Chapter 39
THIRTY-NINE
HENRY
HOW DID I GET SO LUCKY?
The United Center was vibrating.
That was the only way I could describe it. Every inch of the arena pulsed, like the building itself had a heartbeat synced to the crowd’s.
I didn’t think I’d ever been so nervous. Not even chewing my mouthguard helped calm my nerves.
My heart was practically skating laps in my chest, but my eyes stayed locked on the game as I watched and calculated every move.
The ice was a blur of motion. The air crackled with every shot on goal.
And the sound… Christ, the sound was deafening.
It swallowed everything whole, from the scratch of blades to the refs’ whistles, until all I could feel was noise in my bones.
The score was 2–2. Third period. Game 6. Barely any time left on the clock.
If we won tonight, it was over. We’d clinch the Cup right here, in front of our home crowd. We were so close, I could practically taste it.
I gripped my stick like my life depended on it as I saw Morgan bark an order to Parker and they both skated back on the ice after a change.
My eyes quickly flicked to the clock then to the ice. The Bay Kings were pushing hard. One bad bounce and we were looking at overtime.
And we couldn’t fucking afford that.
I jumped over the boards in sync with Donovan and Hayes, our skates slicing into the ice. Morgan read the moment perfectly, backing off the pressure just enough to receive a pass from Parker, who had just stopped a big play near our goal.
Morgan absorbed the puck on his shin pad, barely flinching, then corralled it and sent a laser up the boards to where Parker was skating toward, who caught it clean and wasted zero time snapping it forward.
Donovan easily caught it and had already taken off to the right wing, skating past the neutral zone like he had a rocket strapped to his back. Hayes peeled wide left to draw coverage with him. I cut through the center ice, skating full throttle.
Every bone in my body burned. I was exhausted, but I kept my strides long and purposeful. Donovan looked up, and as soon as he spotted me, he sent the puck my way. It flew across the ice and hit my stick with a crisp clack.
The world around me slowed.
I could feel it in my bones. This was it. This was the shot that was going to seal our fate.
When my lungs expanded in an exhale, I went for it.
And as I released my breath, I saw everything play out in slow motion.
The goalie dropped and reached with his quick reflexes, but the puck was faster. Officially putting the scoreboard 3–2.
My knees nearly buckled as the horn blasted and the arena exploded in cheers, to the point where it felt like the place was going to crumble at any minute.
The rest of the team jumped the boards, and sticks and gloves went flying into the air as everyone was jumping and screaming around me. I was in shock. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe.
Hayes jumped and hugged me. “We fucking did it! We’re champions, baby!” he screamed from the top of his lungs.
Holy…fuck.
We did it.
We actually did it.
I hugged Hayes back with a loud laugh, but like an invisible string had pulled me, I turned, searching for Kennedy.
The second our eyes met, I yanked off my helmet and tossed it somewhere across the ice. She was already running, and a moment after the next, she was in the air. I caught her effortlessly, her legs wrapping tight around my waist as I gripped her thighs.
My heart had never been so full.
She buried her face into my shoulder as confetti rained in bursts of blue, white, and silver around us.
I found the nape of her neck, gently pulling her back so I could see her.
Her brown eyes shimmered, brimming with happy tears. “You did it, pretty boy.” She grinned.
“We all did it, Kenny baby.” I leaned in, pressing my forehead against hers, and whispered, “I love you so much. I love you, I love you. I fucking love you.”
Her smile turned soft as she swept my sweaty hair off my forehead. “I love you, too,” she whispered.
The way she looked at me like I’d hung the goddamn moon… It felt right. It felt like fate. It felt like every version of me had always been waiting for her to look at me just like that.
In true Strikers fashion—since we were creatures of habit and all—the celebration moved from the rink to Tim’s.
We shut the place down, with only players, family, and front office staff in attendance.
The Cup sat in the center of the bar like a holy relic, gleaming under dim lights as we all stared at it in collective awe.
The night was chaotic in the best way.
At some point, Parker set up karaoke and started singing all his favorite songs.
But then, when he started singing “My tears ricochet” by Taylor Swift (his go-to song every time he was completely wasted), Valentina cut him off, declaring it too much of a downer for the night and swapped in a playlist packed with 2000s throwbacks.
We screamed the lyrics with half-lost voices and danced with our sore bodies, but it had been so much fun.
When the bar finally closed, the energy was still too buzzed to call it a night. So a few of us headed to my place to keep the party going on the rooftop of my apartment.
“Aaaand that’s game,” Olivia announced triumphantly as the last ping-pong ball dropped into a red cup. She slapped Kennedy’s hand with a grin.
Hayes groaned, plucking the ball out of the cup before downing the beer in defeat.
“How the hell are you so good at this?” Donovan asked, genuinely baffled.
