“I can’t even fault him,” I say to Paisley. “We were in agreement before we ever fell in love.”
I hold her pillow to my chest. Maksim left an hour ago, and I have a pretty good guess where he went.
Paisley’s phone dings. “You changed your mind. You’re allowed to. Sounds like he’s being stubborn.”
“No, he’s not.” I can’t fault him. I’m the one who changed my mind about what I wanted.
“You probably want to change your clothes, right? You’re still in last night’s outfit,” Paisley says.
“No, it’s okay. I’ll go home in a little bit.”
“You should go now.” Paisley stands with much effort now that her belly has really popped and takes the pillow off my lap. “What if someone surprises you with an interview after last night’s win and you’re wearing what you wore last night? Not a good look.” She leads me by the elbow toward the front door. “You go and I’ll meet you there in a bit.”
“What? But…” I pick up my purse and dig for my keys. “Do you have somewhere you have to be or something?”
She shakes her head. “No, I’ll be right over. But you should go shower and stuff, then we’ll continue this conversation.”
“God, Paisley, you’re kicking me out now?”
“I’m protecting you.” She opens the door and practically shoos me out, leaving me outside their front door. “I’ll be right behind you, just let me lock up. I’ll grab Starbucks.”
I stand there for a second. Maybe she’s sick of my “woe is me” act she’s endured for the past hour. Especially since nothing will change about our situation.
Still feeling bereft, I get in my car and drive to my house, but I stop at Starbucks first because she probably won’t get my order correct.
At home, I park and climb out of my car, heading to the front door, but I take a step back when I spot someone sitting there. “Whoa!”
When he looks up, it takes me a second to register that it’s Kane. He stands and runs his hand down his beard. His lips are downturned, and his eyes appear unsure. “Hey.”
“Hi.” Going around him, I use my keys to unlock the door. I turn around before he can follow me inside. “You didn’t have to come. I understand. I really do. We’ll be friends… eventually. I just need some time to get over us. I promise, no hard feelings.” Just complete and utter heartbreak, but I’m not telling him that.
“Maksim dropped me off.”
“Oh.” That explains Paisley’s act.
“I figured we should plan.” He comes into the house, one cautious step at a time.
“Plan what?” I set my purse on the foyer table, along with my keys.
“Well, I figure if we’re going to do this, we need to really do it right. I’ve never half assed anything in my life. So, we should get married before we have kids, and we should probably move in here or add an addition to my place. But you have more room here.” He gestures absently to our surroundings.
“Kane…” I sigh, my shoulders falling. I love him for what he’s trying to do, but no.
“How many bedrooms do you have? I only have the extra one, so if we only have one kid, we’ll be okay, but you saw Warner and how much stuff Jalen had.”
I continue into the house and sit on my couch while he sits on the chair adjacent to me. “Please stop. I won’t ever let you resent me. You don’t have to do this.”
He falls to his knees in front of me. “That’s the thing. I’ll hate myself if I let you slip out of my fingers. My brother helped me realize that fear has been holding me back. I never stopped to question my own assumptions. You’re not my mom. Some people say a son falls for a replica of his mom, but I fell in love with a woman who is the complete opposite. You’re strong and independent and comfortable in your skin. Everything I love about you is the reason you’re going to be a rock star of a mom.”
“Kane, I don’t want—”
He places his finger on my lips. “I’m not doing this just because this is what you want. I’m not gonna lie, when we babysat and I saw you with Jalen, I did think what if… the whole night, except for losing Jalen, I felt like we were playing house and I thought maybe we could do this, we’d be good at it. But I pushed that thought away because of fear. Fear that what happened to me could happen to my own child in some form or another. I don’t want to live my life in fear. Not when it comes to you, the most fearless woman I’ve ever known.”
“What are you saying?” I ask, wanting to hear the words come out of his mouth.
“First, I’m asking you to marry me.”
“Kane!” I bring my legs up and cross them, shaking my head.
“I don’t have a ring, but marry me, Jana. And throw away your pills. Let’s just jump into this headfirst. We wasted a year screwing around, then we wasted months pretending to hate each other. I don’t want to waste any more time.”
He grips my hips and pulls me to the end of the sofa. I wasn’t lying when I said I didn’t need to be married to be content with Kane forever, but something about this feels right.
“Okay,” I whisper and nod, tears building in my eyes.
“How about some enthusiasm there?”
“Okay,” I say a little louder.
“Okay what?”
“Yes! I’ll marry you and throw away my pills on one condition.”
He tilts his head. “What’s that?”
“We move into your house. Maybe down the road we can add on or move, but I want us to live where we fell in love and that’s where I fell in love with you. In that small two-bedroom house on the beach.”
He grins and nods. “Done.”
He presses his lips to mine, sealing our agreement with a kiss.
Florida Fury won the Stanley Cup.
The headlines were on every paper in the country, and the articles detailed the 2–0 shutout. Every player had a part in the win, and to see my players come together as a team was the most rewarding part for me as a coach.
Each player took the Cup for their designated time and spent it in different ways.
Aiden took it to his family in Wisconsin, showed it off at his parents’ bar, and the triplets decided they’re going to win one of their own one day. He and Saige are planning a big wedding up in Wisconsin before next season starts.
Maksim hung out at home and FaceTimed his family in Russia. Immediately after we won the Cup, Paisley gave birth to a healthy baby girl they named Kira, and she and Maksim are settling into parenthood well.
Ford mostly sat Annabelle in it and took a lot of pictures. He and Lena are considering having another child sooner rather than later, to help Annabelle adjust to not being the only child in the family.
Warner took the Cup to New York and showed it off to his mom and his brother and sister. He gave an inspirational speech for underprivileged youth who use the services his charitable foundation provides and they each got to touch it. And Jalen was baptized in the Cup. Not sure how they pulled off that one.
Cory and Ande took it to an inner-city youth camp, where Cory showed off some of his skills and showed them what hard work can accomplish. He also proposed to Ande with the ring in the Cup. I guess he gets points for being original.