Epilogue
Logan
Two years later
“Truth or dare.”
A smirk forms on my lips at hearing those words.
“I want to say truth, because I don’t have anything to hide…” I repeat the words that I said to her a long time ago, in what feels like another life. “But I can’t resist your dares.”
The last two years have been incredible in so many ways. We had our ups and downs, so many downs. We learned together what it meant to be in a relationship and compromise when needed. It was a painful lesson to learn at times.
Our ups definitely outweighed the downs.
While Elizabeth has yet to become a famous artist like she’d dreamed, she has been beyond successful in running an art gallery.
That was after she apprentices at one for a little over a year.
She was like a sponge as she absorbed all they were willing to teach her.
Then, at night, and anytime I’d be at away games, she’d pour over different sites, looking up information and further educating herself in the field.
Our life together in Austin taught us so much. We’ve become a staple in the city even though I never made it to the coveted first line spot. We’ve been crowned the it couple, with our pictures being posted online on different pages related to hockey gossip, or to just sports in general.
All that’s been very helpful in getting me endorsements, to the point where the main part of my income is coming from that as opposed to my contract to the Aces.
But now… everything is about to change. Our lives are about to alter again, and I am a little nervous on how I will break the news to Elizabeth.
“What’s the dare, Lizzie?” I ask her, trying to buy myself a little bit more time.
She pouts and stomps her foot against the floor, looking as adorable as ever.
“I really wanted to you choose the truth this time.”
My eyebrows go up in surprise. She usually likes to play along, and it always ends up in us having mind blowing sex. Always on a dare.
I lean back against the kitchen counter and cross my legs at the ankles. After a few moments of waiting, I decide to take the bait. I will say that I am nervous about whatever she has to tell me, especially given the fact that I have news of my own.
“What’s up, babe?”
She sighs and moves nervously from one foot to the other. Every so often, she glances back toward where the door to the garage is located.
“Are you planning on going anywhere?” I ask her, not understanding why she keeps on looking that way.
“No.” She frowns at me. “I just got home.”
Every time she calls our house home, my heart grows in size. It is my favorite thing to hear from her, only second to I love you.
“Okay, well… You know how we’ve been talking lately about one day growing our family?”
My mouth goes dry at the reminder, not because I am against it, but because I didn’t expect it to happen without any planning.
“Lizzie,” I somehow manage to mumble out loud. “Are you…?”
I stare at her face, then down to her stomach. She still looks the same as when she left the house this morning, and how she’s been looking since I’ve known her. Maybe a little fitter now than before. My suspicions don’t make any sense, but what else could she mean?
“Are you pregnant?”
I press a hand to my chest, willing my heart not to stop on me now. This is too important. I can’t believe we’re going to be parents.
“What? No!” Lizzie sounds appalled at the idea. “Not that I have anything against it, and you know that,” she assures me. “But that’s not what this is about.”
Disappointment fills me in an instant. It’s funny how I could already see a different path for us in the ten seconds it took between me asking her the question and hearing her denial.
“I-I’m really sorry if you’re disappointed.” She reads my face correctly. She looks a little bummed, too. “I thought we were going to start planning soon, I didn’t…”
I walk over to her and pull her body into mine, my hands going straight to her perfectly shaped ass. My fingers flex on her incredible buttocks as I enjoy the benefits of her working out more.
“It’s the way you’re talking,” I grin at her. “When you said growing our family, what else could it mean?”
I honestly can’t think of anything else other than a baby.
“Please don’t be mad, but I got a dog.”
As soon as the words are out, she slaps a hand over her mouth, her eyes widening in anticipation as she waits for my reaction.
“You got a dog.” I repeat the words, more so I can be sure I understand what she just said.
“I should’ve talked to you about it first,” she rushes to say. “And I am so, so sorry, but someone posted this picture online. She was looking for a home for her dog. She’s moving out of state and couldn’t take the dog with. He would’ve had to go to a pound. He’s potty trained and…”
She talks so fast, I can’t keep up. All the words blend together where it’s just one very long sentence that doesn’t make sense. What registers is that someone moved out of state, and that the dog is potty trained.
“Where is this dog?” I finally ask.
In the grand scheme of things, her news is big, but not as big as mine once I get the balls to tell her.
“In the garage!” Now it makes sense why she kept on glancing that way.
I let go of her, and she skips all the way to the side door that leads to the garage. I almost follow her there, but stop myself, knowing she probably has a whole presentation for me, which I don’t want to ruin. I’m sure she put a lot of thought into it.
“Come on,” I hear her saying. “It’s time for you to meet your new daddy.”
I snort when she says that. She does it in this baby talk that’s hilarious. God, I can’t wait to have babies with this woman.
