Epilogue
Conrad’s smile widens when I walk out into the living room in my pink dress. He’s in a matching pink dress shirt and tan pants.
“Aww, look at my girls.” He comes over to me, hands finding the swell of my stomach. “You look stunning.”
“You know? I feel it.” Aside from some nausea early on, this pregnancy has been a dream.
We still have a long way to go, but I’m feeling great.
I never gave much thought to what it’d be like to have a little person growing inside me, but it’s pretty miraculous.
The fact I get to do it with my best friend and the hottest man alive?
Pink icing on the little cakes for today’s baby shower.
His lips brush over mine, and I sink into him. Conrad has been amazing through it all. I can’t believe I ever thought he might not be excited. He’s basically been grinning ear to ear for the past few months.
The doorbell rings, and we break apart.
“I guess it’s time,” he says. “Where do you want me?”
I chuckle, grinning back at him. “I’ll get the door. You hide a couple of those little cakes for me for later.”
His smile pulls higher on one side.
“I’m serious,” I say as I prepare to meet our first guests. His mom is throwing us another shower this summer in Washington, but insisted on sending the most adorable, delicious-looking individual-sized cakes.
It’s Sloane on the other side. She’s holding a large, square-shaped present, wrapped in white and pink polka dots that’s so big, she has to look around it to smile at me.
“You made it!” I say excitedly. “You’re the first to arrive. Come in.” I step back to let her inside.
She doesn’t budge. Instead, she leans forward and peers into the house. The movement has her light brown hair falling forward over her shoulder and partially into her face.
“Is Conrad here?” she whispers.
“Yeah.” A small laugh escapes my lips. “He lives here now, remember?”
Her expression is serious, and alarm bells go off in my head.
“What’s wrong?”
She motions for me to come outside. I do and shut the door behind me.
“I can’t stay, but I wanted to drop this off and tell you how happy I am.”
“Why not?” I ask, hesitantly, taking the present from her.
“His teammates are coming today, right?”
“Yeah.” I’m still not following. “The guys are all really nice, I promise.”
I get that they can be intimidating, but I’ve never seen them be mean to anyone. And they certainly wouldn’t be rude at my baby shower, to Sloane of all people.
“It isn’t that,” she assures me. “Well, it is, but not how you think.”
She inhales, the movement making her chest lift and fall. She takes another glimpse past me to the house, then meets my gaze. Her voice drops even quieter. “I kind of, sort of, know Danny.”
“You know Danny Marlowe?” I ask, surprise pulling my brows higher. “Really? How come you never said anything before?”
I’m smiling now because this isn’t the tragedy she had me prepared for based on her secrecy. Everyone likes Danny. I’ve never heard anyone say a bad word about him.
Her nod is slow, and she does not match my excitement. By her expression I’d say she might be the exception to my “everyone likes him” statement.
“Did you two date or something?” I ask. I really hope he didn’t use his charms on her and break her heart. I’d really hate to have to knee anyone in the balls today.
“No.” Her blue eyes widen comically large. “He probably doesn’t even remember me. We weren’t friends or anything.”
“Oh.” The relief I feel lasts only a moment because Sloane still looks panicked. I wonder if he was a jerk to her back then. It’s hard for me to picture, but I know people do shitty things sometimes.
“Was he mean to you? Do I need to kick his ass?” Or, more likely, have Conrad do it.
“No, nothing like that. We went to high school together and I had a crush on him.” She winces. “It’s embarrassing.”
The smile on my face lifts higher. “Trust me, Danny would get the biggest kick out of that.”
She doesn’t look convinced.
“I don’t know what he was like in high school, but he’s a good guy now. I’ll vouch for him, and if I’m wrong, then I’ll sic my fiancé on him. And no one needs to know about the crush thing. My lips are sealed.”
“I’ve been trying to tell you for months. It’s dumb. I know it is, who cares, right? But the thought of facing him makes me want to puke. I’m so sorry. I thought I could do it, but it’s too humiliating. He’s this successful hockey player and I’m . . . me.”
“Don’t sell yourself short.”
Another car pulls up out front. Sloane tenses, but when Grady and Landon get out of the truck, she relaxes a fraction.
Her smile turns sad. “I love you. I hope today is amazing. And that you’ll forgive me for being the worst friend ever.”
“There’s nothing to forgive.” I step forward and hug her with one arm. “I’ll text you later and you can come over and help me eat the leftovers.”
“Okay.” She finally gives me a flicker of a smile. “I better go.”
She backs away, waving at my new guests as she heads to her vehicle.
“Open mine next!” Jake yells from where he stands in the kitchen. My little house is packed full with Conrad’s teammates, our friends, and most of my players too.
“This one.” Ruby holds her hand over a big gift bag and looks to the smiling teenager currently eating another one of my little cakes. I should have had Conrad hide more of them.
“Yeah.” He nods excitedly as Ruby lifts the bag and sets it on the floor in front of me.
She gives me a leery look. Most of the boys have gone with traditional baby presents that their parents obviously helped pick out, but there is literally no telling with Jake.
He’s smiling too big for it not to be a gag gift.
“Want me to check it out first?” Hannah offers. She’s sitting beside me, writing down who got us which gifts, so we can send thank-you cards later. I’m already blown away by the generosity, and there’s a pile of presents left.
“No.” I laugh and hesitantly reach inside. “If it bites or shocks me, I know how to get him back.”
