Epilogue
CONNOR
THREE MONTHS LATER.
I’m stacking plastic cones next to a pile of training jerseys when Daisy slides onto the players bench in front of me. “This coach thing is really doing it for me.”
I bark a laugh, setting the last cone down and turning to her. I’m towering over her as she peers up at me from the bench. “I thought everything about me was doing it for you?”
“Mm,” she hums, playing with the pull tab on my jacket that I haven’t bothered zipping up. I step closer when she slides her fingers under the fabric, seeking warmth. “But there’s something about the stern look that makes me all tingly.”
“Should I be concerned to discover that you have an authority kink?” I raise a brow and she grins up at me.
“Are we really that surprised?”
I chuckle. “I guess not.”
I reach for her until she’s standing in front of me. I slip my arms around her waist, pulling her into me, before I ask the question that’s been on my mind all afternoon, “How did it go?”
“Good, I think.” She beams at me.
When she first made the decision to stay here, I was worried that she would wake up one day and regret it. But it’s been almost a month since she officially moved in with me for good, and everyday she’s here her smile is getting brighter.
While I would like to think it’s because of me, I know that a large part of it has to do with her finally getting a chance to follow her dreams without someone else trying to push their expectations onto her. I know a thing or two about that.
“She had some suggestions for edits, but she wants to take it to query,” she says, filling me in on the meeting she had with Tarah Striker’s agent earlier today.
The meeting that’s kept her up for weeks now.
I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night to find her obsessing over her laptop—rewriting and second guessing the same lines over again, until I coax her back to bed.
My heart expands with pride. “How are you feeling?”
She scrunches her nose. “Terrified but excited.”
“That sounds like the perfect combination.” I laugh, before stealing a kiss. “I’m proud of you.”
“Thank you.” She beams up at me. “How are the kids coming along? Have they settled in?”
I scoff. “One look at the size of the arena and they were sold. I couldn’t get them to calm down long enough to actually get them on the ice. It didn’t help that the guys all chipped in to get them all brand new jerseys too.”
“That’s sweet.”
“It was once I finally got them to stop screaming.” I smile at the memory, as I push a stray piece of hair out of her face and tuck it behind her ear. Any excuse to touch her. “I signed my contract today.”
Come Monday I’m officially on the Southbay University coaching staff. It’s only part-time until I graduate next year and I’ll be sticking with the kids until then so I can still play on the team—conflict of interest and all that—but it’s enough to keep me busy.
Once the kids made the move to the University rink, the sports department decided to take over the entire program, offering me a paid position to expand the future players program. Now we have our first ever girls team starting next week and I can’t wait.
“Maybe that’s why I’m getting authority vibes from you.” She grins, teasing me.
I pinch her side. “Careful, Tulip.”
“Or what?” She challenges, “You’ll put me in the penalty box?”
“I’ve got a better idea,” I tell her. Then I swoop her up and throw her over my shoulder. She squeals as I carry her down the players’ tunnel, my hand on her ass to keep her from sliding off.
At the end of the tunnel, I veer left heading for the office down the hall. The one that’ll officially be mine in twenty-four hours. I can’t think of a better way to christen it than with her.
Once inside, I loosen my grip on her, letting her slide down the front of my body until she’s got both feet planted on the ground.
I’m a goner when she pushes onto the tip of her toes and presses her lips against mine. Because she tastes like coming home and I know I’ll never want to leave again.