Epilogue You and Me
Miles
As Leighton comes down the stairs, I finish making her Jasmine Downy Pearls and set a steaming mug on the counter. She’s still on the phone, wrapping up her call.
“I’ll have the calendar proofs to you later this morning.” A pause. “Yes, it looks incredible. I think you’ll be thrilled.” Another pause. “We can look at them together. And Melissa has her sweet and sexy cookies for you.”
With a laugh, she says goodbye and heads over to the counter, eyeing the mug. “Well, aren’t you the perfect man?”
“Fact,” I say.
She smiles, takes a sip, and sighs happily. “There’s only one thing that would make this better.”
“I know,” I say, “but you’ll have to wait till tomorrow. He’s coming then.”
She pouts. “I can’t wait.”
“Yes, you can,” I reply, handing her a canvas bag. “In the meantime, here’s something for tonight’s game. ”
With a curious smile, she dips her hand into the bag and pulls out a jersey with my last name and number on it. Her fingers run over the stitching, and her face lights up. I love seeing her in my jersey. It doesn’t have a captain’s “C,” but that’s okay. Coach explained that even though he does trust me now, he didn’t want anyone thinking he’s playing favorites. I get it. Funny how you can work so hard for something only to realize it wasn’t what you really wanted after all.
“I love showing everyone that Twenty-One is mine,” she says, taking another sip before glancing at the clock. “I need to meet with some of the Renegades’ wives today.”
The wives of some of the football players have started doing boudoir calendars too, and they’ve been a huge hit—no surprise there. So has her collaboration with Hugo’s wife, Melissa. Between the cookies and bridal packages, her business is thriving, and I couldn’t be prouder. Her boudoir photography is booming as well and more profitable than ever, thanks to her decision to raise her rates. She’s busier than ever.
Good thing she wrapped up her assignment with the Sea Dogs so she can focus more on her passion—shooting boudoir and empowering women. And she’s damn good at it.
Another thing she rocks at? Taking glamour shots of adoptable dogs for Little Friends. She volunteers for the rescue, lending her shutterbug services to snap pictures of pups in snazzy bandanas posing for the camera. The pics have helped the shelter find even more homes.
But here’s what she doesn’t take pictures of—her mother’s handbags. She didn’t take photos of her wedding either. I’m so damn proud of her for cutting that kind of toxicity out of her life .
Tonight, though, she’s not working. And I get to see her at a game in my jersey. That’s something I’ve always wanted. And now I have it. She’s worn mine before but they’re big and baggy on her. I had one custom-made to fit her and seeing her in it feels like a dream. A dream that’s become real.
Like all these days and nights with her in our home.
Before she leaves, I tell her I’ll see her later at the game.
“I’ll blow a kiss from the stands.”
“You better,” I say.
A little later, as morning skate comes to an end, Coach calls me over and I join him by the boards, my stick in hand, my breath coming fast from the workout.
“Winters is stepping down at the end of the season. I’ll need you to be captain then,” he says.
There’s only one answer. “Yes, sir.”
Pride suffuses me, along with the feeling that I’ve earned it this second time around.
When I head into the locker room, Rowan is grumbling about some date Hugo’s trying to set him up on with a friend of a friend of Melissa’s. “Dating is hell,” he says.
“He’s at it again?” I ask.
Tyler smirks. “We’re going to have to babysit him at every team function at this rate,” he says, having quickly learned that the anti-romantic Rowan is the king of grumps, especially when it comes to all things dating.
“That is not true. You don’t have to babysit me,” Rowan says, scowling.
“Denial will get you nowhere,” I say, laughing. Then, out of nowhere, I flash back to something my mom once said. About a matchmaker. An idea clicks into place—a potential solution for Rowan. One I’ll have to mention to Tyler later.
For now though, I turn to my brother, asking, “Is Agatha still on vacation?”
He sighs heavily, probably still bummed that his kid’s nanny has been so homesick for her own family, that she’s been returning to Los Angeles as often as she can. “Don’t remind me. At this rate, I’ll need to find a new nanny soon.”
“Good luck, man,” Rowan puts in. “That is never easy.”
