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"You want to get out of here?"
"Absolutely."
And with that, I grab Lily's hand, bypassing everyone clinking beer mugs and cocktail glasses, and make for the exit with the woman I plan on making happy for the rest of our lives.
Epilogue
It’s a Love Story
Lily
Three Months Later
"Talk about lifestyles of the rich and the famous," I say as I walk through Tyra’s Hollywood Hills mansion. I feel like I’m in an episode of Selling Sunset. Her house is luxury personified. "Seriously, I’m scared to touch anything."
"Don’t be ridiculous. Touch whatever you want," Tyra says, rolling her eyes.
"Says the woman holding a glass of red wine on a white couch," Holly laughs.
"Meh, what’s the point in having money if you’re not going to spend it?" That’s such a rich person thing to say. But she has a point, and Tyra has done an excellent job of spending her money on this house. It’s a five-bedroom, six-bathroom bungalow with a stunning view of Los Angeles. Did I mention it has an infinity pool? Oh, and this is technically a work trip.What is my life?
The Northmen are on their West Coast road trip. I travelled with the team to Arizona, Las Vegas, Anaheim, and San Jose providing all-star meals on the road, mainly dependent on grocery delivery services to our hotels. It was a shit load of work organizing meals, pre-ordering food, and preparing it, but it was all worth it. Chase said the team meals have been essential for team building, especially before the playoffs start next month.
I’m happy to finally have a few days off in LA before the team’s last road game against the Rebels, which is Avery’s husband’s old team. It’s his first time back playing in LA since he was traded to the Northmen at last year’s trade deadline, which is part of why we decided it was time to tack on a girl’s trip to the tail end of this road trip. Holly, Avery, and I were already travelling with the team. Riley is off school for March Break, and Taylor, Holly’s sister, didn’t need an excuse to visit Tyra, who happily opened up her home to host us all.
The rest of the team is staying in a hotel near the arena. The players still have morning skates and practices to attend, but they get a little time off to enjoy the city and sunshine. It’s still wintery and cold in Toronto, and we all need a little Vitamin D. Well, I may have been getting a little too much Vitamin D thanks to Chase—I crack myself up. That man can go for days, and I’m not complaining. Lots of orgasms make Lily a happy girl. So much so that I start referring to myself in the third person.
We get two full days in LA to relax and recuperate before the team is back in action, and then we’re all flying home to Toronto. So the boys are doing their thing, and us girls are doing ours.
"Who wants champagne?" Tyra asks the group from her stunning kitchen. She has one of those kitchens where all the appliances are camouflaged into the countertops and cabinets. I opened a cupboard I thought was for glasses and realized it was the fridge.
Tyra holds up a fancy bottle and uses her thumb to pop the cork like a rocket.
"Is that Veuve Clicquot?" Avery asks, eyes bulging out of her head. "Isn’t that stuff like stupid expensive?"
"Just take the drink," Taylor laughs, accepting a flute from Tyra and kissing her on the cheek. "Over the last year, I’ve learned to pick my battles. If Tyra wants to spoil you, she’ll just do it. Plus, the bottle’s already open, so we might as well drink up."
"Hell to the yes," I salute, downing my champagne. It’s delicious with just the right amount of bubble. Fruity with notes of pear, apple, and a slightly spicy finish. My eyes wander around the room, and I notice Riley’s barely even sipped hers. "Drink up, Riley! It’s your March Break. Let loose. Get drunk! I want to see some Girls Gone Wild shit up in here."
"You can have mine," she says, slightly green. "My stomach is still upset from something I ate on the plane." We picked up Riley from the airport this morning. She obviously couldn’t travel with the team while she was still teaching, so she jumped on a plane as soon as school was out.
But something is off with her. She’s been weird since she and Ozzy fell into one of their "off" periods in their on-again-off-again romance. But I can’t blame her. I’d be pissed, too, if Chase suddenly decided to become the face of a singles dating app and took a brand deal with Connor and Chloe Tate, TikTok’s biggest sibling FBoy and FGirl.
"So what are we doing first?" I ask excitedly. This is the first time we have had time off in months. Holly, Avery, and Taylor have been travelling with the team most weeks. I’ve been travelling and cooking my ass off for a bunch of hockey players with hollow, never-ending stomachs. And Riley has been up to her eyeballs in whiny students and miserable parents who think their children can do no wrong. This break is well deserved. "The Hollywood sign? Are we going clubbing?"
Everyone looks at each other and smiles knowingly.What do they know that I don’t know?
"Well, I’m kind of a celebrity." Tyra smiles in fake modesty. "And Chase may have asked me to pull some strings so we could all go to this very popular, very sold-out concert tonight." Oh. My. God. This isn’t happening. This. Is. Not. Happening. She’s not saying what I think she’s saying. There’s no way. No one can get tickets to this concert. I tried. I waited for hours online, in waiting room after waiting room, to get tickets, only to have the site crash, crushing my dreams along with it.
"Shut up! Shut all the way up. He did not."
"He did."
"No, he didn’t.No, you didn’t.If you’re getting my hopes up right now only to tell me we’re going to some stupid concert like John Mayer, I will strangle you."
"We’re not going to see John Mayer." Avery laughs, and I swear to god, I start to vibrate.
"Are you taking me to see Taylor Swift?" I scream, even though I don’t mean to. I can’t control the volume of my voice. I’m having an out-of-body experience. Tyra nods, and I think I might actually explode with excitement.
