Epilogue Cassie
Cassie
Epilogue
Two Years Later
I push open the door to my brand-new agency office building.
“Cass, it’s perfect,” Cole says, looking around as we walk inside, and my heart melts. It’s his first time seeing it, and I’ve been so excited for this moment.
This makes it feel real.
The building is dimly lit. It’s still mostly empty.
I haven’t ordered all the office furniture yet, and I’m the only one with the keys.
But still, it’s an incredibly gorgeous space, all high ceilings and enormous windows, in one of my favorite corners of the heart of Boston.
I walk into the wide-open space and stare around.
“This is it,” I say, slightly breathless. “This will be my very own thing.”
I wanted this time for us, just us. Cole is the one I share these things with. So, he’s the first to see it.
The Blue Moon Agency.
That’s what I named it, my new boutique sports agency.
I know as well as anyone that finding where you belong can feel like something that happens only once in a blue moon.
Something delicate and rare that you have to capture and keep.
Everyone’s just looking for their big break.
Their once in a lifetime shot. Their happy ever after.
Every athlete who passes through these doors will know this feeling. Cole knows it, Noah knows it, the whole league knows it.
When you see your chance, you just have to grab it.
Over the last three years, I’ve spent my time building up a star-studded client list. My contract extension for Noah when he first joined the Nor’easters caught people’s attention. (As did Cole kissing me live on TV after that playoff series win, but that was a different sort of attention.)
Maybe best of all, I did it all with no fear hanging over me.
After the cupcake incident, my dad went on an indefinite “hiatus” from broadcasting that ended up being permanent.
It made headlines for about a week before everyone moved on.
Turned out the network didn’t need him nearly as much as he thought they did.
Meanwhile, my career has thrived without his shadow looming over every opportunity.
“You getting nervous on me, sunshine?” Cole asks, catching the flicker of excited and anxious energy across my face as I look around my future office building.
“Never,” I deadpan. “Okay, sometimes, maybe. Tell me again that it’s the right thing to do. Just so I can hear it.”
“Baby, it’s exactly the right thing to do. You’re the most intelligent and hardest-working person I’ve ever met. You’re meant for bigger things. The last few years are proof of that.”
The last few years have been pretty amazing. Cole is still one of the best goalies in the league, and he’s the happiest I’ve ever seen him.
Noah has blossomed into the star forward for the Nor’easters that we always knew he was going to be. My first client—he’s come a long way since that night in the diner when he asked me to be his agent through a mouthful of fries.
But my favorite client? Well, he’s the one I married. The one who loves me more than anything.
Cole is switching to my new agency. I keep trying to tell him how grateful I am for his support, but he keeps just telling me he’s the one who should be grateful to have me as an agent now.
I was nervous before confessing to Rick that I was leaving Legacy Sports, but he just grinned when I broke the news. I told him I would always be ridiculously, endlessly grateful for his mentorship, but my heart was telling me to go find a new challenge out on my own.
Rick shook my hand, told me he was proud of me, and that he looked forward to competing with me for clients. Which was the most Rick thing I’ve ever heard.
And I’ve kind of developed a reputation in this business: my style as an agent always puts the athlete first and is all about fostering a league where people are truly good to each other. Kindness will come first at my agency.
“Come look at my office.” I lead Cole through to the room that I’ll be running the agency from. It’s empty except for a desk and chair, but I’m so excited to make it my own.
“You’re going to look like such a goddamn boss behind that desk.” Cole wraps his arms around me and draws me into a kiss, and I don’t think there’s a single possible way I could be happier right now.
Then his hands glide down to my hips, pulling me against him, and his pupils grow dark and wide. Okay, there’s one way I could be happier right now, and I think I’m about to get it.
He kisses me, deeper and hotter. Then he picks me up as if I weigh nothing, drops me onto the desk, and pulls me forward so I’m at its edge.
On instinct, my legs wrap around his body, and I can feel him so hard against me. The feeling lights my senses on fire, a warm tug of need growing between my legs.
“You’re so beautiful,” Cole says for the millionth time. Every time he says it, it’s like he’s amazed by it, like it’s urgent for him to tell me how he feels. And it drives me crazy every time like it’s the first.
His fingers sink to my thighs, teasing up between my legs.
“Are we seriously about to christen the desk in my new office?” I laugh, breathless. My head feels light and dizzy, a cascade of happiness and pleasure running through every cell in my body.
“Well, sunshine,” he says, kissing me and running his teeth over my lips, pushing up my skirt, “we were never good at professional boundaries. If there’s ever a line you’re on the other side of, I always want to smash right through it.”
I half-moan as he pushes inside me, and pleasure explodes through every inch of me. “You’re right about that, All Star.”
He’s so right, and for that, I’m grateful.
A new season is about to start. The beautiful fall weather of New England is getting a little colder, a little sharper. There’s the promise of snow in the air. Soon the Nor’easters’ rink will be full of noise and people and dreams again.
But my dreams are right here with me and the man I love. Because every single one of my dreams has come true.
THE END