Page 96 of Break Out

“Okay,” she says, smiling at me. “I like the sound of that.”

I wrap my arm around her and turn back to the ice in time to see the Mockingbirds score a goal.

“Sucks, man,” I say to Winston as he exits the locker room after the game. The Storm got shut out by the Mockingbirds five to zero. Not that this game really matters since it’s a preseason game, and they’re still working on the dynamics with all the new players. Unsurprisingly, the penalty minutes were more than the minutes played. But that’s the way it always is when the Storm and Mockingbirds face off.

“Yeah. Good to see you guys,” he says as he walks by.

I lean against the wall, tucking Aubrey into my chest as we wait for the rest of the guys to come out. Eventually, they start streaming out of the locker room.

Holt comes out next, staring at his phone, his face pale.

“You okay?” I ask.

He finally tears his gaze away from his phone, glancing around the empty hallway before saying, “Yeah. Just my sister. I’m worried about her.”

“Who are you worried about?” Hunter asks as he walks over.

“Hadley,” Holt says, scrubbing a hand down his face. Before he can say anything else Wes walks up.

“Dinner’s at my place tonight,” Wes says. “Hey, Brody. Aubrey. Want to join us? Caleb, Jenna, Cole, and Hannah are going to swing by too. It’s a whole party, so you’re more than welcome.”

Aubrey smiles. “Sounds great.”

“I gotta get home to Kat, but you all have fun,” Holt says with a wave as he makes his way toward the exit.

“I’ll wait for Elias. We drove together,” Hunter says. We say goodbye to him and make our way out of the arena.

I lean closer to Aubrey as we walk toward my Land Rover. “You okay?”

“Of course,” Aubrey says, smiling up at me. “I thought you were going to talk to Coach Weaver after the game. See what he wanted.”

“Not tonight. We’ve got to tell the family there’s going to be a wedding,” I answer as I help her into the SUV. “They’re going to be ecstatic. I wish everyone was here to hear the news at once,” I admit once I’ve climbed into the driver’s seat and started the car.

“We can wait,” she says, laying a hand on my thigh. I glance down at it and see the diamond ring that’s a declaration of my love sparkling on her finger. I know what she’s saying, but I don’t want to wait anymore. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that waiting too long can mean you almost miss out.

Waiting too long to tell her how I felt meant that we almost missed out on our chance together. And while I’d love to have everyone in one place for our announcement, I don’t want to wait any longer to start planning our wedding.

Planning our future together.

“Nah, let’s tell them tonight. I love you,” I say, placing my hand on top of hers. “Always and forever.”

“I love you too, Brod. Always and forever.”