Epilogue
Ruby
I don’t know what it is about hospitals that make me feel on edge. Maybe it’s the incessant beeping of machines, or the people rushing in and out of rooms, fiddling with said machines…
What I do know is that I’d brave a hundred hospitals to see Dash’s dopey face smiling up at me like this.
“How are you feeling?” I ask, rubbing his forearm, careful not to tangle my legs in the IV wires dangling off the side of the bed.
“Mmm. Soooo good.” His slow blink makes me chuckle as his eyes drift over my face. “Wow, you’re like…reallyfreakingpretty.”
I cover my mouth with my hand and lean forward. “You’re pretty cute yourself, Hockey Boy.”
He lifts a finger and points it at my face. “I think you mean hot-TEE-boy." He hums a deep laugh. “Get it? HOTTIE BOY?”
A bark of laughter bursts from my throat, though I do my best to tamp it down. We aren’t the only ones in recovery, after all.
Giving the large bandage covering his shoulder a quick inspection, I sigh. “Are you in any pain?”
“Pain?” He tuts. “Pain isn’t what I feel when I look at you, baby girl.”
Baby girl?
I shake my head at his ridiculousness. “That’s certainly a new one.” His lids lower to half mast, and I wonder if he might fall back asleep. “I really should get my phone out and record you right now. You’ll so want to see this loopy, drugged-up version of yourself later on.”
When his eyes fall shut, I gently take his hand. “Get some rest, Dash. I’ll see you when you wake up.”
Popping open like all he heard was wake up, Dash’s hazel eyes lock on me. “Hey. Hey, you, pretty girl.” Another finger pointed in my general direction. “Could you send my fiancée in here? I wanna see her too.”
My forehead scrunches. Fiancée? Anxiety quickly overrides my humor. Does anesthesia work like a truth serum? Should I be worried that Dash is one of those guys who lives a double life or something?
“You’re fiancée?” I ask, not even trying to hide the annoyance from my voice.
He rolls his eyes like he’s exasperated with me. “Okay, fine, she’s not my fiancée yet, but she will be. When I ask her. I have this ring and stuff.” He waves me off. “Never mind. You wouldn’t understand.”
My heart kicks into overdrive. Does Dash actually have a ring he’s been meaning to give me? Sure, we’ve discussed the future together, but he’s never come right out and said he wants to marry me.
We’ve only been together for seven months, with three of those being long-distance.
Dash went back to Utah a few days after surprising me by not getting on his plane.
Before he left, though, we’d worked out an agreement—he’d fly me out there one weekend a month, then he’d fly here whenever he had a few days off in a row.
It worked until hockey officially started, and his schedule became fuller. Then mid-way through his last season, Dash wrecked his shoulder. To the point of needing surgery. It wasn’t from a fall this time, but a hard enough shove into the Plexi-glass.
That’s what brings us here—to Ohio.
Apparently, the best doctor to do the type of surgery Dash required was in Cleveland, only a couple of hours away from where he grew up. I’m staying with Donna and have thoroughly enjoyed getting to see all the family pictures, each with a different version of Dash throughout the years.
This post-surgery version, though…it might be my new favorite.
Maybe if I ask him just the right question, he’ll tell me more of what I want to know.
“So…this fiancée of yours,” I hedge, still running my thumb along the back of his hand. “What’s her name?”
He scoffs. “You should know, silly. You look just like her.”
Every cell in my body hums with all the love I feel for Dash as I stare down at him. “She’s a really lucky girl,” I whisper, unable to keep my eyes from growing misty. “And you should propose to her soon. Like, as soon as you’re up and moving again.”
“Yeah, moving,” Dash echoes, eyes going hazy again. “Not moving again, I like DC.”
I chuckle, patting the back of his hand. “I’m going to go and let you get some rest, okay?” Leaning down, I press a kiss to his forehead, careful not to touch the bandage across his shoulder. “I love you, Dash.”
“Mm. Love you too, Tinsel.”
When I step back into the waiting room, most of Dash’s sisters are huddled in conversation. All except Danae, who lifts her attention from the book in her hands when I approach.
“Hey. He still out of it?”
“Yeah,” I say with a little laugh, taking the seat beside her. “Definitely out of it. I’m not even sure he knew who I was at first.”
She closes the book and lays it on her lap. “Same. He called me Aunt Sue.”
I rear back. “Do you have an Aunt Sue?”
Danae shrugs. “Not that I’m aware of.”
My laughing continues as the wheels in my mind start turning. “Did he try to flirt with you, too?”
“With me? Ew, no.” She shivers in disgust. “Why would he do that?”
“He was laying it on pretty thick back there,” I say, shaking my head. “He even mentioned he had a fiancée who looks just like me.”
Danae blanches. “He what?”
Her reaction surprises me, and forces me to ask, “You don’t think he’s…cheating on me…do you?” Even speaking the words has dread pooling in my stomach.
She glances at her sisters, who are laughing about something Danica said, then leans in close. My anxiety reaches frightening levels as I wait for her to speak.
“You’re not supposed to know anything,” she whispers. “But he and Max went out a couple of weeks ago and picked out a ring.”
“For who?!”
Danae shooshes me. “For you, silly! Who else?”
My lips part in surprise or relief…I’m not yet sure which.
“Is he seriously planning on proposing?”
She nods, grinning. “He already asked your mom, I think. But don’t say you heard it from me!
Mom would kill me if she knew I’d spoiled the surprise.
I just didn’t want you worrying.” She lifts one shoulder in a shrug.
“Besides, now you can expect it, plan which outfit you’d like to wear and such.
I know I wouldn’t want to be caught off guard, especially when there’s a professional photographer involved. ”
“There is?!” This just keeps getting better and better.
“Shhhh,” she hisses, waving for me to shut up. “You didn’t hear it from me.”
I lean back in the chair, mind whirling with all the new information Danae just threw at me. Dash is going to propose. Soon. He even bought a ring.
Thinking of walking down the aisle toward him has my pulse thumping a staccato rhythm. I want nothing more than to be Dash’s bride—his wife.
Things between us have been even sweeter since he made the move to DC.
With his schedule being more flexible now that he’s solely a gaming influencer with plans to become a hockey commentator, we’re able to spend a lot more time together.
And Beck loves being able to play video games with his gaming idol in person.
Dash and I spend most nights hanging out at his loft apartment, cooking together, playing video games against each other, or just simply being together. It’s a future I couldn’t have dreamt up, even in my wildest imaginations.
And now, it’s all about to get even better.
Because he’ll be mine, and I’ll be his…for the rest of our hockey-loving lives.
THE END