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He immediately breaks into a wide grin, though his eyes are still closed. “Thanks,” he croaks.

“How was the party?” I ask him, gently stroking his face.

“Heavenly.”

I laugh softly. “I’m glad.”

Evan turns slightly so he’s looking at my face. He kisses the spot on my chest that he can easily reach from here. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” I say truthfully. Just because I didn’t want to be at the arena with him doesn’t mean I didn’t miss him and wouldn’t have loved to share that moment with him.

“On the ice, at dinner. It was nice with my mom and Joanne. But I wanted you with me.”

“Next time,” I whisper.

Evan grins. “Of course. I’ll do that every year now.” He gently nips my side, and I pull him back by his beard.

“Now tell me, what did you guys do?”

He groans and runs his hand over his forehead. “Didn’t eat enough, drank too much, took too many photos. I think I danced. I’m already sorry in advance if any pictures of that end up circulating.”

Laughing, I run my fingers through his hair.

“And you guys? How was your evening? Carly and Ricky aren’t here anymore, are they?”

“No. They went home yesterday. They and my dad say hi and congratulations.”

He smiles. Contentedly. “Thanks. That makes me happy. Did you guys have fun?”

“Fun? Give me a break. I aged ten years. And when you shot the puck back in overtime, I thought you’d missed your mark. My poor fingernails. My heart. Everyone had to suffer.”

Evan laughs. “Puckling, we practiced that a hundred thousand times. We had a chance to try the play. I still can’t believe it actually worked though.”

“Hmm . . . ” I lean back.

“Blake invited us and a few other people to his house in Belgium.”

“Oh.” I sit up straight again. “And?” We’d talked about it. But we hadn’t come to a conclusion.

Evan hesitates. “I hinted that we wouldn’t be going.”

Disappointment sinks into my stomach. “Oh.”

Evan sits up and cups my chin. Gently, he presses a kiss to my lips. “If you really want to, we can go, but I was thinking we’d better spend some time alone together. Sid isn’t going either. He’s with Valentina in LA. And I don’t think I want to spend my vacation with the Millers and their kids, who are wonderful, by the way. I want to be alone with you. With no stress at all.”

When he puts it that way, it doesn’t sound so bad anymore. “And where do you want to go?”

“To my house in the Hamptons?”

“You have a house in the Hamptons?” I snap at him.

Grinning, he kisses me again. “Not yet, but I want a place for the two of us where we can get away. And I’m not sure if flying overseas is the best idea for you right now. Next year, okay? You wanted to think about your job, and I . . . ”

He pauses and glances at me. Finally, he rests his head on my stomach again. “I’ve decided to come out. Grady is offering to help me. He has connections at a reputable magazine that will publish a written interview, one I’ll approve beforehand. He wants to schedule a few specific appointments during the off-season so I can handle them at my own pace. But for that, it’s best if I’m here. In between, I just want to go to the beach with you, spend some time by the pool, and chill.”

“Sounds amazing,” I whisper.

He nods. “Is that okay with you?”