Page 79 of Hooked
“Congratulations on the engagement, by the way,” Mr. Walton said.
“Thank you, sir. I think I almost gave her whiplash with how fast I busted out the ring, but I knew I couldn't risk letting her get away.”
Everyone chuckled.
“As for the future here in Colorado? Absolutely, I wanna stay here and build on where we left off last season. Losing in the second round of the playoffs stung—but it only makes us that much hungrier to get right back in the mix next year. The team is still young, we're still gonna grow and get better with every year. I want to be here, to lead them, to be the leader I was meant to be from day one.”
Mr. Walton stoically nodded while he let my words soak in. Then, slowly, a crack appeared in the facade, and a big smile broke out. “So how's Honor doing?” he asked.
“Honor? She's great. She loves her new position in the Fan Relations department—thanks again for that favor! It meant so much to us both. And yeah, I'll miss seeing her out there on the ice, but she's happier doing what shereallywants to do—charity, and helping out the kids.” I checked my watch. “In fact? She should be out on the ice now.”
Mr. Walton rose from his chair. I walked with him to the north wall of his office, where the curtains were drawn. He pulled the curtains aside and revealed a view of the rink's ice. Honor was engaged with a group of young children from the hospital, giving them their first-ever skating lesson.
Mr. Walton beamed as he watched Honor with the kids. “They're really happy with her in Fan Relations, you know. You should see all the glowing email reports I get about her. She's a sweet girl, isn't she?”
“Yes, sir. Truly.”
“Can I count on her to keep you out of trouble?”
I laughed. “I hope so. I'm not letting her out of my sight anytime soon.”
Mr. Walton returned to his desk. He opened a drawer, pulled out a stapled stack of paper, and pushed it across the table.
“There's our offer. We'd be glad to have you back, Hunter.”
My agent snatched up the contract and quickly leafed through it. Truth be told, I didn't care about the money—I'd play for peanuts if it meant another chance to see this thing through and be the player I was meant to be. But my agent was impressed by what he read, at least. He jutted his lip out and gave me the thumbs up.
Mr. Walton winked at me. “It's your asking price.”
“Wow. Thank you, Mr. Walton.” I took the pen, signed on the dotted lines, and we shook hands.
“So what's on your agenda for the rest of the day?” Mr. Walton asked me as he walked me to the door.
“Right now? I'm gonna go put on my skates and help my fiancée teach these kids how to skate. After that? If Ihadto guess, we'll start house shopping. She keeps telling me what a waste of money it is, living in that hotel—”
Mr. Walton interjected with a laugh, “And she's not wrong!”
“I know, I know.” I shook my head, slightly ashamed. “But she'll be so excited to hear the news that we're staying in Colorado. I've got to imagine the house hunt starts today.”
He patted me on the back. “Good man. Best of luck to you two.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Epilogue:
Three Years Later
Honor
I heard Hunter's shout through the mesh-screen door. “Honor, sweetheart, you gotta come see this!”
“Okay. Just one second,” I yelled back. I finished my brush-stroke and tilted my head at my work. From this elevation, the lush green cedars that covered the craggy mountainside looked like the coarse stubble on a man's rugged jawline.
It was hard to capture the majesty of the mountains, andoh-so-easyto be frustrated by my attempts. Still, I loved painting them, even if I thought I sucked.
Hunter always tells me that I'm agreatpainter, but I'm not so sure he knows what 'great' painting is, ha ha. But, even I have to admit, I've gotten a lot better over the years. It helps when you have all this amazing beautyrightoutside your window and you feel like youhaveto paint it or you're letting it go to waste.
It also helps that Hunterfinallytalked me into signing up for art school … it's hard to fit classes in my busy schedule and with all my duties—but I'm doing it!
