Epilogue
CHASE
This is it.
Today’s the game that will decide whether we’ll be Stanley Cup Champions or not.
It’s been a tough few weeks with the funeral and wrapping my head around everything that’s happened, but my team—no, my family—has rallied around me and my girl. They’ve been a constant source of support, and I’m eternally grateful for them more than ever.
Chants invade my thoughts, and the clattering of helmets hitting metal grabs my attention.
Once again, Hayes stands with Coach Avery and the GM, tall and proud, and the cheesy grin on his face has me chuckling.
In the next few hours, I could be holding that cup over my head, and I want that desperately.
The noise simmers down as Hayes starts his speech.
“Everything that we’ve done this season was for this very moment.
” A hum echoes throughout the locker room in agreement.
“We’ve fought harder, faster, better, and stronger than any other team.
That’s why we’re here.” Cheers and whistles erupt, and I nod at Hayes, who holds my gaze. “We’re fighters.”
“Fuck yeah, we are!” Oliver hoots as he stands.
“Our town. Our fans. Our rules. Let’s do this!” Hayes shouts.
Before long, we step out onto the ice as we’re announced and take our usual lap. Just like every home game, I stop and find my girl cheering as hard and as loud as she can, her petite hands cupped around her mouth.
Her hair cascades down her back, and she’s wearing my jersey. I’m in love with Eighty-Seven is painted on her right cheek. She grins at me when I capture her gaze.
I tap over my heart twice and point at her. The crowd goes wild as her face hits the jumbotron. She pats her own heart twice before pointing right back at me.
Right on cue, Rudy stops beside me and waves manically at his sister. Erin throws her head back and laughs. She waves back at her clown of a brother.
“For Elliot,” Rudy says, and then the game begins.
No one scores anything in the first period. The Hellions come for Austin, firing hard and fast, but Austin is faster and blocks every single one of them.
To anyone watching, they’d think he does it with ease, but I know just how much time and effort Austin has put in during practices. He’s a beast, and I know he wants a shutout.
He wants the title for the most in a single season. He’s sitting on nineteen, but the record is holding strong at twenty-two. So, he wouldn’t get the title this season, but I had no doubt he would next time. Either way, he’s just as hungry for the W as the rest of us.
“Let’s fucking go,” Rudy yells as he scores our first goal in the second period.
The crowd chants in ways I’ve never heard before.
Rudy celebrates his first goal of the night by sliding on the floor and punching his fist in the air.
Oliver crowds him as The Hellions scowl at the two of them celebrating.
We end the second period with a score of 2-0. Hayes, number fifty-four, takes the second goal of the night, and the women in the stands go wild for him. He grins at the jumbotron and winks at no one in particular. The crowd goes even crazier for our captain.
I’m sweating everywhere, the saltiness dripping from my forehead onto my lip. I skate fast and hard, my entire body hurting as exhaustion winds through me.
Third period comes, and we’re 3-0 now. Rudy plays like an absolute monster, wanting to finish the season with thirty goals. If he does, he’ll beat his previous record of twenty-five.
His shots are powerful and tenacious tonight. He hits the puck with such force, it smacks the crossbar before going into the back. It flies straight back out in a flash—a goal everyone will be replaying over and over again for a while.
The Hellions are pissed. They’ve not scored a single goal, but they’re not giving up. Not yet. I skate faster and harder, determined to give Austin the shutout he wants and lead Rudy to his thirtieth goal.
Austin takes a hard hit to the ribs with a puck. The center takes possession of it again and goes for the rebound, which Austin blocks with a glove save.
Four minutes remain.
Rudy gets his thirtieth goal on a breakaway that nobody could have stopped, and I’m so dang proud of him.
I keep my eye on the puck as I round the back of the net. Hayes sends it to me, and I shoot it into the top left corner of the goal. The buzzer sounds. The crowd is on their feet faster than I can blink. I sink to my knees as I’m surrounded by my team.
We fucking did it.
ERIN
They did it.