When she walks back inside the house, I about fall over. The dog is huge. He comes up to her hip. I was expecting some little lap dog.
“Holy fuck, babe, what the hell of a dog is this?”
She has him on a leash, but I can tell that he wouldn’t have any trouble dragging her around the house if he put his mind to it.
“Oh…” She looks at the dog in confusion. “He is some poodle mix. I’ll have to go back and read what she gave me.”
She stands next to the dog, biting on her lip and fidgeting with the leash. To his credit, the dog just stands next to her, his tongue hanging down to the floor, just about.
“He’s very furry,” I comment. That seems to get her excited and ready to chat.
“Yes, and his curls are so adorable, aren’t they? He needs a special groomer so they wouldn’t ruin his curls. His previous owner gave me the name of the person she’s been taking him to.”
Her fingers sink into the curly fur on his head, and I watch in fascination as he closes his eyes and leans his forehead against the side of her leg.
Suddenly, I see an opening for my piece of news.
“The heat in these parts is probably not doing him any favors,” I say.
Elizabeth looks at me with hope in her eyes. “That’s why he is so well behaved in the house. He can hardly ever go outside. I’ll have to take him out for walks early in the mornings or late in the evenings. Too hot for him in the middle of the day.”
I nod in understanding. “It makes sense. A colder climate would probably do him well.”
She gets on her knees to hug on the dog, but does look a bit agitated, as if she thinks I will make her give up the dog because of the hot Austin temperatures.
“He’s three years old, so he is used to it by now.”
I cross my arms over my chest, mulling things over. With a deep breath in, I walk over to where she is with the dog. I kneel next to her, surprised when the dog nudges me with his nose.
“Aww, he really likes you,” she gushes. Her smile is too wide like she’s trying a bit too hard to convince me that this is a good idea.
“We should consider moving somewhere cooler,” I say, seemingly from out of nowhere.
Elizabeth’s smile freezes on her face. She turns a bit on her knees until we are face to face.
“That’s a bit extreme,” she chuckles nervously. “Maybe they’ll let me bring him to the arena once in a while. It’ll be nice and cool for him.”
I bring my hand up to pet the dog. “What’s his name?”
There’s sudden tension in her body. “His name is Bass.” I bring my ear closer when she speaks, her voice that low.
I am struck by all the memories the name brings. My friend Sebastian… His aunt used to call him Bass. I did too sometimes.
“Like he was meant to be ours,” I whisper.
Elizabeth’s eyes become glassy with unshed tears. “I thought the same.”
Looking into the dog’s eyes, I can see with clarity our entire future. And I know exactly what I want to do.
“My agent called,” I tell Elizabeth. “Minnesota wants me.”
She takes in a sudden gasp of surprise. “Minnesota Cats?”
“Yes…” I pause for a second, but then, I can’t keep the secret for much longer. “They want me for their first line…”
I don’t get to finish my sentence when I find myself on my back on the floor, Elizabeth’s arms wrapped around my neck.
“Oh my God!” She peppers kisses all over my face. “You made it, Lo! Everything you’ve been working for, you are finally there!”
I figured she’d be happy for me, but I thought she’d be a bit more reserved in her excitement.
“We’ll have to move to Minnesota,” I make sure to spell it out for her. “Your job…”
“I’m sure they have art galleries out there, too,” she assures me. “I can also do consulting work for the one down here. I have so many options now!”
She starts kissing me again, and before long, we’re rolling on the floor, kissing and laughing. We stop when the dog gets overly excited and starts barking as he runs around us.
“Bass,” Elizabeth yells after him. “We’re going to play in the snow!”
I have a feeling she’ll get sick of the snow after a while. “It’s a five-year contract, babe.”
That brings a new wave of excitement and kisses.
When I somehow land on top of her, I remember that I have something else to give her.
Reaching into the pocket of my jeans, I panic for a second when I can’t locate the ring I put in there earlier.
I didn’t want to use a box so that it wouldn’t give me away.
“Logan?” Elizabeth’s eyes widen in shock when she notices what I’m holding.
I stare at her, completely forgetting everything I had planned on saying to her.
“I had a speech,” I tell her. “But I don’t remember what I was going to say.” We both chuckle. My voice trembles when I speak. “It was probably going something like this… I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to marry you.” I take a deep breath in. “Will you be my wife?”
She doesn’t take any time to think about it. Instead, her fingers dive into my hair as she pulls me down to her.
“Yes!” There is no hesitation whatsoever, and now I can breathe.
There are so many changes coming our way in the near future. We’re moving to Minnesota, with a dog named Bass, while planning a wedding, and hopefully working on a baby right away.
“Truth or dare,” whisper against her lips.
She gives me the biggest grin. “Dare.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” I tease.
Life is so damn good right now, and I will never take it for granted.