“It’s been good for me. The Golden Child shouldn’t get everything too easy.”
I laughed softly. “You mean you’re glad you didn’t shoot your shot all those years ago?”
“Fuck no. We’ve missed out on five years, and frankly these last two months have probably taken another five years off my life, so you owe me. Big time.”
I smiled. “Ten years?”
“Forever.”
I liked the sound of that. I leaned my head against his shoulder.
“I love you.”
“Thank Christ, because I love you, too.”
“I think I’ve been falling for you since you made me a sandwich that first day, since you put taking care of me above your heartache. I realize now how hard that was for you, but you were still there for me. No hesitation. No reservation.”
Hook, line, and Summer.
“I’ll always be there for you.” He gentled me back on the hood. The moonlight caught the copper tones in his hair, the perfect chisel of his jaw and cheekbones, giving him that dark angel energy I loved. My man had never looked more beautiful.
Or more focused.
I pulled at his belt buckle. “Think you can last this time?”
Those moss-green eyes shone back at me, more than up to the challenge. “With you, Sunshine, I can last as long as you need me.”
Epilogue
January
Theo Kershaw Says Goodbye
It’s expected to be a glittering event tonight as Rebels, old and new, gather to send off legendary defenseman, Theo Kershaw, into his golden retirement years. Though some of us here in the Hot Goss bullpen doubt the Empty Net, a seen-better-days sports bar in downtown Riverbrook, can really do “glittering,” insider sources tell us that the place holds special meaning for Theo and his wife of over twenty-five years, Elle Butler Kershaw. A trawl through the Hot Goss archives reveals that the Net, as the locals have nicknamed it, was once the site of a physical altercation between Theo and then Rebels teammate, Levi Hunt. (Will former player Hunt appear at the party? Or does this ancient beef still cast a pall over their once-tight friendship?) One source, who insisted on anonymity, informed us that Elle told Theo about his impending fatherhood in this very bar. Or the owner’s office, to be precise, where apparently all the good stuff related to the Rebels happens.
* * *
I don’t know about you, but I feel like I know way too much about Hatch Kershaw’s conception, gestation, and birth! Those rumors about Theo Kershaw’s dinosaur-themed underwear on the night the eldest Kershaw was conceived were confirmed by Hatch himself during an ESPN interview at the start of the season. Kershaw Junior was much more cagey about his relationship with his teammate’s former fiancé, replying with “no comment” when pressed. But as long as the readers crave it, we’ll keep reporting on the Rebels royals and their R-drama.
-@HotGoss
Hatch
* * *
“So I don’t know about you, but I feel like I know way too much about Hatch Kershaw’s?—”
“Yeah, yeah.” I cut Jason off, then glared at him to shut him up. I’d like to say that Hot Goss had gone too far this time, but I’m sure they’d pissed me off even more at some point in the past.
Let them gossip all they want about my personal life because my professional one was on fire. No one could argue with my results so far this season. Three months in, I currently led the league in goals and was second in points. I’d finally found my groove. (And Jason didn’t have to screw up any passes to make me look like “the good Kershaw,” either.)
Another reason to celebrate was the exit of Carter, who had decided to take some time off after a couple of wobbly games and healthy scratches. The truth was that after saying he “didn’t need this shit” one too many times within the earshot of Coach, he was encouraged to take a break to see if it resulted in an attitude adjustment.
It did not. Carter was out.
I was confident I could have survived the rest of the season with a griping Carter shooting stabby eyes at me during every practice, shift, and post-game celly. But Summer didn’t enjoy seeing him around, and my woman’s mental well-being and happiness were all that mattered. So what if I wouldn’t get the chance to rub his face in it as he’d unknowingly done to me for five years? I could be the bigger man here because I had won.
And my prize was coming toward me, violet-blue eyes glittering, a sultry sway to her hips, or maybe it was those thigh-high boots that gave her all that sexy swagger. Tonight, they would definitely be staying on when I went down on her.
