Epilogue
brIGHTON
“We’re going to be late, Dad.” Daisy tugs on my arm as I lock the truck and follow her into the stadium.
It’s busier than usual. During the off-season, the girls started getting more attention, and now the Hillcats get played on the big TV at the Hollow—even during hockey games.
“I want a Drake jersey!” Daisy points to the line.
“Yeah, alright,” I say to her and hand her my card. She starts toward the line when I call out, “Get me one too.”
Daisy nods quickly and turns toward the line.
I stare up at the mural on the wall of the sports complex with pride.
There’s a framed photo of the Hillcats from last season, and any chance I get to see that smile, I take it.
Rhea has her arm around Kaia and Addy, grinning ear to ear in her rugby jersey.
God, I love that sad girl so much it hurts.
“Here,” Daisy returns and hands me the jersey.
I look at the tag and sigh. “It’s the only size they had left,” she hollers before running to the bathroom.
I follow her, changing out of my shirt and into the jersey that’s two sizes too small.
It pulls tight around my ribcage and chest, but it makes Daisy laugh, and Rhea is going to think it’s hilarious.
“You’re going to have to cut me out of this,” I tell her as she drags me toward our seats.
“What the hell are you wearing?” Boone’s voice is loud as I settle down into my chair next to him, Loveday, and Boone’s best friend, Wren.
“And what the hell is on your face?” Judd grimaces.
“It’s the only size they had left, and Rhea likes it…” I say to them, running my hand over the mustache, she asked very politely for me to grow, but they’re all losing it laughing. “Yeah, laugh it up, assholes. So funny.”
The girls come out on the field, and we all stand to cheer for them.
I cross my arms over my chest uncomfortably as they line up for the national anthem, and I wait for her to find us in the crowd.
She’s nervous about today—her first time as captain, and her first tournament at this scale—but it doesn’t show.
Her hair is braided into two buns, and her face looks so plain without her piercings, but her eyes are bright and scanning the crowd.
Daisy waves beside me as Boone whistles loudly. Kaia taps her on the arm and points in our direction. Rhea smiles nervously, and I turn so she can see the back of the jersey, and it turns into full-blown laughter as I turn back to her. She shakes her head gently and scrunches up her nose at me.
The game starts, and the Hillcats move fast; they don’t waste a second of the clock before they’re scoring.
Sunday manages to hurdle a player and dive over the line for an electric start to the game.
I think I hold my breath every time Rhea takes possession, but true to her nickname, she’s Death on the field.
She moves like a shadow, graceful and powerful. It’s insane to watch.
When she scores, she points to us in the stands and flexes to Daisy, who does it in return with that goofy smile on her face that I love so much. My girls.
“She’s an animal.” Wren shakes his head in disbelief. “I’d grow a mustache for her, too, Bri.” He leans over with a stupid grin on his face.
“She’d tear you to shreds if you said that to her face,” Boone laughs.
Wren looks horrified, and it only makes me laugh.
She’s not scary; that thought has remained true.
She jogs down the field, her feet moving faster than the girl next to her as Kaia launches the ball backwards to Cosy, who skips it to Sunday and out to another girl.
Watching them move together in tandem is like moving art.
It’s flawless, and even if one stumbles, the others pick up the slack.
“Women terrify me,” Wren mumbles, and Judd laughs in agreement.
Kaia tips the ball off just as the clock runs down and brings them into the half. Seven minutes down, and the Hillcats are up two tries. Boone and the guys run to get beers during the quick break, leaving Daisy and me in silence.
“Hey, I signed you up for some classes down at the rec center,” I say to her, and she scowls at me. “Yeah, I know how much you love fishing, so…”
“Dad!” She groans.
“Guitar classes, Squish,” I confess, and she lights up like a Christmas tree.
“Really?” She turns in her seat and throws herself at me for a hug. “I need to text Lori and Auggie,” she squeals, pulling out her phone.
The excitement in her voice is enough to keep me smiling the rest of the game, and by the end of the second half, the girls have won their first match. They just have to do the same thing for the rest of the weekend.
Every game is stressful, and slowly but surely the crowd starts to thin, leaving the die-hards and the family members cheering on who they can, when they can.
By the last game, Daisy is asleep with her head on my shoulder, and I’m doing everything I can not to move around, but Rhea takes a hard tackle, and my whole body tenses when she gets up slowly.
