Epilogue
FIVE MONTHS LATER…
Iwalked out of the conference room of the TU ice hockey arena with sweat dripping down my back. The summer heat was partly to blame, but I’d also been nervous as hell to tell the Portland Sound I wasn’t interested in their entry level contract.
Despite Taryn and I deciding months ago to let this opportunity pass—and the subsequent incarceration of my dad—I still had a twinge about throwing away a rookie contract.
As expected, Portland sent their swanky lawyer to defend Dad, but Taryn was fearless in her pursuit of justice. They waited until after my dad was convicted to reach out about rookie camp. Instead of letting me simply pass, they wanted to meet in person.
Coach Dalton was nice enough to let me use the conference room for the discussion. He wouldn’t be there, but after we’d won the conference championship, then the Frozen Four, he’d told me to follow my heart.
You’re good enough to be an asset on any professional team, and they know it.
The words closed something in me. A gaping wound I’d poke every once in a while to test if it was still there. Coach Dalton thought I was good enough. Portland thought I was good enough. It was time I stopped making decisions based on my dad’s abusive opinion of me.
As I left the group of three Portland execs behind, the air felt lighter. My family—including all my former roommates and their partners along with Taryn, Carrie, and Andrew—had all told me this was the right decision. I finally believed them.
I turned the corner into the hallway outside the offices and nearly tripped over a tall, lean man in my hurry to get home.
He chuckled at my stumble, and when I got a look at his face, I stopped in my tracks.
I’d nearly just trampled the head coach of the Dallas Thunder, their professional hockey team.
“Archer Bolme?” I stuttered out.
He grinned. “In the flesh. Nice to see you again.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked stupidly.
Archer straightened from his position against the wall. “A little birdie told me you were making a major life decision today. I thought it might be in my best interest to be present if the decision turned out the way I hoped.”
“Was the little birdie Gavin King?” What was wrong with me? I’d been a free agent all of two minutes, and I was mouthing off to another prospective coach.
He chuckled. “You know how he likes to gossip, but no. Eva and Henry came to see me about a dear friend of hers who she thinks isn’t happy with his draft contract. Was she right?”
Fucking Eva. She couldn’t help herself.
I rubbed a hand through my hair. “Yeah, I declined Portland’s offer.”
“Do you have an agent?”
“No.” I didn’t add that the couple of agents I’d contacted had ghosted me. Apparently, Dad wasn’t sitting idle in prison.
Normally, I’d be suspicious of a head coach coming to talk to me like this, but I had to remind myself I’d met Archer Bolme before. He was dating Eva’s friend’s mom. Gavin was an up-and-coming star on his team. I had plenty of reason to believe he meant what he said.
Archer nodded. “I figured. Word gets around. Luckily, I have someone in mind who is excited to work with you, if you’re interested. I’m happy to hold off on this conversation until you contact her, but I’m hoping you’ll talk to me anyway.”
“I’m listening.”
“I’d like to offer you an entry level contract with the Dallas Thunder.
You missed the summer training, but you’ll still be able to make rookie camp and training camp.
I can give you the contact information for my agent friend and send her the contract we have in mind.
If you’re interested…” He trailed off and raised a brow.
I thought my heart might pound out of my chest. I’d told Taryn months ago my dream would be to play with Gavin in Dallas. Was he serious?
When I didn’t respond, Archer reached behind him for a wad of shiny, gold fabric. “Eva insisted this might help.”
He held it up, and I recognized the Dallas jersey with BLACK written across the back over the last two digits of this year.
The usual jersey teams had ready when they chose a player at the draft.
When Portland had picked me, I’d accepted the Sound jersey as expected and held it up for pictures to be polite, but there weren’t any cameras here. This wasn’t a publicity stunt.
Archer Bolme wanted me on his team. I had the chance to play with Gavin again—the guy who’d saved me four years ago by offering me a place to live and a family I couldn’t get rid of if I wanted to. I could stay in Addison with my family without disrupting Carrie’s or Andrew’s lives.
The last of the weight lifted off my shoulders, and I gingerly took the jersey from him.
“I’m not going to mess around. I’d love to play with Dallas. Send me the agent’s information and the contract.”
“Excellent,” Archer said, his smile widening. “I’ve been watching your career since before Portland drafted you, and I have to say, you’ve really developed into a powerhouse the last few years. You should be proud of yourself.”
“I am,” I told him, and realized I wasn’t lying.
Archer shook my hand and walked away toward the interior of the building, just like that. I stared after him for a minute, then jogged to my truck. I couldn’t wait to get home.
Andrew and I had officially moved into Taryn’s house after graduation, but the space would need renovating to house all of us.
Luckily, they had a semi-finished basement.
It was weird for Texas, but the builder in our neighborhood must have liked them because it seemed like all the houses had some form of underground space.
We’d decided to maybe finish the space for Carrie, who had given up her bonus room for Andrew, or maybe see what other teams might be interested in me as a free agent. Until then, we’d agreed to maybe take things slow on the engagement front.
I didn’t want to waste any more time with maybe.
We never found the original ring after the assault. Taryn says Dad put it in his pocket, but it must have fallen out at some point. Her finger had been bare for the last five months, and I’d finally decided on a new ring I intended to give her today—this time with a real proposal.
I didn’t anticipate an offer from my dream organization to go along with it.
Taryn was outside when I got home, watching Andrew, Hudson, and Sunny chase each other around the front yard. Sunny gave up first and ran to me the second I stepped out of the truck. She nipped at my shin, but had to move before she got trampled when Hudson and Andrew ran over as well.
Andrew tried to tell me about his project at school, Hudson barked along with him, and not to be outdone, Sunny tried to eat my shoelace. I let the chaos wash over me for a few seconds before I let out a shrill whistle.
“Everyone inside for cookies with Carrie.” I’d thrown Carrie under the bus, but I wasn’t sorry. She always had cookies ready.
Andrew cheered and the animals followed him through the front door. Taryn laughed quietly as she closed it behind them, leaving us alone in the relative quiet outside. She crooked a finger at me, and I wrapped my arms around her, lifting her off her feet.
I kissed her with all the joy I had in me before setting her back down on her feet. “How did practice go with the Queens?”
“Ilona still wants to wait for the big announcement of me joining up, but practice went well. What about you? How did Portland take it?”
I shrugged. “As expected. Then something crazy happened. Archer Bolme showed up out of nowhere and offered me a rookie contract to play with Dallas.”
Her mouth dropped open. “What? Seriously? I knew you’d get offers, but I didn’t think it would happen the same day. What did you say?”
I grinned. “I said yes. He’s hooking me up with an agent, and camp starts in a few weeks.”
She whooped and hugged me again. “The team you wanted! I was all prepared to go through the crap of moving again, but this is so much better. We have to celebrate.”
“Not yet. There’s one more thing.” I pulled the ring out of my pocket. No box this time. No generic diamonds. I’d picked a silver band with moonstones the color of her eyes—that blue-gray shimmer I saw every time I hit the ice.
“Last time, we settled for the good of the people around us. This time, it’s only between you and me. Not for Carrie. Not for Andrew. Not for anyone else—for you and me. Because I want to spend the rest of my life with you… and our insane family. Marry me?”
Taryn cupped my cheek. “Yes. Every time, the answer will be yes.” She held up her hand, finally healed, and the ring slid on perfectly. “For a grumpy vampire, you’re pretty good at this romance thing.”
“Only with you,” I murmured, burying my fingers in her hair and kissing her with no intention of stopping.