July, Three Months Later
The summer heat bakes me alive while I allow Lainey and Reagan to lead me around town for “errands”. They’re doing a decent job with the secret they’re supposed to keep from me.
They haven’t realized I already found out about the surprise party Maya organized to celebrate my number one draft pick and the contract I signed with the Bruins.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy as fuck about achieving my dreams. I still can’t believe I’ll step on the ice at TD Garden wearing the jersey of mine and my dad’s favorite team. Fucking surreal.
And I think it’s sweet that she wants to surprise me just like she did a few months ago when she turned up in Boston to watch us win Frozen Four in person. That weekend is cemented in my mind as one of my favorite memories from the moment I found her waiting outside my hotel room to winning to celebrating with her all night long.
She’s gone through all the trouble to put this together, so I’m playing along for now.
What she doesn’t know is that I got the guys to help me double down for the real celebration: her early graduation.
We had dinner with her parents and brother after watching her walk with honors in the cap and gown ceremony in May. As much as she smiled that day at her accomplishment, there was a bittersweetness for her to go through it without her grandfather there to see it.
After the NHL draft, she was there for me when I went through the same thing, wishing Dad was with us to see another important moment of my life.
All we can do is carry them with us to get through the times we’d do anything to rewrite the universe to have one more minute with them.
I saw today’s party as the perfect opportunity to congratulate her with our friends. I’m so damn proud of my girl and I want her to get all the recognition she deserves for her hard work.
“Is that the last of it?” I ask when I accept another bag to carry for the girls.
Reagan checks her phone. “Looks like it. Thanks again for helping us out.” She pats my arm. “We appreciate you doing the heavy lifting when Alex had to bail on us.”
Yeah, I bet. Last I saw when I looked at the group text with the guys, Alex was helping Cameron season and marinate the meat for the grill.”
“No problem.”
“Let’s drop this off at the house,” Lainey suggests.
I lift my eyes to the sky, begging Dad for the patience to finish playing along without giving myself away. I should’ve told the girls when they wrangled me into these errands to get me out of the house that I knew what was going on.
The walk back isn’t more than a few minutes, but I’m loaded down with everything we bought. Half of it I know is for the party, but I swear Lainey and Reagan picked out a bunch of books at Derby Book Shop just to fuck with me because I’ve got to be carrying about thirty pounds worth of romance novels.
By the time we walk up the path to the house, I’ve definitely gotten arm day done.
They pause outside the door, making a show of petting Kit-cat stretched out in a puddle of sun. Reagan pretends to take a photo of the cat, except I’m tall enough to see her texting rather than using her camera app.
“Such a sweet girl,” Lainey coos louder than usual.
I cough to cover my snort. Is that the code phrase? They’re terrible at this whole distracting the guest of honor thing.
It’s not me, anyway, the real guest of honor is inside, probably finding a hiding spot to jump out at me as soon as I walk through the door. My lips twitch. I’m more than ready to see her.
At last, they reach for the door, peeking over their shoulders at me. I smirk.
As soon as it swings open, everyone shouts, “Surprise!”
Maya is nothing more than a blur flying at me from her spot at the bottom of the steps. I quickly set down the bags before she crashes against me. Locking my arms around her, I lift her up.
“What’s all this?” I ask despite knowing the answer.
The guys barely contain their amusement. Cameron brandishes grill tongs, gesturing to the hand-painted banner in Heston colors declaring #24 is #1 Congratulations Easton with the NHL and Bruins logos.
“We couldn’t send you off when you report for training without a party, captain,” Maya says.
God, I fucking love her and that sassy tone she uses to tease me.
“Is that so? I don’t know.” Signaling to the guys with my chin, I bring my face close to hers. “I think you should look again.”
Noah records us to get her reaction while the rest of my teammates shuffle around the entryway, unrolling the poster they helped me finish yesterday after I was sure Maya was asleep. It reads Maya Donnelly is smarter than me, congrats on graduating love Easton.
Her eyes go wide, then she cracks up, tucking her face into my neck. I kiss her head.
“Surprise, baby.”
“You knew, didn’t you? How did you find out?” she manages to get out between joyous laughter.
“You’re not as sneaky as you think. Me, on the other hand. Very sneaky.”
Noah moves in for a closeup on us. “Annnnd kiss.”
We look at him, then I take her chin to turn it back to me, capturing her gaze for a beat before I close the gap between us and press my mouth to hers.
“What are we waiting for? Everyone out back. Let’s get it going.” Cameron ties an apron over his head that says grill king. “Burgers will be ready soon.”
“No one come in the upstairs bathroom, we’re going to put our bathing suits on,” Reagan announces, grabbing Lainey’s hand.
“Babe, that’s like dangling a steak in front of a starving dog. Now all I’m going to think about is two hot chicks naked together right next to my room.”
“Hey,” Alex says sharply, pausing from moving Lainey’s bags of books into a separate pile. “Don’t you dare think about my girl, Porter.”
Reagan laughs and smacks his chest lightly. “Shut up, you big flirt.”