That night, though, I put all thoughts of them aside and play for my girlfriend, who’s in the stands with her friends, wearing my jersey.
Ah, who am I kidding? She’s not my girlfriend. She’s my future wife.
Leighton
As I’m heading toward the arena for tonight’s game, I’m chatting on the phone with Isla Marlowe. “Sure, I can talk about the ideas of grandma as a matchmaker on your podcast.”
“Great,” says the upbeat woman who’s become a friend recently. “I’ve been wanting to explore all manners of matchmaking. How singles are moving away from apps and trying more tried and true ways. And your story fits.”
“Birdie is the ultimate matchmaker, that’s for sure,” I say, then pause. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before. “Do you want to come to a hockey game soon? With Sabrina and me?”
“That sounds fun,” she says .
And I smile, grateful to keep making new friends. To give back in a way. Once upon a time, Everly took me under her friendship wing and introduced me to some amazing women who are now my besties. I’d love to do the same.
We finish the call and I head inside.
A little later, as Tyler blocks a shot on goal, Sabrina cheers. “Go, Falcon!”
She’s here with me tonight, along with Josie, Maeve, and Fable. Josie lifts a curious brow at the cheer, but says nothing.
I invited Sabrina since we’ve been getting closer since I took photos for her new figure-skating coaching business.
For a moment, Sabrina’s cheer feels personal. But when Max blocks the next one, her voice rings out, clear and confident, “Nice block, Lambert.”
Even so when Tyler skates off for a line change, he glances in our direction. Or really, hers.
I glance at Sabrina and smirk. “I think he has a crush on you.”
She laughs it off, lifting her hand with the shiny diamond on it. “I’m taken.”
“And he still has a crush on you,” I tease.
“Pretty sure Leighton is right,” Josie chimes in.
Sabrina smiles again, but she won’t touch that topic, it seems. Instead, she says to me, “Speaking of being taken, maybe you can take my wedding photos?”
“I’d love to,” I say. The conversation shifts from Tyler to her upcoming wedding plans, and soon the game ends with a loss.
Shame. But you win some and lose some. After I say goodnight to my friends, I wait for Miles in the corridor, but my dad finds me first. He walks up, his gaze landing on my jersey. “Nice jersey,” he says dryly.
“Thanks, Dad.”
“But McBride would be better,” he teases, squeezing my shoulder. “It’s nice seeing you at games.”
“I’ve been to games before,” I point out.
“I know. And I like it,” he says. His voice is quieter than usual, like he’s letting me know this matters to him. We make plans to grab breakfast at our favorite café this weekend, and all feels well. I’m glad too that he started seeing someone. A kind, funny woman who Birdie—of course—set him up with.
What feels best though is when Miles and I head home together. It feels like Christmas Eve. In the morning, we pick up a grumpy little Beagle mix named Oliver. He’s ten years old and needs a foster home until he finds a forever family. We dog-sit for Miles’s mom sometimes, and we’ve talked about fostering for months. When we heard Little Friends needed fosters for senior pups, we knew. We just knew it was time.
He’s our first foster, and we already have a hot tub for him. Once he’s home, he explores every inch of the place before settling into his warm bed with a contented sigh.
This too—fostering dogs together—feels like home.
And it feels like our future. Wide open and wonderful. Full of the great unknown. I'm ready to step into it with Miles, growing and changing together. But right now, I focus on the present as he slides a hand through my hair, the other touching my locket. I close my eyes as he kisses me once again.
Binge the entire Love and Hockey series today!
Want to see how generous, filthy-mouthed hockey star Wesley falls hard for his teammate’s little sister? Grab The Boyfriend Goal Here!
Max and Everly’s enemies-to-lovers, player and the publicist, forbidden romance is told in The Romance Line !
Asher and Maeve’s brother’s marriage of convenience hockey romance with an absolutely obsessed hero is here in The Proposal Play !
Turn the page for a sneak peek of Tyler and Sabrina’s single dad/nanny romance in The Overtime Kiss ! And mark your calendars for Rowan’s romance…coming soon in Merry Little Kissmas !