Jake’s face pales. “Bag skates?”
I give him a “we’ll see” look and then pull out a large, soft . . . teddy bear. I’m confused . . . and even more suspicious.
“Press the middle!” one of the other kids yells at me.
I do, and my voice fills the air. “Get it deep!”
The house fills with laughter.
I press it again and yep . . . Jake recorded me calling out the phrase during one of our practices. Taken out of context it is, admittedly, a little funny. And totally inappropriate for my child.
“Thanks,” I say dryly.
“Any time, Coach.” He grins at me.
After we’re finished with presents, the kids hurry out to do something more fun than hang with their coaches.
“Thanks for coming,” I say to Grady and Landon as I walk them to the door.
“Grady said he’d bring me to the hospital to visit when you have the baby. If it’s okay with you.” Landon’s face lights up at the prospect. How could I say no?
“I’d love that.”
Conrad joins me at the door, wrapping an arm around my waist. “Thank you both for everything.”
He offers his free hand to Grady, then to Landon. “I heard you got pulled up to varsity for the playoffs.”
Landon’s smile pulls higher.
“That’s great. Congrats.”
“He’s made big progress this season.” Grady reaches up and ruffles his hair.
It’s such a typical dad move that fills my chest with warmth.
They’ve both changed. Grady’s softened a bit, and Landon continues to come more out of his shell the longer he’s been with the Gradys.
They’re still finalizing the paperwork, but I think Landon has finally found a permanent spot.
And I can’t think of a better place for him.
“I can’t believe you stole my favorite player.” I shake my head and give Grady a good-natured glare.
Landon’s cheeks turn rosy as he steps out onto the porch, still grinning.
“See you at school on Monday,” I call after them.
Conrad shuts the door and then it’s just us and his friends left. They still take up a large part of my living room. We might need more furniture.
“Tired?” Conrad asks me.
“A little, but that was fun.”
“Yeah, it was.” He motions with his head toward the others. “Want me to kick them out?”
“No, let them stay. But I’m eating the leftover cake, and I don’t want any judgment.”
His mouth hitches up on one side.
He follows me into the kitchen. Danny leans against the counter talking to Penn. When he spots us joining them, he smiles a little bigger.
“Danny Marlowe,” I say in my best mom voice while crossing my arms over my chest.
His brows lift. “Yeah?”
“What were you like in high school?”
“Uh . . .” He looks to Conrad for help. My fiancé shrugs.
“I don’t understand the question.”
“Did you date a lot back then? Were you a bully? Were you popular?” I won’t tell Sloane’s secret, but I need to figure out what happened between them so that I can fix it. I can’t have Sloane scared to hang out any time Danny might be present.
“No. No. And I guess so. Why?”
“Do you keep in touch with your old classmates?”
“Not really, no. What’s with the interrogation?” His gaze narrows, and he glances to Conrad. “Are you trying to be my wingman?”
A surprised laugh shakes my chest. “Like you need one, Danny Marlowe.”
Hannah comes into the kitchen with the look of a woman on a mission. “Sorry to interrupt, but I need you two to settle something for me.”
“Sure,” I say, then look to Conrad. He nods and we wait for her to explain.
“She’s trying to figure out how he knocked you up,” Trav yells from the other room.
Hannah’s jaw drops, and her face takes on a faint pinkish hue.
“What?” he asks. “We all want to know how it happened.”
“Well, you see, when a man and a woman . . .” Penn starts and then chuckles softly.
“Condom break?” Galaxy winces at the idea.
“Nope.” I shake my head.
“No condom?” Trav asks, voice filled with surprise.
I hold two fingers up in the air. “We had two types of birth control, and it still happened.”
“Oh, that’s terrifying,” Danny says with a shudder.
Penn nods his agreement.
Conrad and I share a smile. It all feels miraculous and unbelievable . . . and absolutely perfect.
“What’s that look?” Danny waggles a finger between us.
Conrad nods, silently giving me approval to tell them.
“He got me pregnant the very first time,” I say.
“The first time you two had sex?” Ruby asks.
“The very first time I had sex, period,” Conrad says.
The house falls quiet.
I always assumed his friends knew he was a virgin, but judging by their reactions, now I’m not so sure.
Danny stares slack-jawed at him, squinting. “I’m going to need you to repeat that.”
“When you say the first time, you mean with Whitney, right?” Trav asks. “There’s no way you were a virgin.”
Conrad looks to me, amusement in his expression.
“They didn’t know?” I ask him in a whisper.
“Obviously not.” He chuckles softly, squeezing me tighter to his side.
His friends still look shell-shocked. Forget my pregnancy story, they’re about to grill my fiancé. And he just looks . . . happy?
“You all know how hard it was for me to talk to women,” he says.
“Yeah, but . . .” Trav trails off.
“Talking isn’t really necessary,” Danny adds.
Conrad’s smile is unshakeable. “You’d think that, but it didn’t make things any easier.”
“He was just waiting for the right woman,” Ruby says.
Conrad stares down at me, those bright blue eyes locked on me. “I don’t know if I was or not, but I found her anyway.”
Before you go, I want to say thank you! I am so grateful you took a chance on my book. If you enjoyed it, then I hope you'll tell a friend who loves fun, swoony, spicy romance!
Next up in the Moonshot Hockey series is Hot Streak. D-Low wants to help his high school classmate find love... he just didn't expect it to be with him! Turn the page for a short excerpt.