Olivia shrugged like it was nothing. “Had my wild days back in college.”
I shot her a look. “I don’t need to hear about my little sister playing beer pong at some frat house.”
“We’re twins,” she deadpanned.
“I was born two minutes before you.”
“Oh my God,” she shrieked. “Not this again! Is this why I moved to Chicago? For you to torture me?”
“Welcome home, little sister.” I grinned, lifting my cup in salute before taking a sip.
“Leave her alone, Anderson,” Kennedy said, feigning sternness.
I arched a brow. “What, you’re both going to gang up on me now?”
“Duh. Girls gotta stick together, bro,” Olivia quipped without missing a beat.
I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face. We’d won the fucking Cup, and I still barely believed it.
But another part of it was everything else.
Anthony had pulled Kennedy and me aside at Tim’s to tell us my father had tried to throw her under the bus with Marcus, but he shut him down.
Things got heated, and security escorted my father out of Strikers HQ.
My father tried to reach me tonight, but when I saw his contact pop up on my phone, I finally bit the bullet and blocked his number.
It was hard to cut him off without fixing anything first, but sometimes in life, things didn’t get resolved.
Sometimes you had to choose distance and call it survival.
It was what I needed to do to start healing, to let go of the resentment I’d been dragging around for years.
Having Kennedy in my corner made that possible.
She didn’t push. She just stood with me every step of the way. Always patient. Always kind.
And though I wasn’t ready to tell anyone about Willow House, tonight was the first step in the right direction—a step toward the life I actually wanted.
I was even going back to therapy. I made my first appointment last week, and I was really looking forward to it.
Excitement bubbled inside of me, knowing that little by little, I was going to gain control of my life again.
I looked around and took everything in with a deep breath. Everyone was playing around, being loud and messy. Completely unfiltered and still riding the high of the win.
And yet…it felt like home. Found family in every sense of the word.
“I have a surprise for you,” Kennedy said as she grabbed my hand and took us downstairs to our apartment.
When we stepped inside, she turned to me with a mischievous glint in her eye. “Stay right here,” she ordered before darting into her room.
“Your wish is my command,” I answered.
After a few minutes, she yelled, “Close your eyes!”
“Why?” I called out.
“Just do it!” she groaned.
Laughing, I gave in. “Fine.” I shut my eyes and crossed my arms.
Her footsteps padded across the sleek floors until she stood right in front of me. “Okay, open them.”
I blinked my eyes open, finding Sush on Kennedy’s arm.
Captain Sushi stared up at me with all the enthusiasm of a brick wall, but I couldn’t even focus on his expression. He was wearing a custom Strikers jersey. My last name stretched proudly across the back, with the number eighteen stitched in bold silver thread.
I stared, speechless. “You put our cat in a jersey.”
“I did,” she said, grinning. “And I have absolutely no regrets.”
She handed me our furry child like it was the most normal thing in the world, and I couldn’t help the disbelieving laugh that slipped from my chest. I cradled the cat in one arm and pulled her in with the other, holding both of them close.
“You’re insane,” I murmured into her hair.
“Don’t lie to yourself. You love it.”
I smiled, pressing my lips to her temple. “You’re damn right I do.”
Captain Sushi meowed like he was over it, so I set him down. He rubbed against our legs before waddling over to his usual spot on the couch, where he flopped dramatically with a tired sigh.
Kennedy and I stood facing each other, her smile soft, her eyes glowing. I slipped my fingers to the back of her neck, letting them rest there as I studied her.
“How did I get so lucky?” I asked quietly.
She gave me a look that turned my insides to melted honey. “I ask myself the same thing every day.”
My thumb caressed her neck as I leaned forward, my lips meeting hers in a kiss. It was slow and soft, like we had all the time in the world. I threaded my fingers through her curls, and she let out a low whimper, which I eagerly swallowed as I deepened the kiss.
“This is the life,” I murmured against her lips. “The team. Our pet-child”—we both chuckled—“and you. Always you.” I pulled back just enough to look at her. “I feel like a winner.”
She snorted. “Well, yeah. You are.”
I shook my head, my thumb brushing her jaw. “No. What I mean is, I became a winner the moment you decided to give me a chance, the moment when you chose to love every part of me. Since that day…I’ve had everything. Winning the game was just a bonus.”
Her eyes softened. “I could say the same, you know?” She draped her arms around my shoulders. “Thank you for loving every part of me when I thought nobody ever could,” she finished quietly.
My heart contracted in my chest at her words.
“Loving every part of you it’s the easiest thing I’ve ever done,” I whispered, staring into the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen, like it was the simplest truth I’d ever spoken.
Without a word, she let out a wistful sigh and leaned in to kiss me again.
And that was when I knew—I had it all, right here, with the woman of my dreams.