Page 92 of Vital Blindside

His hands are on my hips, my waist, my face, anywhere he can touch. We’re high on adrenaline, on pure elation, and it takes everything in me to pull away before our clothes wind up everywhere but our bodies.

“Holy shit,” I gasp, shaking my head in disbelief. “Is this for real?”

The Warriors are in an emotionally gripping hug on centre ice, their gloves and helmets lying around them. I lift my head to the jumbotron and see coverage of the box I know Gracie and the rest of the group was watching from.

Oakley has his sister tucked in his arms, holding her tight as she cries tears of happiness and pride. They break apart just enough for Oakley to turn Gray toward the ice as Tyler lifts his arm, pointing right at her.

She gives him a watery smile and puts her hand over her heart before shaking her head and pointing back.

The moment has me looking back at Adam, my heart in my throat. I lift my hands and grab his face, pulling him down to kiss me one more time.

But before our lips connect, I whisper, “There isn’t anyone I would have rather experienced this with.”

He wraps a hand in my curls and tilts my head back. “Here’s to a lifetime of memories like this, Scary Spice.”

EPILOGUE 1

TWO MONTHS LATER

SCARLETT

Cooper pulls both me and Adam by the hands up the pavement toward his school. His excitement is potent as he grins wildly at his friends and waits for Adam to pull open the door before yanking us inside.

“SP! Look, I painted these ones in the mural!” he shouts, pointing to the wall by the entrance made up of painted tiles that all together create a mountain range with high, snow-covered tips and bundles of trees lining the bottom.

“Coop, remember what I told you about having an indoor voice?” Adam chuckles.

Cooper essentially shrugs him off and pulls my hand tighter, bringing me closer to the mural. “You can say that mine are the best. I know they are.”

Arching a brow, I lean toward the two tiles and hum under my breath. “Yeah, Cooper, they’re by far the best.” I gently shove his shoulder with mine.

“That’s not sarcasm, is it?” He narrows his eyes quizzically at me.

“Not this time.” I wink.

A large hand spans the width of my back, and I lean back into its embrace. Looking over my shoulder, I see Adam standing close behind me, watching the two of us with blazing love in his eyes.

I’ve seen that look more times than I can count over the past few months, and I plan on seeing it for a long time to come.

“I can paint you some tiles next time we do that in class, Scar. Maybe I could paint you a gold medal or something,” Cooper offers casually.

My heart squeezes. I smile down at him. “I would love that.”

“Sick. Maybe I can as soon as we’re done with this stupid people unit. I hate drawing people—hold on, is Grandma A still coming?” Cooper rambles, his thoughts scrambled.

Adam bends down, and his words brush the tip of my ear. “She would burst into tears if she knew he had called her that.”

“She’s only been nagging at him to say it since the festival.” I snort.

He kisses the side of my head, laughing. “Yeah, she’ll be here, Coop.”

It’s been a month since we found the right caretaker for my mom, and she’s been handling the change better than I was hoping. She enjoys the company of Bridgett, and they’ve really hit it off. They’re friends, in a way. The relationship they have has helped with the onslaught of guilt and selfishness I felt after telling her I couldn’t take care of her on my own anymore.

That day was hard. It was probably one of the hardest days I’ve ever had. But ultimately, it was the right decision.

Her memory is faltering quicker as the months go on, and with that, her personality is changing, altering. There are some days when I don’t recognize her at all, but somewhere, she’s the same woman who held my hair back when I puked after my first night out drinking and quit her job when I was sixteen because her boss wouldn’t approve her vacation days to take me to a hockey tournament.

It’s been hard, but we’ve survived. She adores Cooper and Adam, and when days are good, they’re so good. We’ve been holding on to those days.

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