“What are you thinking?”
“At first, I thought I’d finish the year in Edinburgh while you’re busy with hockey, but I’ve changed my mind. I want to move to Las Vegas in a couple of weeks, after I resign from my job and pack up my things. I’ll stay with you until hockey season is over, and use that time to come up with a plan. When the time comes, we’ll move here and settle in. King Erik gave me several good options, and while I’m not ready to make a decision, I don’t have to. We can take some time to just be together. Once you’ve completed your first six months in the military, maybe I’ll go on a tour, giving astronomy lectures about my research. I’ve already had several of my old professors say they’d be interested, but I’ll try to do that while you’re in the Middle East. That way, I won’t be at home doing nothing but worrying about you. Once you’re back in Limaj, maybe we can start talking about babies.”
“Babies?” I hadn’t been expecting that at all.
“Well, okay, maybe one baby.”
I chuckled.
“But seriously, this feels like the perfect time for me to do some of the things I’ve never been brave enough to do, like guest lecturing and writing a book. If you can do something so different from your current career, I can too, and knowing we’re coming home to each other makes it that much sweeter.”
“It does,” I said, pulling her close. “I just need you to be sure. Because I’m probably going to be distracted and hyper-focused on whatever my training is.”
“Do you love me?”
“So fucking much.”
“Then yes, I’m sure.”
We moved together and everything else disappeared. I didn’t remember taking off our clothes or even how good it felt to be inside of her again. I didn’t remember anything about breakups or military training or even babies. What I did remember, was how it felt to kiss and touch her, to be connected to her both physically and emotionally. Our bodies moved together easily, and while the passion was still there, it had morphed into something more. Something that spoke of the promise of love, the excitement of a lifetime of adventure, and the mating of two souls. I’d never made this kind of love, and by the time we finished, we were as emotionally spent as we were physically.
“I cannae believe you’re leaving in the morning,” she murmured.
“Come with me,” I whispered back. “I mean, separate flight, but come with me.”
“I have to go home,” she said. “Just for a short time. I need to clean out my office, collect all my research, and leave my letter of resignation.”
“So when will you come to Vegas?”
“Perhaps a week? Maybe ten days, if it takes longer to clean out my things.”
“And then a wedding this summer?”
“I haven’t been proposed to,” she murmured.
“Assuming there’s a proposal forthcoming, a wedding this summer?”
“Yes.”
“Honeymoon, and then we move to Limaj?”
“That sounds like a plan.”
“It seems like this was so easy… How come it felt so complicated last summer?”
“We had to get used to the idea. Like you said, change isn’t that easy. Especially not these kinds of big changes.”
“With you at my side, I feel like I can do anything,” I whispered.
“Same.”
I leaned in to kiss her and then we were lost in each other all over again.
Epilogue
Dax
Game seven of the championship.
Double freakin’ overtime.
As my skates glided across the ice, I wasn’t aware of anything but the puck. It was to my left but there was a big-ass defenseman in my way. If I wanted to get to it, and I really did, I was going to have to take him out. But I couldn’t afford to get a penalty, because this was my chance to bring the whole damn thing home. One last game, one last championship, one last everything hockey.
I slowed down and turned to my right, catching Tore’s eye as he came up on my other side. We’d practiced plays like this a thousand times, but this was different. This was the fucking championship and everything was on the line. Especially for me.
I skated behind the D-man with the puck, and Tore made a play for it, and when the other guy turned in my direction to get away from Tore, I lowered my shoulder and rammed it into his chest. He fell back and Tore grabbed the puck, skating towards their net. I was to his left and Tore sent the puck over to me as we passed the red line. I had no choice but to pass it to Ian, who was skating up the middle. He didn’t have a shot and he sent it back to Tore.
The three of us played hot potato with the puck a handful of times before I saw the opening.
Fuck.
This was it.
I positioned myself to the right of the goalie and waited for Tore to get me the puck. And when it came, it was beautiful. A perfect pass, right onto the blade of my stick.
And I missed the fucking net.
Sonofabitch.
My shift was almost over and I knew the guys on the next line were chomping at the bit to get on the ice and give us a rest. I didn’t want to rest but I had no choice and I was skating back to the bench when one of the guys from Carolina speared Tore right between the skates. Tore went down and the referee blew
