Page 132 of Puck Yes

I point to a date a week or so from now. The Sportsman of the Year awards. It doesn’t say TOC. It says JT.

“What does that mean?” Stefan asks tentatively.

“It means we’re not a Throuple of convenience. We’re just…throuple,” I say, then swallow past the emotions clogging my throat. “We’re just together. No end date. Just…a wide-open future.”

“It worked,” Stefan says, sounding on top of the world. “We’ve been trying really hard to get you to fall in love with us, and you did.”

I laugh, delighted to hear his confession. “News flash: I was already in love with both of you.”

“Good. I was going mad thinking about you leaving,” Stefan admits.

Hayes cracks up. “He really was.”

But then they both stop laughing. Stefan cups my left cheek. “You’re staying,” he says with relief.

Hayes takes my hand and squeezes it solemnly. “This is us.”

I nod as tears slip down my cheeks. “This is us,” I repeat, then purse my lips together before taking one more chance. “I was thinking…what if we all moved into Stefan’s home?”

Stefan pops up from the table and taps his watch. “Yes. Now. Let’s go.”

We don’t go right away. We stay and eat and drink and laugh. Then, we get my dog and make plans for the three of us—well, the four of us—to make a home.

EPILOGUE

A NEW HOME

Stefan

It doesn’t take long for my place to fill up. Hayes brings his telescope and sets it on the rooftop balcony, since, yes, I have one too. We’ll definitely make ample use of that for stargazing and other nighttime activities. Daytime activities, too, come to think of it.

Ivy brings all her clothes, and I have to make room in the main bedroom closet for them, adding a new hanging rack, which gives me the chance to break out my toolbox, which gives Ivy the chance to watch me hammer.

She stands in the doorway, studying me with eager eyes.

“So you like your men to wield hockey sticks and hammers?”

“Yes. Yes, I do,” she says.

“Good. I’ll keep doing both.”

We bring over Roxy’s collection of bandanas and set up a cubby for her by the front door. Then, I indulge and buy her a literal fuck-ton of beds.

Yes, it looks much more like home with a dog bed in every room. But the little critter still manages to sleep on the Alaskan king every night. Smart girl. It’s just more fun to stretch out in a big bed.

Once Ivy’s out of her apartment, Jackson’s boyfriend moves in, and I know it makes Ivy happy that her friend wasn’t left hanging with the rent. As for Hayes’s place, I’ll find someone to lease the penthouse to soon. With that rooftop garden, and all the opportunities it affords for naked sports, it’ll go fast.

For now, when I come home from the arena after games with Hayes and Ivy, my house no longer feels empty. Neither do my nights or my days.

ANOTHER EPILOGUE

THREE OF A KIND

Ivy

“What do you think?”

I show my shimmery, ruby-red dress to my trusty fashion sidekick.

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