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KAYDEN

O h my god, oh my god, oh my god. It’d really happened. Seriously. The one thing I’d worked so hard for all season actually happened . Sure, it might not have come exactly the way I’d thought it would, but that didn’t matter. It’d actually happened .

At first, I didn’t believe it. The whole thing felt so surreal, like something out of a dream.

I listened to the roar of the crowd and drank in their excitement, but I didn’t feel an adrenaline surge through my veins.

At first, I only felt numb, probably because the reality of it all hadn’t sunk in.

But it’d really happened, the Larkin Lions were champions, and no one could take that away from us.

Most importantly, Erik and I had done it together.

After the buzzer sounded, I didn’t hesitate, I just threw my arms around him.

And he squeezed me just as tight. I didn’t hesitate, I just did it, not worrying about his reaction.

Winning could cure an awful lot of problems, I guess.

Before, I would have doubted even a National Championship could’ve cured the shambles that our relationship had been in.

On the other hand, it wasn’t like he’d taken me back. Not yet. He might’ve squeezed me back like that out of obligation. In a moment like that one, it would’ve seemed crazy not to do it. He was on top of the world after the biggest win of his life. Maybe I shouldn’t have read too much into it.

All I wanted was to look at Erik, gaze at his beautiful face, and remember all the good times we’d had. Winning the championship together would beat all, of course, and I wanted to live in the moment for as long as possible. But Erik skated away from me. I wouldn’t let that deter me, though.

As I returned to reality, I noticed a few arena staff members rolling a red carpet onto the ice. And then a tall guy in a suit and ESPN microphone walked out onto the carpet. Yeah, it was really happening—and to us .

Now here’s the real kicker: I saw one of the same arena staff carry the championship trophy out onto the carpet. When we lined up as a team, the trophy was passed to each of us before being handed to Coach Hardison.

At first, the Larkin University athletic director, Sy Wilkins, did the talking.

You know, because he personally had so much to do with winning this game, right?

The players were just pawns. Thank the guys in the suits first. It didn’t matter, though.

Not one word he said stuck with me. I’d honestly tuned out pretty much everything.

Excitement over the win had finally struck me too much to listen to Wilkins, but there was so much more to it.

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Erik, who stood right beside me, but hadn’t turned to look at me.

If he was feeling the same way, he was making me wait to hear it.

Same old Erik De Ruiter, right?

Then the reporter put the microphone in Coach Hardison’s face.

Some of what he said did sink in with me.

He gave a speech that mostly included the words you’d expect like “hard work,” “determination,” “guts,” and “so proud.” Best of all, he used the word “perseverance,” which I thought summed up Erik and me to a tee.

I turned to Erik again, gauging his reaction to everything happening around us.

He looked happy but not as excited as he should’ve been, given the gravity of the moment.

He was missing something, I knew that damn well. Something was missing for me too.

The reporter stuck the microphone in the faces of several teammates before stopping in front of me.

“That was an amazing comeback,” he said. “How did you do it?”

I’d always dreamed of what I would say the first time I was interviewed on live television. My speech would be so passionate, so moving. The sports channels would be replaying it for days. But now, with the microphone in my face, I’d practically drawn a blank.

“It’s been a long road,” I said, “but I knew we would get there.”

“Never any doubts, huh?”

“Not a single one. I believe in this team, and we all believe in each other.”

“I understand you’re the team captain. Is that right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

And then everyone, especially Erik, turned to look at me as if I’d run out of the house without putting on pants.

I paused, understanding I’d been caught.

“Wait, sorry,” I said, “I mean, I’m the co -captain. My other co-captain is right here beside me.”

I hooked an arm around Erik and squeezed. I should’ve felt tense over what I was about to do but didn’t. It all felt so right.

So far, no one in the Larkin Lions home crowd had left, which was great. Even better, they were all in their seats with their focus on us. I wanted everyone to see what was about to come —and hoped they would remember where they were when they saw it.

“I couldn’t have done it without this guy,” I said. “He’s been with me through thick and thin, but especially through thick. He’s put up with me and totally changed me as a person.”

I knew what I wanted to say. The words sat on the tip of my tongue, ready to be said, but I couldn’t push them out. When I looked into Erik’s eyes, I gained the strength to finally say the things that needed to be said.

“At the beginning of the season,” I said, “I couldn’t even stand this guy. He drove me completely insane. And then things changed. A whole lot of things changed, actually. He challenged me. I challenged him. And then there was so much that turned my life upside down.”

And then I paused. I could do it. I knew I could. The real question was whether Erik would still be okay with it. So far, the reporter hadn’t taken the microphone from my face, so I knew I would have the chance to drop my bombshell.

“There’s no moment better than now to say what I’m really feeling.