They won the Stanley Cup.
Griff and Oliver break out into the most ridiculous dance moves. Hayes shakes his head, laughs, and claps Oliver on the back, who jumps into his arms and kisses the top of his head. Austin tackles them from behind, sending them to the ground.
But Eighty-Seven? He’s looking right at me. One hand over his heart, the other hand pointing at me. He shoots me a wink when we lock eyes and then jumps into the chaos.
Once I’m out of the stands and on the ice, I fly at Chase. He scoops me up immediately, skating with me in his arms.
“You did it, Eighty-Seven,” I say with happy tears in my eyes. “How does it feel?”
He shrugs. “It feels okay.”
“Just okay?” I laugh. “I didn’t see you take a puck to the head. Are you feeling alright? I thought it would be the best feeling in the world,” I say, stretching out the word.
Chase sets me down on my feet just as Rudy slides up next to him. “Nah. The best feeling in the world would be if on the night of my team winning the Stanley Cup, the girl of my dreams agreed to marry me,” Chase says with a sneaky smile.
“Yes!” I scream and cover my mouth quickly. He chuckles at my outburst.
“Aren’t you supposed to, you know, wait for him to get down on his knee and beg you with a ring in his hand?” Griff asks, trying to compress his own happiness.
I groan, mortified. My cheeks flame, even though it’s freezing in the stadium.
Griff deadpans, looking over at Chase. “And shouldn’t you have asked for her family’s approval before popping the question?”
“Bella gave me her permission when she helped me pick out the ring. As for you, I can’t imagine you saying anything other than, ‘Sure, Pretty Boy, I give you permission to marry my sister, but if you hurt her, I’ll…’ blah, blah, blah,” Chase mocks.
Griff and I slap each one of his arms at the same time, which just makes him laugh harder.
“I wasn’t talking about my permission or Bella’s,” Griff says, giving me a wink, and my breath catches.
Chase gestures his head behind me. I turn to find Brax standing a few feet away. I take a deep breath and move in his direction.
Standing in front of him, I whisper, “Hi.”
“Hey.”
“You watch the game?” I ask.
His lips tip up. “Yeah, Erin, I watched the game.”
“Cool, cool. They won,” I say, happiness pouring out of me at the same time awkwardness pushes in. It’s been too long since I’ve seen him.
“I know, kid. Like I said, I watched the game.” This time when he says it, he smiles.
I cover my hands with my sleeves, and he watches the movement. Letting out a sigh, he opens up his arms.
“Come here, Jelly Tot. Give your big brother a hug, will ya?” He motions his hands inward, and I take off into a run, slamming into his embrace.
I hear the joy in his voice as he says words I’ve been waiting to hear for weeks.
“Hey, baby sister.”
“Hey, big brother,” I sob.
I shake my head against him when he tries to let go. He laughs and runs his hands up and down my arms.
“Not gonna go anywhere if you let go, Jelly Tot. Promise.”
I let out a sigh and detangle myself from his body. He swipes under my eyes.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you when I found out about our mutual sperm donor.” Brax’s voice falters, but it’s still audible over the distant roar of celebrating fans. “I thought I was protecting you. Keeping it from you was wrong.”
The truth hangs between us like the cold chill biting at my cheeks.
The words scrape out of me. “How did you find out?”
“I got to the hospital not long after they brought you in when you were shot.” He shifts his weight on his feet.
“Told the staff I was your protective detail. That’s how I learned your blood type was O-positive.
” He taps his chest lightly. “I told them to test me—to see if I could help. After you got home, a nurse called and said that my antigen profile was a close match to yours. So close that it could be a weird coincidence or…” his voice lowers, “that we shared a parent.”
My breath catches, frosting the air. “They said it was a local who donated and never provided a name.”
Brax helped save me.
“A simple sibling DNA test confirmed it. Probability of a half-sibling was above 99.9 percent. Clear proof Carlos wasn’t your father.”
A cold wave rushes through me, settling in my bones.
