Epilogue #2
Before we could even get out of our car, the front door to the house flew open and a tiny little woman with her gray hair in a bun came running down the steps.
“You must be Josie!” she said, immediately pulling me into a tight hug.
“Oh, it’s so good to finally meet you! Grayson has told us so much about you. ”
“Don’t believe a word of it,” I replied while she clung to me. Even when I tried pulling away, she held the embrace a few seconds longer.
“He told me you were funny. So that’s one thing that’s true!” Her face pinched into a proud smile as she took me in. “Oh, you’re so much prettier than the other women he’s dated.”
“Mom…” Grayson said.
I glanced at him. “Oh really?”
“The last thing I want to talk about are my exes,” he said firmly.
I compared the size of the two of them as they hugged—she was a foot shorter, and probably weighed half as much as her son.
“We’ll see where the conversation takes us after a few glasses of wine.” She gave me a wink. “Come on inside. Camille is finishing up dinner, but I whipped up something for us to snack on.”
“You’re supposed to let Camille take care of everything,” Grayson said.
His mom waved a hand dismissively. “She doesn’t need to do everything. I still have my own two hands to make a cheese plate.”
“Oh!” I said. “Before I forget, this is for you.”
Her eyes lit up when she saw the bottle. “Chocolate liqueur! Oh, this is my favorite! Do you like chocolate martinis? I’m supposed to be watching my sugar intake, but this can be a secret just between us girls.”
“I love chocolate martinis!”
She laced her arm through mine and led me up the steps into the house. “Grayson’s last girlfriend was always on a diet.”
“Mom…” Grayson warned.
She kept on talking. “Not that she needed to be—she was rail thin, except for those big fake boobs. I can already tell I’m going to love you much more than her.”
I shot Grayson a look of victory, but he was smiling proudly, too.
Grayson’s dad reminded me of him: quiet, intense, and slow to warm up to you. But he was perfectly friendly to me, and Grayson’s mom more than made up for it.
“You’ve raised an incredible son,” I said while we sat down for dinner.
“It’s nice to hear that,” the dad said.
“We did our best,” his mom said, squeezing her husband’s hand. “It wasn’t always easy, but we made it work.”
I could feel how much love there was in this family. And after a few hours with them, I felt like I was a part of it.
“They love you,” Grayson told me when we were alone in the guest bedroom that night.
“Can you blame them?” I replied. “I’m delightful!”
Grayson removed his shirt and narrowed his eyes at me. “You’ve been known to make a bad first impression.”
“Only with you,” I countered as we crawled into bed.
He leaned over and gave me a kiss. “I’m glad I didn’t let that deter me.”
“I’m glad you didn’t either.”
We shared a long look in the semi-darkness.
“So,” I said casually. “How thick are the walls in this house?”
“Good question.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “You mean you never found out with your ex?”
Grayson groaned and fell back on his pillow. “No. I never found out with Gretchen.”
“Gretchen? Gretchen?” I sputtered a laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“Grayson and Gretchen. You sound like siblings in a German nursery rhyme.”
“One of the many reasons we didn’t work out,” he replied. “You’re not really jealous, are you?”
“Only a little.” I pushed back the covers and straddled him in bed. “Since we don’t know how thick the walls are, you’d better not make any noise.” I grinned down at him with desire. “But I’m going to make that task very challenging.”
I slid down his body and went to work.
We never did find out how thick the walls were, but he did have to cover his mouth with a pillow ten minutes later.
*
Sharon’s TikTok channel never rose to the same level of popularity as mine, but she eventually had enough traffic to quit her job that summer.
“Kyle makes enough to cover our expenses for a while,” she explained to me over coffee one day.
“He’s happy I quit. I think he was secretly jealous of all the customers flirting with me every night. ”
“Secretly?” I barked a laugh. “He’s outright said so in front of me multiple times.”
“I think I’ll miss it,” she said wistfully. “I would never cheat on Kyle, obviously. But I kind of liked the attention, you know?”
“Oh yeah. There’s nothing more satisfying than men who are old enough to be my grandpa staring at my tits and calling me sweetheart.”
