And the best I could've ever wished for.
EPILOGUE
"Let’s go, 72!"
I watched as Tolliver rushed down the ice with the puck.
"Come on, Stone! Hit 'em!"
Hazel gave me side-eye. "Are you serious right now?"
"What?" I said then growled when a player from the other team plowed into Tolliver. "Come on, ref! Open your eyes. He slashed that!"
"Do you even know what you're saying?"
"No really," I confessed. "I'm still learning."
Hazel sat back as I yelled again. "Oh, I think you've learned enough."
Suddenly, Tolliver and Hudson were storming up the ice. His brother passed to him as Tolliver crossed the center line, charging straight for the goal. At least, I knew what this was. A breakaway. Tolliver was sailing up the ice on a breakaway.
"Come on, come on," I said.
When he shot, the puck rebounded off the goalie's leg pads, but Tolliver got a second chance. And that one went right between the guy's legs. The red buzzer went off. Me and the rest of the Chapel Hill fans jumped to our feet and cheered.
"Yeah, Tolliver! Way to go!" I yelled.
As he got piled on by the rest of his teammates, Elle nodded.
"That was a good play," she said. "Nice assist from Hudson too. He usually likes to score, but he read that one right. Something's lit a fire in Tolliver."
Hazel sent me a look. "I wonder what that is."
"You seem lucky," Elle said to me. "You should come watch me play too."
"Yeah, I will," I said.
Hazel simply shook her head.
"What?"
"Nothing," she said with a sigh. "I just hoped they wouldn't convert you."
"Convert me how?"
"Into a mindless, hockey-loving fangirl."
I put my hands on my hips. "You take that back. My mind is fine, and I'm nobody's fangirl."
"What she said," Elle retorted. "And I'm actually a hockey player, so I don't think you can classify me as a fan—even though technically, I'm that too."
Hazel threw me a knowing smile. "Your boyfriend obviously likes you fangirling."
"Hazel, what the what?" I said. "I thought we were friends, writers in arms, readers who love reading."
"That last one was the best."
"Thanks. So?"
