Page 80 of Tough Score

Keely's eyes widen in shock, but I press on before she can speak.

"Wait… how do you know about that?"

"I can't reveal my sources, but I wish you would have told me sooner. Is this the real reason that you've been pushing me away?"

She looks away not wanting to admit to it, but her lack of words confirm what Rowan suspected.

"Listen to me, Keely. What your father did was fifteen years ago. It's old news. The sports world has moved on, and so should you."

She shakes her head, tears threatening to spill. "You don't understand. It could still affect your career, your sponsorships-"

I cup her face in my hands, forcing her to look at me. "I don't care about any of that. If it becomes an issue, which I highly doubt it will, I'll deal with it—we'll deal with it, together. I can always find somewhere to skate, Keely. But I can't find another you."

"Reeve..." she whispers, her resolve wavering.

"I love you, Keely. All of you. Your past, your present, your future. I want it all, and if you would have been honest with me in the beginning, I would have told you that. I'm willing to face whatever comes our way, but no more keeping things from me. We're a team now."

I can see the conflict in her eyes, the battle between her fears and her feelings.

"But what if-" she starts, but I cut her off.

"No more 'what ifs'. I'm here, right now, telling you that I choose you. Your father's mistakes don't define you, and they certainly don't change how I feel about you."

Keely's eyes search mine, looking for any hint of doubt. Finding none, she lets out a shaky breath.

"I love you too, Reeve," she admits, her voice thick with emotion. "I've been trying so hard not to, but I can't fight it anymore."

Without another word, I pull her close and press my lips to hers. The kiss is desperate and filled with all the pent-up emotions we've been holding back. Keely's arms wrap around my neck as she melts into me, and I hold her tight, pouring everything I feel for her into this moment.

When we finally break apart, I gaze into her eyes, and I gently stroke her cheek.

"No more running?" I ask softly.

"No more running," she agrees.

As we stand there, wrapped in each other's arms, I feel truly thankful for everything that's led us to this moment.

Epilogue

Keely

"It's been two years today since the night of the accident," I tell Reeve, lying in bed in our new, bigger apartment at The Commons while he scrolls through YouTube to find the series we've been watching from a vlogger who travels around all the most barren or desolate areas of the earth to discover the tribes or colonies that still live there. In this next episode, he's supposed to be in Siberia.

He's home for a couple more days with the Hawkeyes until they head back out on the road for four nights.

Though his prognosis didn't look good after the night of the accident, Reeve worked his butt off and was cleared the week before Christmas to play again. Dr. Morgan was in the stands that night, wearing an AISA jersey… and so was I.

"You think of it as the night I got hit by that car?" he asks, still scrolling through our 'favorites' list where we've kept it since he's been out of town on games and we haven't gotten to watch it yet.

The driver was finally caught… oddly enough, by my uncle who drove around town for months on end finally did result in the discovery of a car parked at a body shop to get fixed.

It turns out that it wasn't a drunk driver at all, but a seventeen-year-old kid who took his parents' expensive luxury car out for a joy ride when they were out of town and dropped his cell phone right before we walked out into the crosswalk. He told his parents he hit a deer.

The reason he gave for not stopping—he got scared after seeing me and Reeve laid out on the asphalt so he took off. Then when the media got ahold of the story, he was too scared to come forward due to the backlash.

"Yeah… what do you think of it as?"

His eyes turn down to me, tucked at his side, my body plastered against his— my leg curling around his thigh as I try to get as close as physically possible.

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