“So you don’t miss it?” she asked.
I smiled and shook my head. “Not even a little bit. Every day I wake up and I’m my own boss. I don’t take orders from anyone. Everything is on my shoulders—the responsibility, the successes, and the failures. It’s the best feeling in the world.”
“Even better than having a rich and famous boyfriend?”
I rolled my eyes at her. “I don’t care about Grayson’s fame and fortune.”
Sharon gave me a look.
“Okay, fine, it’s kind of nice,” I admitted. “But it’s only a bonus. The icing on the cake. But enough about Grayson. When is Kyle going to propose?”
“Fuck if I know!” she exclaimed. “I’ve dropped so many hints. That boy is denser than a sandbag.”
I smiled and pretended like I didn’t have inside information on Kyle’s plans.
My apartment lease ended in August. I wasn’t fishing for anything when I told him I was considering moving into a bigger apartment, but Grayson responded by saying, “Good, I can recruit a few rookies to help you move your stuff into my place.”
And just like that, we’d moved in together.
Weirdly enough, I was never worried if we were ready for such a big commitment. We were already spending every single night together, and living under the same roof made things easier.
Fortunately, he didn’t make me pay rent. Because my eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw a copy of his lease and learned how much he was paying per month.
He only smiled when I brought it up. “Not bad for someone who swings a stick for a living, huh?”
The rest of summer was a dream. Grayson spent his days relaxing by the pool while I filmed and edited my TikTok videos.
We went out to eat at night, or stayed in and binge-watched episodes of Planet Earth on TV.
One thing remained constant, whether we spent a thousand dollars on dinner or ten: we were happy to be together.
Grayson never said so, but I knew he appreciated that I didn’t care about his money.
Although I did enjoy teasing him about expensive bottles of wine.
Hockey season officially began in October, but the team began holding practices in September.
First there was Rookie Camp, where the newcomers on the team were shown the ropes on the team facilities, schedules, and everything else required of a professional hockey player.
Then the official Training Camp began with all of the players on the team.
Since I was now living with Grayson, he didn’t have to house and mentor a rookie the way he’d done with Mason Calder.
He would never admit it, but I was fairly certain Grayson missed the kid.
By the end of September, the Surge had completed their eight preseason games and were ready for the regular season to begin. The first game was at home against the Edmonton Oilers, which was as nostalgic to me as it was for the team.
“It’s so good to see you!” my old boss said when I visited our old beer stand. He tried to give me a hug, but it turned into an awkward handshake. “I’m happy you made it out of here. I really am. But…” He looked around, then lowered his voice. “The new guys are terrible.”
“Looks like it,” I whispered. The two employees I could see were struggling to hook up a keg in the back room. “Carter is the senior guy now?”
“Unfortunately. If this whole TikTok thing doesn’t pan out…”
“You’ll be the first person I call,” I promised.
I went back downstairs to the expensive seats where me, Sharon, and Kyle were sitting. We were in the row directly behind the Surge bench. “You sure you don’t want to say hi?” I asked.
She gave a single emphatic shake of her head. “You couldn’t pay me to come anywhere near section 118.”
Kyle was focused on the players going through their warmups on the ice. He looked nervous.
Eventually, Grayson and Mason came skating over to the bench to get some water before the game started. “Hey boys,” I said in a flirty voice. “Looking for a girlfriend?”
Grayson grinned at me. “Sorry, but I’m taken.”
I gave him a serious look. “That was the correct answer.”
Mason gestured over his shoulder. “I swear, that Zamboni driver looks familiar. Do we know them?”
“He’s like a hundred feet away,” I replied. “And wearing so many layers I can’t even see any of his skin.”
“That’s the thing, I don’t think it’s a he. I think it’s a woman.” Mason removed his helmet and ran a hand through his damp, dark hair. “I have this weird sense of déjà vu.”
“I can’t do this!” Kyle suddenly exclaimed next to us.
I whipped my head toward him. He was going to ruin this.
“Can’t do what?” Sharon asked.
“Kyle, let’s get some beer,” I said urgently.
But he was totally focused on his girlfriend now. “I can’t wait until the second period. I feel like I’m going to die if I don’t do this right fucking now.”