” And then I turned to Erik and gazed deep into his beautiful eyes, falling in love with him all over again.

“Erik, there’s no way I could’ve done this without you.

I don’t think I can do anything without you ever again.

I love you more than you will ever know. ”

His expression didn’t change. No anger or panic at my words.

I needed to go for it. I leaned in, kissing his lips.

He didn’t flinch, didn’t push me away, didn’t try to escape.

He hooked an arm around my neck as we sank into the kiss.

Our lips broke apart for a half-second, and I found a satisfied, approving look in his eyes, before we fell deeply into another kiss.

For a moment, everything fell away—the crowd, our teammates, and the ESPN reporter.

It was Erik and me, and nothing else mattered.

The crowd roared at the kiss, and I wouldn’t take my lips from Erik De Ruiter for a very long time.

When our lips broke apart again, I looked around and surveyed everyone’s expressions.

I found mild surprise on the faces of our teammates and coach, but I wouldn’t call it outright shock.

More like they didn’t know the right way to respond.

I even found a few smiles. I hooked an arm around Erik again, squeezing him tight, and kissed his cheek.

I’d finally taken the leap and had no regrets.

The locker room was filled with hugs, laughter, shouts, music, and champagne. Oh, and it was filled with speeches too. Someone had mentioned cigars, but that we would have to smoke them outside.

I guess I’d dropped the real bombshell in front of the Larkin Lions crowd—and on live TV—but there was plenty more to be said in the locker room.

That was fine by me. There was no way what Erik and I just did could happen without us being asked more about it.

When everything quieted down, Ryan Detenbeck looked at Erik and me with an odd look of pride on his face.

“So, Kayden, Erik, is there something you’ve been wanting to tell us?”

I glanced at Erik for approval. When he gave a tiny nod, I went ahead and spoke for both of us.

“Yeah,” I said, “there’s a whole lot of stuff we’ve wanted to tell everyone. We just never really knew how.”

“So, you guys are…?”

“A couple. Yeah, that’s right. I think that’s what we are.”

Detenbeck cocked an eyebrow like he didn’t quite know how to take that but would allow us to tell as much or as little as we wanted. Were we a couple, or weren’t we? How long had we been together?

No one had judged us. I could read the room. If our relationship bothered anyone, I would’ve picked up on it immediately. All indications said that our teammates were proud of us for being unafraid to be our true selves.

So far, so good.

“Yeah, totally,” I jumped in. “At the start of the season, he stole my locker and acted like it was nothing. I wanted to slug him.”

“Dude, it was my locker, and you know it.”

“Give me a break, De Ruiter. It was so totally my locker, and you know it.”

And then I stopped and stared deep into those eyes again. Some things never change, I guess. In a weird way, I didn’t want them to. What I really wanted was to kiss him again, but that would have to wait.

“It’s amazing,” Braxton Wilson said. “All this time, you guys have been packing fudge and we didn’t even know it!”

He couldn’t suppress his good-natured laughter when he said it. Ryan Detenbeck grabbed out teammate and practically dragged him away. I knew what he meant, though. Braxton was just a teammate saying dumbass teammate things. It didn’t mean anything. I couldn’t help laughing a little myself.

“Real funny, Braxton,” Erik said, unable to hold back his own laughter. “But yeah, we’ve been together most of the season. I wanted to tell all of you about this, but Kayden wouldn’t let me.”

I elbowed Erik in the ribs hard enough for him to get his attention.

“Come on, bro,” I said. “You know that’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?”

“I would’ve gotten to it eventually.”

“No, you wouldn’t have.”

“Yes, I would.”

“Give me a break, Kayden.”

“I’m doing it now, aren’t I?”

And then he smiled hugely, like he’d only argued with me to piss me off. That was so Erik De Ruiter.

“You guys don’t act like you’re dating, though,” Ryan Detenbeck said.

“We don’t?” I asked.

“No, you act like you’re already married.”

We couldn’t help laughing at that too.

“That’s all really cool, though,” he said. “Good for you.”

When I thought back on the conversation I’d had with him at Tully’s, I found it hard to believe that he thought it was so cool now.

Maybe he’d changed now that he’d been confronted with it.

Our relationship wasn’t just a theory. Or he could’ve just been saying stupid shit.

Everyone on the team had done their fair share of that.

“Yeah, good for you guys,” Braxton said. “Just do me a favor and don’t check me out in the shower, okay?”

Now Detenbeck and Coach Hardison both shook their fists at Braxton, and he backed off.

Erik and I shook our heads, knowing that our teammate would always be a knucklehead.

What I found most interesting about it all was that no one said they accepted or supported us.

They didn’t have to say it. We already knew.

But the reaction from our teammates wasn’t all. I couldn’t believe the response we faced in the following days.