Page 195 of Until We Burn
The noises fade out and time slows down when our eyes meet. After everything we’ve been through together, she’s still here and I’ll always fall to my goddamn knees in gratitude that she’s the one I get to live this life with.
I tap my heart three times. Diana smiles and repeats it back to me.
The warm-up moves so fast, it feels like only seconds pass by before the national anthem is sung, and I’m skating towards center ice for the face-off against the Winnipeg Narwhals.
The referee crouches down with the puck in his hand.
“Good luck tonight, boys.” The referee looks over at me and smiles. “Welcome to the NHL, kid.”
CHAPTER 78
DIANA
I’ve climbed somany mountains in my life.
Some were short, others were a little bit taller. Although, all of them demanded so much from you. Oftentimes, more than you think you can give. But then, when you’re standing at the very top, you realize it doesn’t matter how big the mountain is. The fact that you’re courageous enough to climb them is still worth celebrating.
Grouse Mountain, however, is an exception.
I willneverclimb this thing.
“Oh my god.” I gawk at the distance as we take the sky ride all the way to the top. “They make you guys climb this every year?”
Kai hugs me from behind. “If it makes you feel any better, I get so hot and sweaty, you can see my abs through my shirt.”
Heat sears my cheeks at the thought.
In the corner of my eye, Wallace and Stella help snap a photo for his family.
I smack Kai’s chest.
“Ow!”
“Tone it down, you heathen. Your family is here!”
I can feel Kai smile against my forehead before he kisses it. I leaninto him, my fingers weaving through his as his arms tighten around me.
The black sky slightly fades under the thick band of pink breaching the horizon. On the other side of the mountain, the city lights glimmer like a thousand stars.
“Honestly, Grouse Mountain hits a little differently when you don’t have to suffer to get up here,” Luke muses.
“I’m grateful for the free breakfast we’re gonna get at the top.” Rowan smirks.
The owners of Blue Horizon Bistro have grown into Kai’s biggest supporters, and they invited him and his loved ones to the very first breakfast of the day.
By the time we reach the top, the sky brightens enough to see the dark outline of the mountains beyond.
The cozy, rustic table nestles close to the floor to ceiling windows that glimmer with fairy lights. Thick candles burn inside glass pillars wound with brass metal. They flicker over a menu that’s filled with hearty, comforting dishes that arrive as quickly as we order them.
Luke moans as he stuffs a wad of vanilla blueberry pancakes into his mouth. “This is how you should bribe the boys to show up for the Grouse Grind, Row.”
“No way. If we had to get through it with a nervous breakdown, so do they,” Rowan insists. “It’s a rite of passage. Right, Luke?”
Luke glares at him. “Don’t you fucking start?—”
They start recounting embarrassing tales of Luke losing his wits on the Grouse Grind.
“He flings himself to the ground,” Kai chortles, “and tears are running all over his face?—”