“Come on, Reaper,” Boone whispers from beside me as he slides forward in his chair. “You’re tougher than that.”
When she pushes off the ground and starts moving, I exhale the breath I’m holding, and Boone nods in approval. They’ve got two minutes left on the clock to score a try that wins them the game, but Kansas matches pace, and they’ll be lucky to break the defence.
“Sunday’s gassed,” Boone grumbles.
“No, look,” Judd snaps his fingers, and Cosy pulls up for relief.
Sunday rifles the ball back to her left.
The second the ball leaves her hands, she loops around to back up Kaia, who trails Cosy.
Rhea is trying, but it’s clear she’s dizzy from the hit because she’s moving more slowly than usual.
Kaia’s screaming out orders, and the girls are filing into a line for one last push.
“Come on,” I urge them under my breath. “One more good play.”
Boone flinches beside me as Kaia gets thrown to the bottom of a pile, but Rhea is there to protect, pushing it back to a stable position as the ball comes loose and Sunday pockets it. She chucks it to Margie, who snaps it back to Cosy and out to Rhea, who has repositioned.
“Atta girl, Hellcat.” I sit up a little straighter with every step she takes, and Daisy stirs against me.
“There it is,” Judd huffs, and Rhea throws herself across the line with a defender attached to her waist, tapping the ball into the turf with a wild smile on her flushed face.
Everyone explodes, scaring Daisy awake, but I don’t move.
I let her get both eyes open, and when she realizes what happened, she’s on her feet.
As the tournament winds down, we wait for the girls outside.
It feels like forever, and I just wanna see her so I know that she didn’t get too banged up over the last ten hours.
When the doors push open, I hear her before I see her, and she's laughing with the girls as they wander over to us.
When she turns her back to say something to Kaia, my eyes catch the lettering on the back of her shirt. Who’s a good boy?
“What the hell is that?” I choke, and she looks down at her shirt.
“Boone got me a new Hollow shirt?” She looks at it like it’s no big deal, but she has that infuriating little smirk on her lips.
“Oh, did he?” I narrow my eyes on her face, and she just smiles brighter. I’m going to kill that fucker.
I choose not to start a fight with her, knowing she’ll win, and instead let my eyes scan her.
The loose sweats she wears are definitely mine, and the sweater she quickly pulls on is covering most of the damage, but there’s a pretty nasty grass rash on her throat where she got hung up in game three with another centre.
“You alright?” I ask, my hand coming up to her face so she’ll show me her neck.
“Gonna be sore for tomorrow but fine,” she admits.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the mustache has to go, Hellcat.”
“What, no!” she whines and narrows her eyes at me.
“I can’t take the shit, I’m not man enough,” I huff, and it makes her laugh.
“Can I get one last ride tonight?” she says under her breath.
“Then you have to help me get rid of it.” I kiss her gently, and she hums in agreement against my lips.
“It tickles too much anyway.” She pouts. “Where’s Daisy?” she asks, looking around.
“Boone took her to Riona’s,” I say quietly as my eyes inspect the bruising, irritated red area.
“Empty apartment?” She stares at me.
“Very,” I hum and tug her closer, my fingers curling around the back of her neck. “Good games today,” I congratulate the rest of them over the top of her head as she wraps her arm around my middle.
“Nice jersey,” Kaia teases as she pulls her hair up into a bun. “A little snug though, Killjoy.”
“I like it,” Rhea laughs and digs her fingers into my side. She tips her head up to look at me with a soft, tired smile. “Take me home.”
“First round’s on me,” I tell them, and they all start cheering as they pile out of the arena.
RHEA
“In the washing machine,” he says as we enter the apartment, and I start stripping off the dirty clothes.
“Or what?” I turn, pulling the shirt over my sore chest and dropping it on the floor just to see what he does.
“Hellcat,” he hums, dropping my bag on the floor. “Don’t start.”
“Too late,” I shrug, tugging my sports bra off and throwing that too.
“You’ll be the death of me,” he grumbles.
“Better make this quick, then.” I kick off my sweats as I make my way back to the bedroom.
I hear him behind me, mumbling every word as he goes, but when he reaches the bedroom and finds me lying back on the bed in nothing but dark underwear, his mood shifts again.
“Your turn to make a mess.” I stare up at him, and his jaw ticks as he crosses the room and crawls over me. His lips crash against mine as the dirty clothes get left on the floor, and his body overrides his need to clean.