Page 91 of Sporting Goods

I let a tear fall. Or two. And he swiped at them. “That’s not fair. You have my whole heart, but I have to share yours.” I pouted, poking him back.

“Don’t tell Jax, but your part is bigger.” He winked and leaned in, pressing his lips to mine for a deep, long kiss.

Epilogue

One year later.

“You never toldme what it was like to lose to us Logan,” Josh gloated in my apartment back in Buffalo on Christmas day.

I smirked, pulling at the largest bowl from the far cabinet. “Just fine since we only lost one all of last season.”

He shook his head. “Still doesn't it make you rethink your life choices?”

“Sure does. Like pick friends who don't gloat.”

We didn’t win the Stanley Cup, but the New York Dexters made it to the finals this past Spring. A devastating loss to Florida.

“Hey, I'll try anything to get you to jump ship next season.”

I handed him the overflowing bowl of popcorn to carry over to my living room. He, Sam, and my sister insisted on having us come back up from the city to celebrate the holidays together, like we had last year. It was just merrier for the boys with a bigger group.

Jax and Brody were still playing with opened presents and the girls were busy taking pictures and chatting away to what sounded like multiple topics at once. Still boggled me how they seemed to follow each one without losing track of who said what.

I stayed behind in the kitchen brewing another coffee for Rayne. Extra foam. The weather dropped to single digits today and Rayne hated the cold.

She was sitting crossed legged by the fireplace with Sam, picking at chocolate pieces and marshmallows. Ray was in the new pair of flannel pajamas I gave her last night. Which she got the chance to wear for all of three minutes before I peeled it off her. Abandoning the set until the following morning.

As if reading my thoughts, she gave me a clear look from across the room and reached for me.

Okay, so maybe it was the coffee she was reaching for.

Last Christmas, I flat asked Rayne to come with me to New York. It'd been just over three weeks since we were officially together and I broke every rule of how long to wait before asking your girl to follow when you left town—which was right after the new year.

I'd never forget the glimmer in her eyes and the blush in her cheeks, when she told me she'd already asked Dr. Mendez to put in a word with the Dexters team doctors. Not that she was going to accept any offers without talking to me, but when we would finally have that conversation, she wanted to be ready.

The downside, however, was that we weren’t living together. Even though I bought a monstrous three-bedroom townhome just outside the city with those two in mind soon after I’d signed my contract, Rayne insisted her and Jax needed to live separately for a bit.

One big change at a time.

It wasn’t until recently that her and Jax had been staying over more often that she’d been dropping hints about her being ready.

But I wasn’t.

I needed to be one hundred percent sure we weren’t rushing this. That it wasn’t just the two of us who were ready for the next step.

“I’m still not sure what's so fascinating about this,” Rayne said after pulling her roasted marshmallow stick out of the fireplace. “This thing is going to burn my tongue.”

“Slowly, baby.” I slid beside her, pinching at a hot edge and putting my fingers in her mouth.

“Ahem there are children here,” Tisch called from her spot all the way by the window.

I watched my girl lick her lips deliciously and blush before turning to my ever-annoying sister.“Don't you have a date?”

She shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah, he called an hour ago to get together.” She rolled her eyes. Randy and Tisch had been seeing each other since the fall. Randy was one of our vendors. He and Tisch used to argue like cats and dogs over the phone over delivery issues, negotiations, business threats, until he finally came to the store to have it out with her in person sometime around the summer.

And then kept coming back, making excuses for the visits, like needing hard signatures or seeing the delivery through himself to ensure it went smoothly.

Marty said other than Rayne, the guy was the only one immune to Tisch’s patronizing and crude personality, and instead, seemed mesmerized by it.

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