Page 136 of Rule 1: Never Accidentally Marry Your Teammate

Finn’s gaze glitters, and he smiles at me with such fondness, I think my heart might break all over again.

Finn loves me. Finn wants me in his life. Finn wants me forever.

“I’m sorry about the letter,” he says.

“I’m sorry I left.”

“I missed you so much.”

“Same.”

We stare at each other, vaguely aware of our teammates slapping our backs and uttering congratulatory words. Luke and Troy, Axel and Dmitri, Evan and Vinnie grin at us.

Music blares through the stadium.

Finn extends a hand to me. “Will you dance with me?”

“Here?”

“I think everyone knows about us.”

I laugh, all the tension, the worry, the fear dissipating, and Finn’s eyes soften. I take his hand and we skate away from the crowd of hockey players thronging about us.

“Dance!” Troy shouts.

Finn’s look goes nervous.

“They didn’t teach dancing in etiquette classes for how to be a Boston gentleman?” I ask.

“Um, this isn’t the old days.”

“Put your left hand on my shoulder.” I slide my right hand on his waist. “Then put your right hand in my left hand.”

He smiles.

“New Hampshire boys know how to dance.”

“That’s hot.”

“Course it is. I’m super hot.”

He laughs, delighted, and we sway on skates, scraping the ice in slow, curved movements. The audience whirls around us as we spin.

It’s—well—it’s not the most elegant thing in the world. I wish I’d taken ice dancing and not simply figure skating as a child. No one is getting thrown into the air tonight.

But we hold each other as we skate, and I think my mouth might fall off from smiling.

Then Evan and Vinnie murmur to each other, and next thing I know, Evan is wrapping his arms around Vinnie’s neck. And they’re swaying.

“Evan and Vinnie are dancing,” I say.

“Wow.”

They stare adoringly into each other’s eyes. They are officially out.

“I guess this isn’t just a big day for us,” I say.

But then all our teammates start to dance together. They move awkwardly, wrestling with how to hold each other. They shuffle back and forth, frowning in a concentration they probably haven’t shown the ice since they were two.