“And we both agreed the man with the tattoo—The Octopus—was the same guy I saw with my mom at the hotel,” I say, letting out a shaky breath.
“We did,” Brax says. “But I needed more than your memory. I needed proof that Sebastian Emerson was The Octopus. His drugs have flooded the streets for decades, and no one’s ever figured out how.
No arrests. No busts. Nothing.” He shakes his head, frustration simmering.
“When the DNA results came back, it got me thinking. Sebastian Emerson was hiding in plain sight. Maybe his operation was, too.”
“Emerson’s Barrel and Sons,” I murmur, the pieces clicking. “It’s not just a whiskey distillery.”
“The distillery’s logistics were the perfect cover.
Drugs moved through the doors in crates that were supposed to be whiskey—no questions asked.
The business is legitimate. Clean books.
Public tours year-round. But under those oak barrels?
” His voice drops to a dangerous crawl. “Sebastian ran a darker network. I collected enough evidence to take to my sergeant without alerting anyone.”
I curl my fingers, guilt gnawing at me.
“And then you gave me Laurel’s drive,” he says. “And it revealed…” He stops, breath tightening. “More.”
“I’m so sorry.” The words shake out of me before I can stop them. “I wish things could have been different. And I’m sorry Sebastian got away.”
“I’ll find him, Erin.”
My pulse thuds against my ribs.
“I won’t rest until I do,” he continues, each word as solid as the ice beneath us. “He’s out there, and soon, he’ll realize his precious distillery will be turned inside out. He won’t be able to hide in the shadows for long. Not anymore. Not now that I know who he is.”
His tone is deadly calm, promising the kind of justice that doesn’t wait for a judge or jury.
“Brax…”
He shakes his head. “You don’t need to worry, Erin. And we don’t need to talk about this anymore, at least not today. Not when you’re about to have an even more important conversation.”
Brax spins me around, and I gasp at the sight of Chase on one knee holding out a velvet box with a massive grin on his face.
Austin, Hayes, Oliver, and an emotional Griff are off to the side, holding up a banner.
Marry me, Bookworm.
I notice there’s no question mark at the end of the sentence.
I move toward him with shaky footsteps and stand right in front of him, my eyes never leaving his.
He blows out a breath.
“Hockey was the only thing I ever wanted, and in the blink of an eye, my dreams—and all my hope—was gone. And then I met you. From the moment I saw you, I knew you were everything I wanted and more. You didn’t just give me my dream back, you gave me new ones, and every one has you in them.
I told you my wish on my birthday, and it came true.
Despite everything, you keep choosing me, granting my wish over and over again.
I’ll never stop loving you. And for as long as I’m breathing, I’ll always, no matter what, fight for us. ”
Tears stream down my face as I listen to this beautiful man pour his heart out just for me.
“You were meant to be my story, sweetheart. You’re my favorite book, and while you’ve been Erin Callahan for a few chapters, I’d really like it if you were a Harper for the rest. Now, tell me what I want to hear. Marry me, Bookworm. Say you’ll be mine forever.”
“Chase Riley Harper,” I tease. “Are you quoting fiction to me?”
“There’s never been anything fictional about us, baby,” he says, pulling the ring out of the box.
I drop to my knees and kiss him. “I can’t wait to be a Harper. There’s nothing more I want than to be married to you and to be yours forever.”
He grins and slides the ring onto my finger before searing me with a kiss I feel in my toes.
“I love you, sweetheart.”
“I love you too, Eighty-Seven. So much.”
He smiles against my lips as confetti goes off around us.
I kiss him back with everything I have and bury my head in his neck, holding on to the man who makes me feel everything.
“I told you that you’d let me love you.”
“Oh, fuck,” Oliver says loud enough for us all to hear. The surprise in his voice has Chase and I pulling away from each other and looking over. His jaw hangs as he looks out into the crowd.
We follow his line of sight and the guys suck in a collective breath the minute they see what Oliver does.
“Well,” Hayes says, “This should be interesting.”