“Are you sure you don’t need help?” He saunters closer. “I tie great knots.”
Madden jerks him aside with a forceful grip on the back of his open Hawaiian shirt, thick brows flattening.
“That’s not funny,” he mutters.
Noah holds up his hand. “Relax, Graves. Didn’t mean any harm.”
Reagan grins, shaking her head. She puts a hand on Madden’s shoulder when he steps between them, standing guard at the steps.
“Thanks, Madden. You’re the MVP Knight.”
“I thought that was me?” I joke.
“You’re the rookie now.” Maya waggles her brows.
Alex snorts. “That’s right.”
“Go change,” she says when I set her on her feet.
I admire her outfit, the green bikini top giving me plenty of ideas. Her skirt is long and flowing, the sheer floral material split up to her hips in two spots to show off her luscious tan legs. I’m a genius for suggesting to the guys to make Maya think it was her idea to put kiddie pools in the yard.
“I’ll meet you out back.”
I jog upstairs to put swim trunks on, rifle through my shorts to get a folded slip of paper from the pocket, then head outside.
The yard has blue, green, and white streamers hanging from every tree and fence post. Logs burn and crackle in the fire pit. They set up a kid’s version of a rink on the grass to play 1v1 with mini sticks, improvising a slip n’ slide to serve as ice.
Cameron and Alex talk while manning the grill. It smells fantastic. The girls have cans of hard seltzer and sit with their feet in the pools.
McKinley puts a beer in my hand and clinks his bottle with mine. “Fuckin’ wild, bro. It won’t be the same without you.”
I huff in agreement, running a hand through my hair. “Yeah. It still doesn’t feel real.”
The next step of my future is about to start, but I’m going to miss this when I leave for Boston next month. Hanging out with people who have become as close as family.
College hockey is officially over for me. Part of me is still adjusting to that reality.
Madden and Elijah hustle by us, shoving each other with challenging smirks. They face off against each other with mini sticks on the play rink in the corner of the yard, some of our teammates heckling them.
Next year these guys won’t have me. It’s wild to think of them winning the next Frozen Four with me watching from the sidelines. They’ll be skating with new recruits to the team. Someone else will take over for me as captain. My money’s on Cameron, but he thinks it should be Noah.
Even though I’m moving up to the pros, I know these guys are my brothers for life.
Just like I know I want forever with Maya.
I head in her direction, led by the invisible tether she has tied around my heart.
“Hey, you.” I capture her wrist, reaching into my pocket for the folded piece of paper I’ve been carrying. “Want to sneak away with me for a minute? I got you something.”
“Ohh, mysterious,” she jokes.
I tip my head in the direction of the magnolia tree full of pink blooms. We only make it a few steps before someone asks if a phone is buzzing.
“Oh, hang on.” Maya grabs her bag off the picnic table, pressing it to her ear. “Yup, that’s me.”
She pulls her phone out and moves to the side of the yard. I follow, throwing a glance over my shoulder. I wanted this to be a surprise, but maybe I should’ve told some of our friends to help this go smoothly.
“What’s up, Ry?”
My gaze snaps back to her. Is this for real?
I snag the phone from her to talk to him. “Is this life and death?”
“What—Blake? Why are you always grabbing the phone when I’m trying to talk to my sister, man?”
Weird. Years of playing against this guy, and somehow he’ll go from being my rival to my brother in law.
If I can ever finish proposing to Maya.
“I can’t wait to get you back for this,” I mutter.
“Big talk, Blake.”
A competitive grin twists my mouth. “That’s rich coming from a second round pick. You’d better bring it, Donnelly. Now fuck off.”
While I’m getting off the phone with her brother, Maya takes the paper in my hand. I open and close my mouth, holding back a laugh at how this idea has fallen apart.
“What’s this?”
She unfolds it, finding the heart I drew on it. I picked out the ring I want to get her, but my signing bonus hasn’t hit my account yet to pay it off before today’s party. Even without the ring in hand, I’ve wanted to ask her for months, and being surrounded by our friends seemed like the perfect chance to do it.
I sigh, smiling softly as my fingertips trail down her arms before grasping her waist. “My heart, baby. Keep taking care of it because it’s all yours.”
Her eyes meet mine, crinkling at the corners. “You and your lines, hotshot.”
“I only speak the truth.”
“In that case…”
She turns away to rummage through it for a pen. When she faces me again, she holds up the paper. She’s drawn a heart that overlaps mine, both hearts labeled with our names.
“You’ve got mine, too.”
“Come here.”
I knead her waist, tugging her against me. Neither of us stop smiling as we kiss.
“Where did—? Never mind. Found them!” Noah shouts when he rounds the side of the house. “They snuck away to make out again.”
“Typical,” Reagan calls from the other side of the yard.
Maya laughs and rejoins the party. I hang back a moment, watching her hugging Reagan and accepting a drink while they splash their feet in the kiddie pool.
There will be time. I don’t have to rush anything.
All that matters is that we have each other.
