Page 55 of Heart Checked By the Hockey Heartthrob

My eyes widen. "Really?"

"Beck said I am one hundred percent permanent in his book."

The weight of those words lands squarely in my heart. Heisstaying. He’s rooted now. He chose this life. He chose me.

I sink deeper into his arms, burying my face against his chest. "You make it really hard not to fall in love with you again."

His laugh is soft against my hair. "Then stop trying."

I tilt my head back to meet his eyes. "Maybe I already have."

He kisses me then—not the sweet, careful kiss from the night before, but something deeper. Certain. Something that says we’ve made it through the fire and come out whole.

The echo of laughter from the locker room drifts through the hallway, but all I hear is the steady rhythm of his heart.

He pulls back just enough to murmur, "Let’s go slow. But not distant."

I nod, tears stinging the corners of my eyes. "No more distance."

As we walk out, Wes pauses by the rink door. "Oh, I almost forgot. I wanted to give you something."

He hands me a folded piece of paper from his coat pocket. It’s crumpled like it’s been opened and reread a dozen times.

My name is scrawled across the front.

I open it. Inside is a handwritten note:

Quinn,

No more rumors. Just truth.

I’m not going anywhere.

–W

I look up, and he’s watching me with that steady, earnest gaze that always undoes me.

I smile through the lump in my throat.

Together, we step out into the night.

Not afraid.

Not uncertain.

Together.

Chapter twenty-one

Quinn

The Sunset Cove Summer Bash is in full swing by the time Wes and I arrive. The waterfront park sparkles with string lights, picnic tables are covered in red-checkered cloths, and kids dart between booths, their cheeks sticky with cotton candy and lemonade. Music floats from the gazebo where a bluegrass band plays, and the scent of grilled corn and barbecue ribs hangs in the air.

Wes reaches for my hand as we stroll past the dunk tank, where Griff is heckling Beckett into volunteering. “I’ll donate a hundred bucks if Beckett gets dunked!” he shouts.

Beckett shoots him with a mock glare. “You just want to see me cold and wet.”

“And humbled,” Wes adds with a grin.

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