His phone buzzed with a text from Edie. You done it yet?
Edie and a few of her Larkvale cronies had formed a weird-ass fan club with embroidered jackets, in direct competition to Theo’s Tarts, a similar fanatical creepfest run by Kershaw’s grandmother. For each home game, he gave Reid’s Rebelles—that’s what they came up with—all his free tickets. At every intermission there were literal granny-offs in the stands!
Kind of strange to have his own fan club. Only Kennedy suspected how much he enjoyed it.
“Who’s that?”
“Edie wondering if we’ll stop by later.”
Kennedy rolled her eyes. “And she texts you? I’ve been replaced as the favorite grandchild!”
“You know that’s not true. Bucky will always be number one in her affections.”
Speaking of being number one … He whistled for Bucky to come back and after a little more encouragement—he had spotted something in the grass that he had to investigate—he came bouncing over, bright-eyed and full of verve.
Reid hunkered down to hug him … then decided he liked the view better from here.
Wrinkling her nose, Kennedy looked down at him. “That’s—wait—what’s happening here?”
He held up the scroll, wrapped with a pink ribbon. “I would think it’s obvious. Tell her, Buck.”
Bucky barked because even he recognized an important, life-changing moment when he saw it.
“Exactly. But just in case you need more—and my insatiable girl always needs more—I’ll tell you. This is it for me, Kennedy Clark. You are it for me. My reason for striving, for living, for loving. You came into my life and stirred things up. I don’t know what I would do without you. Well, I’d probably never talk to anyone or eat ice cream or have sex with another person. I’d be Terminator Reid, the guy with a mission and no one to share the spoils with.”
“Oh, Reid,” she sighed with a sniff.
“I still have a mission. To win a Cup and be the best, but the true mission is you. And to fulfill that mission, I need to be a better person. That’s what you’ve been doing for me all this time, making me worthy of you. Making me whole. So will you do me the honor of joining my team? Our team. Be my wife and be Bucky’s mom, officially.”
She fell down on her knees, cupping his jaw as she did so—just like that first day when she soothed his bruises. She had been comforting him every day since.
“Before you answer, I’m going to need you to read and sign this.” He pulled on the ribbon and rolled out the single sheet of paper.
She mouthed the words as she read:
Official Adoption Agreement for: Bucky
& Promise to Marry his Human: Reid Durand
I’m Bucky and I’m ready to take on the responsibility of another human. My preference is for one on the shorter side, with blond hair, pink streaks optional. You must have moonlit-silver eyes and a pretty mouth. To be honest, I don’t really care what you look like but my other human has his heart set on a certain type and this is it. You should be fit and flexible because I like to run around in the park and you have to be able to keep up. This is a deal breaker!
It’s okay if you play with other dogs as long as you remember I’m the one you bring home. If you want to spend time on your computer ordering things for other humans because that’s how you pay for my food and toys, then I suppose that’s okay. As long as I get fed. You don’t have to take me to the man with the needles, though. In fact I would prefer you didn’t do that at all and I’m prepared to offer whatever it takes to ensure that won’t happen. Bribes will come in the currency of snuggles and wet noses.
My other human asked me to put this part in: he’s crazy about you and wants to spend the rest of his life …
There was more but I got bored and dozed off.
Sign here and let’s go to the park and play.
Signature: ________________
* * *
“Reid, I can’t believe you did this.”
“Uh, Bucky did.”
“Okay. Bucky. Such a clever boy.” She met his gaze, her silver-gilded eyes wet with emotion. “And—oh my God, a ring as well.”
While she had been reading, he had brought out a box. “It’s Edie’s. She wanted you to have it anyway and she said she’d be fine with you getting something else for an engagement, but I thought, maybe? I had it resized.”
“I love it,” she gasped, removing it from the velvet bed. A pear-shaped sapphire that Edie insisted matched Reid’s eyes (he had rolled those eyes on hearing that), the ring’s vintage setting sparkled in the April sun. Beautiful, but not a patch on the vision before him.
“Let me.” He placed it on the third finger of her left hand, relieved that it fit. She didn’t wear jewelry so he’d had to measure with a piece of string one night while she slept.
“I can’t wait to be your wife, Reid Durand.” She gave Bucky a rub. “You know I’m already your mom, Buck, but it never hurts to make it official.”
“I like it official,” Reid said, knowing he would get her signature on that adoption agreement before they left this beach. He was a bit of a stickler for that kind of thing.
“Love you, Coffee Shop Girl.”
“Love you, Hot Jerk.”
They kissed, sealing the deal on the patch of land that had brought them all together and watched as Bucky chased an imaginary foe through the dew-dotted grass.
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed Reid, Kennedy, and of course, Bucky. Please leave an honest review on your favorite book platform. I would so appreciate it.
I wrote a bonus epilogue for these two! Exclusive to newsletter subscribers, it’s available only at this special link: Get the DEAR ROOMIE Bonus Epilogue now.
Ready for more Rebels? Goalie Erik “Fish” Jorgenson finally gets his shot at love but first he needs to figure out what he did to offend Casey! Find out in a special holiday novella, REBEL YULE.
Missed one of the Rookie Rebels? Make sure you’re all caught up with Levi, Theo, Gunnar, and Cal. The first book in the series, GOOD GUY is free.
New to the Chicago Rebels world? Meet the original crew! Three estranged sisters inherit their late father’s failing hockey franchise and are forced to confront a man’s world, their family’s demons, and the battle-hardened ice warriors skating into their hearts. Start right now with the free prequel, IN SKATES TROUBLE.
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Song of the Open Road
Walt Whitman
Listen! I will be honest with you,
I do not offer the old smooth prizes
But offer rough new prizes
These are the days that must happen to you:
* * *
You shall not heap up what is called riches,