Page 215 of Lose You Twice

The crowd grows even louder, bringing my attention back to the ice as the trophy is brought out. Kai lifts it into the air, his teammates surrounding him, his smile going from ear to ear. He takes in the moment before passing off the trophy, eyes scanning briefly before finding mine. He skates over to the bench and grabs the front of my shirt, pulling me to him.

He wastes no time bringing my lips to his, and I smile against his mouth.

I’ve realized that home isn’t a place for me.

It’s a person.

And I’ll always find my way back home.

EPILOGUE

Wren

Eighteen Months Later

My best friend is terrible at keeping secrets.

Not because she’s incapable of keeping them, but because I know her all too well and know every last one of her nervous tells, including the one she’s doing now.

Since the second she picked me up, I don’t think she’s stopped talking.

“Harlow,” I say, turning toward her in the car. “What’s going on?”

“Huh?” She quickly looks my way before moving her eyes back to the road. “Nothing’s going on. We’re going to dinner, remember?”

“Then why haven’t you stopped talking long enough to take a full breath in the last fifteen minutes?”

Harlow winces. “Because I had a late coffee?”

“Mhmm. Likely story from the girl who can drink an espresso at nine and be snoring on the couch with her boyfriend by ten.”

“Sometimes I don’t like you.”

I brush her off. “Oh please, you love me.”

She sighs, stopping at a red light. “This is true. I love you a lot. You’re stuck with me for the rest of your life.”

“The rest of my life?” I laugh, leaning back into my seat.

“Well, yeah.” She shrugs. “If I die first, I’ll come back and haunt you as your own personal ghost.”

We both burst into a fit of laughter, but she’s not wrong.

I look out my window, happy to be back in California for a vacation during Kai and Grayson’s offseason. It worked out that Grayson and Harlow were also coming home for the same week, so we’re heading to dinner while the boys visit their old teammates at PCU.

It’s been a year and a half of Kai playing for the Seattle Stormbreakers, and this last season was my first living there full-time. I still came home for a long weekend here and there when Kai was on the road, but the majority of my time was spent in Seattle.

Harlow finished out her final year of college and just moved in with Grayson a couple of months ago. I won’t lie. I’m beyond excited to have my best friend living in the same city as me again.

Plus, it’s basically a built-in game partner. She also lets me style her, so win-win.

I’ve been playing more with photography over the last year, and I have to admit, it’s a lot more fun when you’re not tying your future to it. When you can just be in the present, capturing moments that others want to remember forever.

Outside of that, I’ve been volunteering at a few different places. The local women's shelter, a foster agency, as well as our local soup kitchen.

Kai tags along when he can, which I appreciate more than he knows.

He’s also made it a point to be at every doctor’s appointment that he can. Every specialist appointment, every test, every time I need him, he’s there.