Page 71 of Lucky
Caleb appears behind Lucky, towering and quiet as ever.“You break Winnie’s heart, I’ll break your legs.”But Caleb has two beers in hand and offers one to Lucky as he turns toward my brother.“Cheers.”
“Caleb,” my mom scolds, swatting him on the arm.“Give the man a minute before you threaten violence.”
Lucky’s eyes twinkle with humor.I’m sure he knows that Caleb is dead serious about the broken heart/broken legs dichotomy, but he’s a man who appreciates a close, protective family dynamic.
And then there’s Sadie—front teeth missing, wearing a sparkly tutu and a T-shirt that saysI like big books and I cannot lie.
She marches up to Lucky, hands on her hips.“Are you the hockey guy?”
Lucky kneels to her eye level.“I am.Are you the niece with strong opinions?”
She grins.“My dad says if you hurt Aunt Winnie, he’ll turn your jockstrap into a slingshot.”
The entire room bursts into laughter, Lucky laughing louder than us all, and just like that, he’s accepted into the Shaw family.
Dinner is warm and chaotic.The table is loud with overlapping conversation.My dad asks about the pressures of playing professionally.Caleb quizzes Lucky on his training regimen.Eli quietly watches, as is his way, but I can tell he likes him.I mean… everyone likes Lucky.I doubt he has a single enemy, except maybe when he’s on the ice.
And through it all, Lucky is… wonderful.He doesn’t show off, doesn’t brag.He’s humble.Charming.Funny in that low-key way of his.It’s not lost on me that maybe these were the qualities I was looking for and not just a one-size-fits-all moniker ofaverage.
I watch as he answers a question about balancing fame with privacy and realize—he never talks about this stuff with me.Never boasts.Never leads with his status.But listening to him now, I get it.He’s earned everything he has.
While he talks to my dad about team dynamics and road travel, I drift into a memory from this morning.
Another perfect one.
We woke up tangled, but I managed to slip out of bed without waking him.I fed Buttermilk, started coffee, and then Lucky wandered in half-asleep, hair sticking up and looking more handsome than ever.I spent a few seconds, once again marveling that I am who I am, that I had Lucky Branson standing in my kitchen.It felt natural as he toasted bagels while I sat on the counter, sipping coffee.I watched him move around my kitchen like he belonged there and knew without a doubt this wasn’t an experiment at all.
It was a revelation.
After breakfast, he kissed me long and slow by the front door, murmured that he couldn’t wait to meet my parents at dinner and then he was gone.
I had another cup of coffee and scrolled my phone.I still had plenty of time before I had to leave for school.
I went to the TikTok I posted last night from the privacy of the bathroom at Jerry’s Bar, proud of my vulnerability and hoping that it inspired others to be the same way with their feelings.I steeled myself to read more comments, knowing damn well the algorithm had changed.That I’d likely be faced with as much negativity as positivity, a new fact of life I’ll apparently have to get used to.
What I saw boggled my mind.Yes, there were dozens of harsh comments, making it clear those people didn’t think I was good enough for Lucky.But beneath every one of those comments, as far as I could scroll, Lucky had replied to them.
Comment after comment, he called them on the carpet.Not in an angry way, and certainly not defensive, but he was calm and kind in his rebuttals, defending his choice in me.I nearly started crying, because no man has ever protected me like that.I scrolled and scrolled, watching him go to bat for me, and realized—he must’ve stayed up half the night doing it.
“What happens when the TikTok attention fades?”Eli asks, his tone casual, but his eyes flick between me and Lucky like he’s testing something.
I blink, realizing I’d drifted again—thinking about Lucky, about our morning coffee, about all of it.
Lucky doesn’t miss a beat.He shrugs lightly, calm and sure.“It’s not relevant to me.”
There’s a quiet beat around the table, then all eyes land on me.
I clear my throat, feeling the weight of honesty settle on my tongue.“I didn’t expect the attention to be this big.It’s been… more intense than I thought.”
And a hell of a lot meaner than I wanted.
Lucky leans back a little, arm draping over the back of my chair.“My content has always just been fun.A way to connect with fans, keep things light, show that I’m not a stat sheet or a press conference.It’s an outlet.But… it’s never been personal.Not the way it is for Winnie.Sure… she might get some laughs, but she’s real and honest in her content.She puts herself out there and I admire the hell out of it.”
The compliment stirs something deep within me.“Thank you for recognizing that.”
He glances around the table, something quiet but solid in his gaze as it lands back on me.“I didn’t think we’d be discussing this here in front of your family, but what the hell… I can be real.Meeting you through social media was the surprise.Not something I ever thought would be me.But once it happened… once we started doing this for real… I stopped thinking of it as content, stopped thinking it was an experiment and started thinking of it as a relationship.”
My mom sighs.
