Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
I make it to the team and stand beside Evan who stands by Matthew and Max. “Holy fucking shit, we did it,” Evan says, and then someone hands me a baseball hat with our logo on it.
“You guys did it,” Matthew says. “All of you did it.” He looks at me, and then they call Evan over to accept the cup. “Well, I guess you think because of this, you can date my sister?”
I shake my head at him. “No, this has nothing to do with me dating your sister. But you should know”—I lean in—“I’m going to marry her.”
He shakes his head. “Well, if I have to pick anyone, I would pick you,” he says. “You did what everyone else said you wouldn’t do. They buried you even before you gave them a chance to change their mind.” He smacks my shoulder. “Be proud of what you did.”
I nod at him, and when Evan comes over and hands me the cup, the last year replays in my head. The ups, the downs, the nights waking up sweating, the nights spent walking around. Everything happens for a reason, and we can only go one day at a time.
I lift the cup over my head and look at my girl who stands there giving me everything that I could have ever wanted.
Chapter Forty-One
Zoe
“Didn’t you say we could stay in bed all day long?” Viktor groans from beside me. After he won the Stanley Cup, we celebrated until about three a.m., and then we had our own celebration at home, falling asleep right when the sun was coming up.
“I’m hungry,” I tell him, nervous, and my heart beat is rushing and beating so hard that I’m afraid he’s going to see right through my lies. I open the door to the restaurant that I forced him to come eat at.
“We could have ordered food,” he says, his hand always in mine if we are next to each other. “We could have ordered cake with icing, and I could have eaten it.” I block his mouth right before everyone yells surprise. “What?” He looks around at everyone there. The balloons everywhere with “1” all over them.
“You didn’t think I wouldn’t make a fuss, did you?” I tell him, and then Matthew comes up to us, and he looks like he slept maybe an hour.
“You know, I would not have gotten out of bed for anything today,” he tells him. “But this, this I would.” He slaps Viktor’s shoulder and then looks at me. “You and your balloon obsession.”
“It’s a party.” I roll my eyes. Okay fine, maybe asking them for a thousand balloons was a bit too much, but I did cut it down to five hundred.
I look around the room at all our friends, some of his teammates, and even some of the people he goes to meetings with.
“You did good,” Zara says, coming over to us and handing me Zoey. “I am so tired,” she says, and then I look over at Viktor as he shakes hands and has words with everyone.
Karrie and Vivienne come to me now. “We couldn’t do this in a week?” Karrie says.
“How was I supposed to know that they would win the cup?” I ask them and just shake my head. Vivienne looks around the room and then takes a long sip of her wine.
“This is lovely,” my mother says, coming over to us. “It’s wonderful, and we are so proud of him,” she says, and I look over at my father who is now hugging Viktor and saying something to him. His eyes tear up, and I look down. “Go to him,” my mother says, and I nod and hand her Zoey, who sleeps through it all.
“Hey there,” I say to him as my father walks away, and he wipes his eyes. “Are you surprised?”
“Your father just said he’s proud of me,” he says. “He has known me seven months, and he’s proud of me.” He shakes his head. “My father probably isn’t going to text me about the Stanley Cup, let alone tell me he’s proud of me,” he says, and my heart breaks for him. “I mean, I don’t know why it still gets to me.”
“Because he’s your father and because his love should be unconditional and all that,” I tell him, wrapping my arms around his waist. “This isn’t about him. This is about you. This whole thing is about you and being here for you.” He nods and kisses my lips. “Look around at everyone here who came to celebrate you and everything you’ve done.”
“I must have done something right,” he tells me and kisses me. We find our seat and start eating the meal. The whole time, everyone laughs and has a great time. I look around, and this is what I wanted him to see. That everyone is here to support him and is proud of him. To have the peace he deserves to have.