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“Try this,” Ro says, passing me the lemon drop martini she just drank a sip of.
I take a sip and cringe. “It’s too sweet.”
“I’m going to get you to start branching out,” she says. “Drinking something other than long islands.”
“Long islands are my jam. Don’t be hating on them.”
Ro turns to Maverick. “Does she drink anything else at home?”
He shakes his head. “We mostly drink water at home.”
“You guys,” Ro says, rolling her eyes. “You’re already like a couple of married fiftysomethings.”
I laugh, because it’s true. I’m going to bed at a normal time now that I don’t play poker all night anymore. When Maverick is home, we usually curl up in front of the TV to eat takeout and watch a movie.
“We’re a lot closer to thirty than you are, Ro,” Maverick says, grinning.
“Do you guys go out after every show?” I ask Ro.
She shrugs. “Usually, even if it’s just for a little while. We hate to say no when everyone else is going.”
“I don’t mind saying no,” Jason says, grinning at her. “It’s nice to take a hot shower and chill after a show. But if she wants to go out, I don’t mind.”
“If age is really a state of mind, you should all get a senior discount,” Ro says playfully.
“I’d take it,” I say.
“Oh!” Her expression lights up as a new song starts playing and she looks at Jason. “I love this song! Dance with me, baby!”
“Of course.”
They head off to the dance floor, where they dance to the pop song, smiling and kissing often. And of course, they steal the show as professional dancers.
“You don’t want to see me dance,” I tell Maverick.
“Same. I mean, when we go to weddings we have to slow dance, but you won’t see me flossing or anything.”
“I don’t think flossing is still a thing.”
“It never should’ve been a thing.”
I lean into him and kiss his cheek. “Thanks for coming out tonight. I know bars with dance floors aren’t really your scene.”
“Yours, either,” he says, winking.
“No, I’ll take a small-town dive bar with a jukebox and pool tables over this any day,” I admit.
“Hell yeah. Where you can get a bucket of beers for ten bucks and play some darts.”
“But Ro loves places like this, and I love Ro,” I say.
“And I love you, so here we are.”
“Here we are.” I kiss him and he puts an arm around me, pulling me closer.
He leans his forehead against mine and says, “As long as I’m with you, I’m exactly where I want to be.”
Epilogue
Maverick
“A mini Alexei Petrov?” I clap my teammate on the back. “Watch out, world. That’s fucking awesome, dude. Congratulations.”
“Thanks, man. We’re stoked. We decided to wait to tell everyone until we found out the sex. It’s been really hard keeping it a secret.”
“A son.” Pike claps Alexei on the shoulder. “Congrats, brother.”
Alexei made the announcement in our locker room before practice that he and his wife Graysen are expecting a son, and everyone’s in high spirits now. There won’t be any toasting to the good news, because Alexei is a recovering alcoholic who no longer drinks alcohol. But we’ll find another way to celebrate.
“We need to have a baby shower for you guys,” I say. “How do we even do that?”
“Ask Gia,” Pax says.
“Nah, I’ve got this. I’m having a baby shower for you guys at my house. We’ll grill some food and watch football.”
“Dude, that’s not what you do at a baby shower,” Grady says.
“It’s my baby shower; we’ll do it however I want.”
Alexei grins. “I’m in. Graysen will be, too. You guys are still about the only people we know here.”
His wife is a therapist, and between her work schedule and watching her husband’s home games, I wonder how much time she’s had to make friends here. It doesn’t sound like much. I need to ask Gia to reach out to her.
Gia’s got more time on her hands now. She only plays poker one or two nights a week, and I go with her when I can. I love seeing her in action. She’s also taking several classes at a community college, trying to see if anything sparks her interest enough to potentially start a career that fulfills her.
It’s good—so damn good—having a partner in life. Gia is my best friend, and now I have so much more than hockey to fulfill me. In the off-season, Gia and I are going to Iceland, to take the trip she had planned to go on with her father before he died. We’ve been buying furniture for the house, which is starting to look less like an oversized bachelor pad and more like a home. She says she doesn’t need a ring to feel secure in our relationship, but I want to put one on her finger anyway. I’m waiting until we’ve been together for a year, because she’s already adapted to a lot of life changes in the recent months. I don’t want to overwhelm her.
