Page 96 of Blocked Score

His shoulders pinch, like he’s a kid who got caught stealing a cookie. “I shouldn’t have eavesdropped. I’m sorry. But?—”

I cut him off. “That’snot the thing you shouldn’t have done! You shouldn’t have made a huge career decision just based on my insecurity!” I’m almost laughing as I exclaim those words. I still can’t believe what Lane’s telling me.

But as my brain finally starts to process this, a happy warmth glows in my chest, radiating through me.

“If you had any insecurity about how I feel about you, how I’m going tokeepfeeling about you, it’s my fault. When I realized that, I had to make up for it. I asked myself how I could do that, and this is what popped into my head.”

“You overheard me venting to my friendonce, and changed the whole trajectory of your pro career?”

He just shrugs, like that’s the most natural thing in the world.

“If I stayed with San Jose, eventually you would’ve realized that how I feel about you was never going to change. But that would’ve taken time. You’ve had enough experience not knowing that people in your life care about you the way they should. I didn’t want to waste any time making sure you know that I do.”

I leap from my bed into Lane’s lap, needing to wrap my arms around his neck and pull myself as close to him as possible.

“Oh, one more thing,” Lane says.

I pull myself away from the crook of his neck just enough to look at him.

“I love you.”

My heart melts in my chest. “I love you, Lane,” I say, and saying it feels so good, so right.

“We should take a trip to Montreal this weekend. You’re gonna be spending a lot of time there over the next couple years, too. Might as well get our bearings up there.”

A smile curls on my lips. “Maybe we should take a flight up.”

“Just promise you’ll bring a pair of earbuds just ready to run out of charge while you’re listening to an audiobook next to me. I’m feeling nostalgic.”

I’m so happy that tears are pricking at the edges of my eyes. “Maybe I’ll find an excuse to climb up a fire escape and slip off.”

“Can’t promise I’ll catch you this time. My body isn’t what it was a couple years ago, and I’ve got an NHL contract to fulfill.”

Tears of laughter allow me to mask the sappier ones. “Maybe I’ll forgive you if you wait on me hand and foot while I’m recovering.”

“Sounds kinky. It’s a deal.”

As I press my lips to Lane’s, I realize I’ve never felt more loved than in this moment.

Tears prick at my eyes again, because I also realize I have a lifetime of feeling like this ahead of me.

EPILOGUE

LANE

“Come on, Tuck, you can’t cry everyfiveminutes.” Olivia, Tuck’s girlfriend, playfully nudges him with a smile on her face, both of them decked out in Brumehill’s forest green graduation caps and gowns.

“Yeah, even Summer’s keeping it to once every ten or fifteen minutes,” Hudson says, nuzzling Summer’s momentarily uncapped head.

Tuck sniffles. “I’m not crying,” he says, eyes glistening.

Hell, it’s hard for me to keep the emotions down myself. It’s graduation day, and campus is flooded with students wearing their gowns, and their families and friends who’ve come from all over to celebrate the day. It’s not a challenge to spot a damp pair of eyes anywhere you look.

It’s been fun seeing all my teammates’ families.

It’s also nice seeing Hudson actually getting along with his dad. Hudson had a bad relationship for years with his father, legendary NHL defenseman Ed Voss, but they’ve been mending things recently. I felt a little dab of wetness in my own eyes when I saw Mr. Voss’s proud face when he pulled Hudson in for a big bear hug.

Rhys’s mom is here, and it’s always adorable seeing how she dotes on Maddie. I swear, she already considers Maddie like her own daughter, and she might as well, because I wouldn’t be surprised if my sister and Rhys were married a couple years from now.

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