Page 158 of Learn Your Lesson

We poured onto the ice, Maven running for Vince and slipping the whole way. The woman had at least been smart enough to wear sneakers — though she’d argued with all of us that the heels she wanted to wear would look better. She jumped into his arms when she finally made it to him, her legs around his waist and him spinning her to the tune of whistles and cheers from the fans still watching the celebrations.

Ava and I searched for Will. He was no longer where he’d been talking to a news reporter when we’d been making our way toward the glass, and I didn’t see him anywhere near the Cup — which was currently being toted over Aleks Suter’s head as he did a victory lap around the ice as best he could with how crowded it was.

I frowned, searching, heart racing a bit the longer time passed when suddenly Ava and I were tackled in a hug from behind.

“Daddy!”

Ava squealed the greeting, wiggling out of my hold until she could hop down onto the ice. Will was beaming, a Stanley Cup Champ hat covering his sweaty hair as he bent down to one still-padded knee. Ava was in his arms the moment that pad hit the ice, and he wrapped her up tight, kissing her cheek.

When she pulled back, tears were streaming down her face, the emotion too strong for her little heart to handle.

“Hey, now,” he said on a laugh, hugging her again.

“You did it,” she garbled. “You did it, Daddy. I’m so proud of you.”

My heart melted at the sight, and Will nuzzled into her before he was looking up at me, his eyes soft, a content, confident smile on his lips.

When Ava finally released him, he stood, sweeping me into a sweat-drenched hug that I would have gone into happily. I didn’t care that his hair was dripping on my arm when I draped it around his neck, or that he smelled like a locker room when I pressed my lips to his.

That sweaty beast of a man who’d blocked thirty-nine shots tonight wasmine.

“Hi, baby,” he whispered in my ear, and then he was pressing a kiss to my hair that made me shiver as much as the nickname did.

I was distantly aware of the cameras on us, but in the last few months, I’d learned not to pay them any mind. This was part of dating the best goalie in the league, and now, he was a Stanley Cup winner.

Let them all watch. Let the rumors fly. Let the women be pissed.

They could all eat their hearts out.

“You were fuckingincredible,” I screamed over the noise, holding tight to him. “Absolutely unreal.”

“I’m so glad you were here.”

“I wouldn’t miss it. It was insane.”

“I can’t believe it.”

“I can.”

He laughed, and we kept babbling back and forth, incoherent mutters of disbelief that got lost in-between the thousands of kisses we shared. When he pulled Ava into his arm, he wrapped the other around me, carefully moving us through the crowd.

Will was stopped a couple times for short interviews, and of course, tackled by his teammates as they celebrated their win. I hugged the girls when I passed them, holding especially tight to Maven — who was extra emotional with her wedding just a couple weeks away now.

Eventually, we made it to the Cup, and a few of the Ospreys shoved it toward Will until he carefully put Ava down and picked the behemoth thing up over his head. The fans cheered, Ava jumped up and down clapping, and I smiled, shaking my head and watching my man beam in a way I’d never seen him before.

Pictures snapped from every direction, and when he sat the Cup back on the ice, he gathered Ava and me around it for a photo. Ava was leaning against the Cup, the thing bigger than she was, and Will bent down next to her while I stood over his shoulders. He covered my hand with his, the other holding onto his daughter, and while the cameras went off, he was looking at Ava or at me — never at the lens.

When he stood, he groaned a bit, the soreness from the game settling in. Then, he gasped, clutching onto the edge of the bowl at the top of the trophy. “Shit!”

“What?” I asked, gripping his shoulder in a panic. I searched for signs of where he was hurt, but he just shook his head.

“I think I dropped something in the Cup.”

I frowned, looking at the thing — which was deep enough to fit a baby in, but shallow enough that anything dropped in there wouldn’t be lost.

“Okay, well, just get it out,” I said on a laugh, and I peeked inside to see what it was.

The moment I did, I froze.