fuck, was he right? I stared at Dean, standing next to our head coach, Coach Wiznowki.
Dean waved me to him and then up-nodded at Coach.
“Fuck.” I skated to the boards and through the gate. “Yeah?” Maybe they were going to let me go?
“Get dressed and meet us in the conference room.” Coach patted my shoulder pad while Dean offered a knowing grin.
“Sure.” With a glance at Hodge, I made my way into the locker room.
After the fastest removal of hockey gear and shower I’d ever taken, I dressed in my athletic clothes and made my way down the hallway and into the conference room.
Dean sat on one side of a long table with his laptop open while Coach Wiznowski sat next to our D-line Coach, Neederman.
With my throat going dry, I attempted to swallow and dropped into the seat next to Dean. “Hey.” I shook his hand.
“Good to see you, Mackenzie.” Dean straightened and faced the coaches. “We have a deal, and I think it’s a good one.”
“A-a deal?” My gaze darted between the coaches, and I licked my dry lips. Was this really happening?
“Mackenzie, we’ve decided we can’t take Hodge and not take you. You’ve proven to us that we need you both for next year’s Blackhawks team. We’re proud to make you an offer. We hope you’ll accept it.” Coach Wiznowski gave me a warm grin.
“Thank you, sir.” I slid my gaze to Dean.
Dean slid his laptop toward me. “Let’s go over the details, shall we?”
After the meeting, at which I signed the contract because how could I not, I met Tyler at my Mustang in the parking lot. The paperwork had taken so long to go through that the rest of the team had already left except for him.
He looked around us and jumped on his toes. “Well? What happened? Did you get a contract?”
“I did.” I’d been smiling for so long that my face ached. With a quick scan of the empty parking lot, I grabbed his cheeks and kissed him hard. “Seems we are undefeatable, Tyler Hodge.”
“Oh my God, I love you so much. You have no idea.” He picked me up from around my waist and spun me, nuzzling my neck.
With hysterical laughter, I pushed on his shoulders. “Love you too, but put me down.” We had things to talk about, like the place we’d looked at yesterday and had both loved.
He set me down. “Okay, so now what?” His smile reached his eyes .
“Now, we call that Realtor and tell her we want the place downtown with the view of the Riverwalk.” Hell, we’d have the money. “And we start living the dream, babe.”