Page 99 of The Girlfriend Goal
"You could always come here," I suggested. "We're doing Friendsgiving with some of the team."
"Tempting," Jared mused. "But Matt's mom already bought a turkey the size of a small car. Rain check for Christmas?"
"Deal, though Lance might be traveling."
"About that." Lance cleared his throat. "I've been thinking about Christmas."
Something in his tone made me look up from setting the table. "Yeah?"
"My aunt wants to do Tahoe. Small gathering, just family." He paused. "You are family. Will you come?"
The invitation shouldn't have surprised me – we'd been together officially for months. But family Christmas felt significant in a way that made my chest tight.
"I'd love to," I said softly.
"Thank God," Jared's voice cut through the moment. "Because I already told his aunt you were coming and she's planned accordingly."
"You told his aunt? When?"
"We text. She sends me recipes and I send her photos of you being domestic. It's a whole thing."
"I'm hanging up now," Lance announced, reaching for my phone.
"Wait! Rachel, check your email. I sent wedding—"
Lance ended the call, tossing my phone aside. "Wedding what?"
"He's gotten worse since Matt proposed."
"Matt didn't propose."
"He's going to. Jared found the ring." I grinned at Lance's shocked expression. "Apparently Matt's been carrying it around for weeks, waiting for the 'perfect moment.'"
"That's actually really sweet."
"Right? Jared's pretending he doesn't know, but he's already planned their entire wedding. Twice."
"Of course he has." Lance pulled me against him. "What about you? Ever think about it? Marriage, future, all that?"
My heart rate spiked. "Sometimes."
His kiss tasted like promise. We ate dinner trading stories about our days, comfortable in ways I'd never imagined being with another person.
Later, curled on his couch watching film from his last game, I let myself imagine this as permanent. Not the apartment or the city, but theusof it all. Lance rewinding plays to explain defensive positioning, me half-listening while playing with his hair. Building something together, one day at a time.
"I saved enough this month to send extra home," I mentioned during a commercial break. "Mom cried. Happy tears, but still. She said Ryan's doing better. The new therapist is helping, and he's talking about community college."
"That's great news."
"Yeah." I snuggled closer. "Everything's kind of working out, isn't it?"
"Don't jinx it," he laughed. "But yeah. It really is."
Three weeks later, the call-up came through. Calgary had two defensemen injured, creating Lance's opportunity. I drove him to the airport, both of us vibrating with nervous energy.
"It's just three games," he said for the tenth time. "Might not even play."
"You'll play." I fixed his collar, unnecessarily fussing. "And you'll be brilliant. And I'll watch every second online."
