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"Why wouldn't I be? I have the prettiest, most badass girl holding my hand, and I'm about to take her home and do some wickedly naughty things to her," I said, winking.
She laughed. "Is that all?"
"Actually, I do have some news to share with you."
Her eyes widened. "Since you’re in such a good mood, I'm going to assume it's not bad news."
I shook my head. "No, I think you'll like it. When Bo showed up, he was trying to get me to take a commentator job that would put me back in the game full-time. It's the closest I can get to football with my knee the way is. It was a good deal, but I didn't want to leave Hanalei and then when I fired him, it seemed like a moot point. But after watching you do something scary and brave, I decided I needed to do that for myself. So Icalled the network and pitched a new idea—I suggested being a part-time commentator, calling bowl games, but otherwise, I’d work remotely behind the scenes on content. I want to do more outreach too. They have a youth program in place, but it's only in big cities. So I’ll work on expanding that too."
"That sounds like a perfect compromise. What did they say?"
I smiled at her. "They loved it. In a few days' time, I’ll officially be a college football commentator and outreach specialist. I'll get to call a half a dozen games a year and when I'm not doing that, I'll be organizing their youth football camps across the country, including setting up new ones on the islands."
She stopped then and threw herself at me, and I laughed, twirling her around in a big hug. "I am so proud of you," she enthused. "It sounds perfect for you. You get to stay involved with the game, while also spreading your love of football with the kids."
I nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty excited. I’ll have to cut back on surf lessons, of course, but I’m alright with that," I laughed.
She beamed at me. "We're really doing this—we're putting our lives together."
"Together being the operative word, my dear Haley," I told her, kissing her softly on the nose.
She gazed up at me. "I cannot believe we found our way back to each other. I’m so very grateful."
I leaned down and kissed her sweetly. "No more grateful than me."
We walked arm and arm back to her house, and when we got there, we discovered several messages on the landline phone's answering machine.
Only a few people even had this phone number and they rarely left messages, but there were at least a half a dozen on there.
Haley looked at me, nervous, swallowing hard before she said, "Well, might as well get this over with," before she hit the play button.
A familiar voice rang in the air.
"Haley? Listen, I'm still really mad, okay? But... I also miss you. I think I'm going to be mad for a while, but I just wanted to hear your voice. I'll call back later." Beep.
Haley looked at me with hope in her eyes. "Tess," she whispered.
"I told you she'd soften up—in record time, too," I teased.
The tape advanced to the next message, and it was Tess again, although this time she didn't sound sad. Her voice was almost shrill as she shouted, "Oh, my God, girl, what did you just do? That was fucking awesome! Fuck that guy, I'm so excited for you!" Beep.
It advanced to the next message. "Haley! What. The. Fuck. I am so proud of you. I don't even know where to start. This is amazing. I'm still mad, by the way," Tess said before she continued, "but I'm also really happy for the two people I love the most. Listen, I can't get away for a couple more days, but I've already booked a flight. So I will come in personally to check on both of you pains in the asses. I love you..." Beep.
Haley looked at me with tears in her eyes. "It's okay, let them go," I told her, pulling her into my arms, and she soaked my shirt with her happy tears. I knew Tess would have to come around to my side eventually because she was my little sister, but there were a couple of moments where I was genuinely worried if she would ever forgive Haley.
I was so relieved for Haley's sake that she would be reunited with her best friend again—that loving each other wouldn’t ruin her other most important relationship.
"You know what?" I asked Haley. "This has been one hell of a productive day. But there's still something very important weneed to do," I told her in a husky voice, as I pulled back and led her to the bedroom.
She smiled. "What on earth could that be, Mr. Barclay?"
"Why don't you come back here and let me show you..." I teased.
She giggled. "Well, I will never tire of you showing me."
"Good, because I intend to do it for the rest of our lives," I told her as I pulled her into me, covering her mouth with mine, tasting home and forever.
Epilogue
