“WOOOOOOO!”
“RUSTY!!!!!!”
Then Rust passed the Cup off to Brock.
“BROCK BABY!!!”
“Fuckin’ rights, Brock-io!”
One by one, the boys took their turn with the Cup, their teammates cheering them on as they lifted and kissed the silver trophy.
Then it was Dakota’s turn. He casually took the Cup from Tank—but once he lifted it and held it over his head, let out a roar so real, so vulnerable and genuine, I couldn’t help but cry a little. He’d workedsohard for this. He’d been through hell and back—and now here he was, on top of the world, a Stanley Cup champion.
His teammates, and the fans, both cheered loudly for him, knowing they couldn’t have won it without his hard work.
Then, after all the boys on the team had taken a turn with the Cup, it found its way tome.
“You wantmeto lift it?!” I asked as Dakota brought it to me.
“Hell yeah!” he said. “I’ll help you!”
He held one side of it and helped me get it in the air—that sucker washeavy!
“Otter!!!”the boys cheered, clapping for me as I held the Cup overhead.
I wasn’t wild about my locker room nickname … but at the same time, I knew that was how the boys showed their love.
“From restaurant hostess to Stanley Cup winning owner, all in a year!” Brett, my former boss at BarDown, congratulated me with a hug. “You’re the best boss I’ve ever had, Otter!”
I laughed. “Likewise!”
Dakota and I stood side by side, watching as Coach Miller, Parker, and the rest of the staff all got their turns with the Cup, too.
“I can’t believe I lifted the Cup,” I whispered to Dakota, still stunned.
“Believe it,” he said, a reverent glimmer in his eye. He put his arm around my shoulders and held me near. “Because wecouldn’t have doneanyof this without you.” He gestured at the party going on all around us—on the ice and in the stands, too. “None of it, Ottavia. So. Let this moment soak in. Because this moment is as much yours as it is mine.”
Touched, I glanced up at his gorgeous green eyes. “Aw. Dakota! You’re such a sweetie.”
The hockey player, standing on his skates, bent down to kiss me. Standing at center ice, our lips locked, and a wild cheer went over the crowd.
We parted, and I acknowledged the crowd with an embarrassed little wave. They cheered even louder.
Dakota snickered. “They love you, you know.”
“You think so?”
“Oh yeah. For sure.” He discreetly spanked me on the ass—as discreetly as one can be when in front of nineteen thousand people, that is. “Not as much asIlove you, of course.”
“I loveyou, too,” I said, smiling at my champion.
Epilogue
Dakota and Ottavia
Three years later.
Ottavia squirmed in the backseat of the limousine. A ball of anxiety sat in the pit of her stomach, and as they neared their destination, it only grew.