“Wait until the second period for what?” Sharon demanded. “You’re kind of freaking me out.”
Kyle dropped to one knee. “Sharon…”
That was the only word he got out. Sharon immediately shrieked so loudly that two ushers later came down to make sure everything was okay. “Yes! Yes! Shut up, you don’t need to say anything, the answer is yes!”
She wrapped herself around him like an anaconda.
“Can… I…” Kyle was struggling to breathe. “Put the ring on?”
Sharon let go and held out her hand. Once the ring was on, she gave her fingers a little wiggle, letting the round diamond catch the light.
“You knew about this, didn’t you?” she asked me.
“What makes you say that?”
She gave me a look.
“He was supposed to wait until the second period, when a message appeared on the jumbotron,” I replied. “I called in a favor with the marketing team to make it happen.” I glared over her shoulder at Kyle. “A favor your fiancé has now ruined.”
Kyle gave me an apologetic look, but Sharon grinned. “Fiancé. I like the sound of that.”
The two of them kissed.
And continued to kiss.
Eventually, I took a few steps back and turned to Grayson. “You know, it’s kind of cute that he couldn’t wait. Like, he loves her so much that it was killing him to wait an hour until—”
“I love you!” Grayson suddenly blurted out.
I blinked, then slowly turned my head toward my hockey player boyfriend. He looked shocked that he had said anything.
“Oh shit,” Mason whispered.
Grayson removed his helmet and let it fall to the floor.
“I’ve known for a while now. I was waiting for the right time to tell you, but after seeing Kyle propose?
Fuck, I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I’m sorry I’m saying this now, right before we head into the tunnel to change for the game.
But I had to get it out.” He sighed heavily.
“Look. You don’t have to say it back. I don’t want to put any pressure… ”
He trailed off as I walked down the aisle to the edge of the Surge bench, then climbed over the divider and dropped down to the player area.
A security guard was shouting at me, but I barely noticed.
I hardly noticed the Surge teammates who smiled at me and parted like the Red Sea so I could reach Grayson.
It didn’t even register when the head coach saw me and muttered, “For fuck’s sake. ”
I strode right up to Grayson, wrapped my arms around his shoulders, and gave him a kiss.
“I love you, too,” I whispered.
“Are you just saying that because I did?” he asked softly.
I shook my head. “I’ve known for a while, too.”
“How long?”
“Since our first date at Carlo’s.”
He gave a start. “Wait, seriously?”
My laugh sounded as carefree as I felt. “Hell no. I hated you then.”
“Not as much as I hated you, pussycat,” he replied.
“Maybe so. But I know that I love you now.”
For a few seconds, his face softened as he gazed into my eyes.
“Say it again,” I whispered.
“I love you,” he replied immediately. “Do I need to record a TikTok video declaring my love, or is this good enough?”
“It wouldn’t hurt.”
He narrowed his eyes in a playful glare, but behind those seafoam green irises was enough love to last a lifetime.
Yeah. He definitely meant it.
“I convinced the security guard not to kick you out,” Mason loudly interrupted. “But he looks real unhappy. So if you two could, uhh…”
“See you after the game,” I promised.
Grayson gave me another kiss, and stroked my cheek with a thumb. “We’ll have to celebrate.”
“I’ll buy the finest ten dollar bottle of wine at HEB on the way home.”
“It’s a date.”
The security guard escorted me back into the fan section with a stern warning about setting a bad example, but I couldn’t care less.
I felt weightless as I returned to my seat where Sharon and Kyle were snuggling together.
“I want you to do it again in the second period,” Sharon was telling him.
“I want everyone in the arena applauding our engagement. Unlike Josie here, I like being the center of attention.”
I thought about that as the teams were announced. When Grayson Steele’s name was called, and he came shooting out of the tunnel, I felt a swell of pride in my chest. The captain of the team, a man who was rich and famous beyond my wildest dreams, loved me.
I still didn’t love hockey. Even wearing three layers, I was chilly sitting that close to the ice.
But I loved a hockey player.
And everyone in the entire city of San Antonio knew that he loved me back.