Epilogue
SCOTT
A year had a way of moving faster than you realized, but as I stood at the boards and watched Forest fly down the ice, I couldn't think of a single day I would've traded.
He moved in to my place almost immediately after I asked.
We slowly moved his important stuff out over the next month and got rid of everything he didn’t need.
The spare drawers I'd cleared out for him early on had quickly turned into a full closet and a complete takeover of the bathroom counter within about three weeks.
And I never minded it at all.
My apartment had never felt like a home until Forest’s gear was in the entryway and his keys were on the hook next to mine.
He didn’t have a lot of stuff, but I saw him in every corner of the place.
It was like the boring walls and cookbook-laden shelves had been waiting for him to come and leave his mark.
And he did. On my shelves, in my bed, and in my heart.
The team was on a tear this season. Kowalski was definitely big on the trash talk, but he also hosted a surprising number of team dinners that I'd somehow become a fixture at.
Briggs had, in fact, made a whole thing out of signing Forest's splint last year, and the team still brought it up whenever Forest complained about anything physical. I’d even caught myself doing it at home a few times because he was such a drama queen when we teased him.
Forest scored in the second period with a clean shot from the left side that sent the bench up off their seats. As usual, his eyes instantly searched me out in the crowd and he lifted his stick with a grin so wide that I could see it from across the rink.
I hadn't missed a single game since his hand healed and didn't plan to.
Tonight was different though, and only I knew why.
I'd been planning this for two months, ever since I heard about "fan appreciation night." The rink was packed, and the high school drill team performed a halftime show. It was an impressive set-up.
A jumbotron displayed sponsor messages and birthday shoutouts between periods, and that was where my plan was really gonna come together.
The second period ended with the team up by two. Forest skated off looking pleased with himself, sweaty and grinning as the arena lights dimmed for the intermission show. I stood right at the edge of the boards where the players came off the ice and waited.
The jumbotron flickered to life with the usual messages of birthday and anniversary announcements.
And then it slowed on a photo. The one from last October when Forest and I dressed up as Shane and Ilya for a halloween party at the laundromat.
Forest's head was tipped back, laughing at something I'd said, and my arm was around him.
The love we shared was as obvious in every pixel on the screen.
The crowd quieted to a low murmur as people realized something was happening. Forest was approaching me as he looked up at the screen and went completely still.
Beneath the photo, the message I’d spent days trying to write appeared.
Forest James. Left wing. Number 14. The best thing that ever walked through my laundromat door…
I hopped over the boards so I was standing right in front of him and then dropped to my knee.
Forest was both shocked and excited as his eyes welled up. "Scott, what are you doing?"
"What's it look like?" Everyone in the stands were quiet as I pulled the ring from my pocket and held it out to him.
"Forest. You walked into my laundromat soaking wet and walked out with my whole heart.
I never got it back because I never wanted you to leave.
I love you and want to spend the rest of my life taking care of you. Will you marry me?"
He was crying as his teammates started banging their sticks against the boards around us. "Yes." Forest dropped down in front of me and threw his arms around my neck before I could even get the ring on properly. "Yes, Daddy. Yes."
The crowd lost it when I slid the ring onto his finger.
I pulled Forest in and kissed him in front of all those strangers and every person who mattered. He kissed me back like we were the only people in the rink.
"I can't believe you did this," he said against my mouth, laughing and crying at the same time.
"Believe it." I rested my forehead against his and breathed him in. "You’re stuck with me now and forever."
Behind us, the team started clapping our shoulders and trying to work in half-hugs. I gave them space to congratulate their friend and teammate while I watched with a smile.
He was mine now.
He would never be cold or wet or alone again. Not as long as I had anything to do with it.
Warm and dry, every day, for the rest of our lives.