Page 104 of Peppermint Stick
She wags playful brows. “Yeah, well, we’ll see about that.”
I smile, because this—planning the future, teasing about teammates, the way the WAGs have taken her in—it all feels like proof. Proof of what we’ve built. A life bigger than bruises. Bigger than my past. Bigger than I ever thought I deserved.
I tug her closer until she’s right up against me, the arena lights glowing behind her like a halo. “You know something, Jay?”
She tilts her head, eyes curious. “What?”
“I spent years thinking I didn’t belong anywhere. Not in the league. Not in the locker room. Not even in my own skin. But then you…” My throat tightens, but I push through. “You made me see it. I do belong. With you. With this family. With all of it.”
Her eyes soften, and that warmth that always undoes me pools there. “Penn…”
I kiss her before she can say more, right there in the middle of the chaos. Kids laughing. Teammates yelling. Families colliding like one big quilt stitched together by love and loyalty and hockey.
When I finally pull back, she’s grinning, breathless. “You sound like a man who’s found his forever.”
“I am.”
And for the first time in my life, I believe it down to my bones.
Forever is right here.
***
