Page 99 of Don't Puck His Best Friend
"What? I'm just asking."
"You're fishing."
"Can you blame me? My daughter finally brings home a young man who isn't a complete disaster."
Harper looks at me apologetically, but I'm grinning.
Later, we're sitting on her parents' back porch while they're inside cleaning up dinner. The sun is setting, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink.
"That wasn't so bad," I say.
"My dad likes you. He didn't threaten you with any farm equipment. That's a good sign."
"Does your family have a farm I don’t know about?"
"No. He would have to borrow equipment specifically to threaten you if he didn't like you."
I pull her into my lap, and she settles against me with easy familiarity. "Your mom asked when we're getting married."
Harper groans. "I'm so sorry."
I grin. "Don't be. It's a fair question."
She pulls back to look at me, searching my face. "Cole..."
"I'm not proposing right now, relax. But..." I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm not ruling it out for the future. Just so you know where my head's at."
Her eyes are wide. "The future future?"
"Yeah. The future future."
"We're still in college."
"I know. I'm not in a rush. I just want you to know that this isn't casual for me. It never has been."
She kisses me, soft and lingering. "It's not casual for me either."
We stay outside until the mosquitoes drive us in, talking about plans and dreams and all the ways our lives might unfold. It feels significant, this conversation. Like we're building something real and lasting.
August arrives too quickly. The lazy pace of summer starts to pick up as we both prepare to head back to school. My last year of college, of hockey, of this particular chapter of our lives.
"I can't believe I only have one year left with you here," Harper says one evening. "What happens after?" She's holding one of my old hockey jerseys, the one from high school. "After graduation, I mean."
"I don't know yet. Depends on a lot of things." I take the jersey from her and fold it properly.
There's a hesitation in her voice that makes me look up. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I just... sometimes I get scared that everything is going to change. That you’re going to graduate and we’ll go in different directions and this will all just become a memory."
I set down the box I'm holding and pull her close. "Harper, I'm not going anywhere. Not without you."
"You don't know that. What if you get some amazing job offer across the country?"
"Then you'll come with me."
"What about my career?"
"Then I'll follow you. Or we'll find somewhere that works for both of us. I don't have all the answers, but I know I want you in my future. That's not negotiable."
