“Then I’d say it’s lucky for you that I’m no quitter. You’re stuck with me now.” She places her hand on my heart and burrows herself into my chest, once again careful of my wound.
“I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
“Then it’s meant to be.”
I sigh in contentment, and just when I think we’re going to rest here for a while, Hayley shifts out of my hold, positioning herselfon her knees beside me, her eyes ablaze with excitement. “So…what should we do now?”
I know that look. Something just came to mind.
“We plan an adventure?” I wager a guess.
“I don’t plan.” She waves me off. “But I’ve got an idea.”
And just like that, we begin our new life together. I’ll follow her anywhere.
Even if I do just sit back and watch her shine.
EPILOGUE ONE
Reed
Ifinish a chapter of my latest read and mark the page with a ripped piece of paper, instantly searching for Hayley.
“Hayley Baby, are you done?”
After months of me telling her to make my place her own, she finally started redecorating two weeks ago, the week before the Super Bowl, claiming the timing felt right. refusing to admit she needed something to distract her from the upcoming game.
Just like the doctor said, my recovery was slow, and I wasn’t cleared for a full training schedule until a few weeks before the playoffs, making Hayley anxious that I was putting too much pressure on myself.
But she didn’t have to worry.
Football may have been my priority for the past fifteen years, but that changed when I met her. I wasn’t going to do anything that put me back in the hospital. I knew my body. I’d worked with my doctors and physical therapists. I was ready.
And I fucking killed it in the Super Bowl game.
We won, securing the trophy for a second time and giving Thomas the send-off he deserved while also acknowledging that it was another strange season for the team.
After a few months on life support, we lost Landon to his head injury. And if I’m being honest, it broke me a little. I wanted to hurt him for what he’d done to Hayley, but I never would have wished him dead. Hayley says she’s okay about it now, but at the time, it shocked her just as much. And Zane. He went through hell because of it. Not that he’d ever admit that.
When the media caught wind of what happened, and for the months after, Zane went through a lot of public scrutiny, and even Hayley and I copped a bit of flak.God, look at me talking like Hayley now.The point is that we were in the headlines. A lot. With not all of it positive.
Despite the fact that it was discovered that Hayley and I weren’t the first victims of Landon’s stalking, people still voiced their opinions, telling anyone who’d listen that we could have handled it better.
But I truly believe there’s nothing more we could have done.
And the knowledge that he’d done this before put my mind a little more at ease. Landon had been stalking another girl during his freshman year of college, but since she never pressed charges, it wasn’t on the record. If she had, our lives may have been very different. Even Landon’s.
Hayley and I may have recovered, and Zane may be telling us all he’s okay, but none of us will ever get over what happened that night.
Though we are moving on.
It’s a new year. The season’s over. We finally have an amazing general manager with Wes. And Cam admitted to inappropriate behavior after finding out about Landon, taking responsibility for making Hayley uncomfortable. Which we considered the best we were going to get.
With things settling down for both of us, I’m ready to spend some quality time with my girl.
She’s just finished filming a challenging support role on a mini-series in LA and is now waiting for the publicity tour forReckless Desire. The timing couldn’t be more perfect.
“Hayls?” I call out again before jumping up and going in search of her. She wanted today’s redecorating project to be a surprise, but she knows I don’t like going too long without seeing her, and it’s been hours. She’d better hurry.
