Bex frowns. “Sorry, Jade. Is there anyone else you can ask to walk you down the aisle? Like an uncle or someone in your family?”
“No, not really. I’m not that close to a lot of my family members. Killian’s younger brother, Finn, offered to do it.” I smile at the offer Finn made not long after our engagement. Of course, he hit on me while he was making said offer, which made it even funnier. “I’m considering letting him do it. At least he’s family, and pretty soon he’ll be my brother-in-law, so why not, right?”
She forces a smile. “Yeah. I hope it all works out for you. I couldn’t imagine not having my dad there to walk me down the aisle on my wedding day.”
“How about you and Preston? You getting married anytime soon.”
She glances over at Coach, who has a ridiculous smile on her face. “He talks about it all the time, but he still hasn’t asked me.”
Coach smiles even wider as if she knows when Preston is planning to ask Bex. He’s head over heels in love with her. I’m surprised he’s waited this long to slip a ring on her finger. Of all people, Killian took me most by surprise. He was never the boyfriend type, let alone the marrying kind.
“I was thinking next October,” I tell Bex. “Since I met Killian in October right after the start of his hockey season, but I’m afraid with his schedule, it will be too much for him to do in the fall.” I bite the inside of my cheek, still mulling it over. “Or maybe the summer would be better because of hockey. But I don’t want to sweat through my dress with the heat.”
“You could always do a destination wedding. It’s not as hot in the winter in places like Florida or the Bahamas.”
“Good point. But I doubt Killian’s friends and family would want to fly to an island to see us get married. Honestly, I’m considering eloping with him. This way there’s no fuss over a dress or someone walking me down the aisle.”
She cups my shoulder and smiles. “I’m sure whatever you decide will be perfect. I would marry Preston in my pajamas on the back of a trash truck if that’s what it would take to spend the rest of my life with him.”
Bex and Preston are now living in Pittsburgh in an apartment he bought for them after he was drafted to the Penguins. I haven’t seen her much since graduation, only on a few occasions when all of us got together to hang out for the weekend.
Killian has always been closer with Jamie, so we spent a lot more time with him and Shannon. She was supposed to come to the game tonight but was busy with her new pastry truck she runs on campus called Shake-and-Cake. Killian’s old crew helped Shannon get a good deal on the truck, and surprisingly, they didn’t steal it.
As the goal horn sounds, the entire arena goes wild, snapping me back to reality.
“Dammit,” Bex growls, her mouth twisted in disgust as she looks up at the score. “I can’t believe they lost. Preston is gonna be so pissy when we get home.”
Coach looks equal parts happy and sad over the score. It must be hard for her to pick a side when her husband is the head coach of the Flyers, and her son plays for the opposing team. No matter who she cheers for in this scenario, it’s like she loses.
I was so busy talking to Bex I had forgotten about the game. Even after all this time with Killian, I still don’t understand much about hockey. He doesn’t even bother to explain it to me anymore, though Bex has never stopped trying. She’s convinced she can teach anyone sports.
People rise from their seats, hands raised in the air, chanting and cheering.
The Flyers win the game, and I find number seventy-six in the sea of jerseys on the ice. Because no matter how little I know about hockey, I will always find Killian.
After he finishes congratulating his teammates, Killian skates over to where I’m sitting and slams his gloved hand against the glass. Fixing his emerald irises on me, his lips part as he mouths something to me I can’t make out. I take this as my cue to meet him, pressing my small hand over his on the cold glass. A shiver runs through me, and I can’t determine if it’s from the temperature or the look he’s giving me.
As usual, he’s so intense, nothing but carnal hunger in his eyes when he looks at me. Like I’m his property. Like he owns me. And in many ways he does. But I own him, too. I’ve claimed him just as much as he has me.