Page 157 of Learn Your Lesson

I knew then it was over.

I knew by the way he glided across that ice like a jaguar, his shoulders tight, neck bobbing left and right like he was just out for a stroll. He checked one of the Sacramento players hard against the glass, stealing the puck and driving it down the ice. He passed it to Vince only for Vince to dangle the puck and pass it right back to Suter.

Suter, who was in perfect position to the left corner of the net.

Suter, who made it look easy when he hit that puck, when his stick connected and drove it into the net.

Suter — who made the score two to one with less than thirty seconds left.

The resulting cheers from the fans were deafening. Even I threw my fist up from the goal, watching as Vince and Jaxson all but tackled Suter in celebration.

Holy fuck.

We’re about to win the Cup.

The realization had my heart picking up pace, my hands trembling a bit as I crouched in front of the goal the moment the puck was back in play. Sacramento pulled their goalie, subbing in an extra winger to try to score and get us back to a tie, but our guys were ruthless. We blockedthe puck, stole it, and sent it firing down the ice for an empty netter.

Less than a minute later, the final buzzer sounded.

And all hell broke loose.

• • •

Chloe

It was a mad house after the final buzzer — which had sent Ava screaming into my arms and immediately made us both start bawling. We were in a suite with Maven, Livia, and Grace — along with some other friends and family members of teammates.

We’d all lost our damn minds at the win, and then security was covering for us as we all rushed to get down to the ice.

Maven hooked her arm through mine, the four of us linking together so we wouldn’t get split up. These women had become like family to me — well, that was, after they yelled at me incessantly for keeping my relationship with Will from them for so long.

Thankfully, I’d made up for it by spilling all the details in the end.

These girlslivedfor dirty details.

Since then, we’d gone to dress fittings with Maven, had days at the beach, and even gone shopping together — which was new and surprisingly fun for me.

“We won! Daddy won!” Ava kept repeating as I carried her through the chaos, balancing her in the arm not linked with Maven. The crowd was thick outside of the suites, and all the way until we were in the tunnel under the stadium.Even then, media snapped photos and shoved cameras in our faces while we fought through.

Ava was a bit heavy in my arms, but I didn’t dare put her down. I held her tight, smiling at her through the madness. She was beaming in the new jersey I’d made her for the playoffs — navy blue and white but with glittery gold trim and outlines in honor of her favorite pop star, Mia Love.

Chef Patel and Uncle Mitch had wanted to be closer to the action for the game. I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket and knew it was her wondering where I was. Security led us through the locker room, and when we pushed through the tunnel, Arushi screamed from where she was leaning over the top.

“Can you believe it?!” she screamed, reaching for Ava as Ava did the same. They high-fived with all of us gaping and shaking our heads.

“Crazy!” I screamed back.

Mitch leaned over Chef and gave Ava a ruffle of her hair. I smirked a little at how Chef blushed at his nearness. I was pretty sure weallknew they were much more than friends at this point, but I’d let her tell me on her own time.

“Go, go!” Chef Patel called down to us. “Go give that grumpy man of yours a big celebratory kiss!”

Ava drew out a longewwwwin a tease, and then she was bouncing in my arms the closer we got to the ice. Once we were against the glass, she pressed her hands against it and screamed for Will.

We had to wait until we had the go ahead from the team staff. Maven was clutching Livia’s arm beside us, both of them fighting back tears, and Grace was standing on the cleared Ospreys bench waving her arms around like a wild animal and hollering for Jaxson.

When he saw her, the biggest grin I’d ever seen on that man split his face. He sprinted across the ice on his skates, skidding to a stop at the boards and hauling Grace over his shoulder before he was skating off again.

That was the only green light the families waiting needed.