Page 296 of Cross Check

We can do this without getting in trouble.

We can share a life that we build and no one can tell us we’re wrong.

“I was talking to Coach.” Grant stands in front of me. His hands tremble as he puts his phone away. “The league officially passed the bylaw, and it’s effective immediately. He said the commissioner’s office received pages and pages of anonymous support from current players and members in organizations to approve the change. Someone even tried to fast-track it. We’re not the only ones who are in a relationship the league deems inappropriate. We’re just the only ones who got caught.”

I wonder how many other couples have hidden their love from the league, afraid of what would happen if they went public with their relationship. How many people have had to suppress parts of themselves for someone else, and now they’re finally free?

“You did this,” I say, and my bottom lip trembles. “You made this change for me. For the next a hundred years, whenever someone asks how that bylaw came to be, the answer will be because Grant Everett loved Amelia Green, and he didn’t think he should have to be quiet about it.” New tears—this time ambitious, hopeful—flood my eyes. “Because you love me, and you weren’t going to give up on me.”

“Never.”

He closes the distance between us, and I fling my arms around him the second he’s within reach. A month apart was more like a year, each passing second an agonizing waiting game to see what happened next. Throughout it all, Grant remained true. He stayed in place, unwavering in his love for me while I wasn’t sure about him.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble into his neck. “For slamming the door and throwing away the key. For keeping you out in the cold.”

“You never slammed the door, baby. You said to call you in ten years when I left the league, and I wasn’t going to let it shut.” He strokes my hair, careful with the knots from the rain. “But guess what? Now it’s wide open, and we can do whatever we want.”

“Whatever we want,” I echo, pulling back to look at him. “That means we can stay here. We can coexist in the league and have a home and chase all of our dreams. Oh my god.” The reality of how life-changing this news is hits. “We can have our careers and each other.”

“We can.” He sniffs. A beam splits across his face, and I can’t believe how long I’ve gone without seeing that beautiful smile. “No one can ever tear us apart. It’s you and me, Lia. I have about seven more years of hockey left in me, and I can’t wait to love you on and off the ice for every one of them. Because I fucking can.”

The rest of the world ceases to exist after that. We make up for lost time, talking about all the things we were feeling and what we did while we were apart. We share a hot shower when we both start to shiver in our wet clothes, giggling when we realize we don’t have anything to change into.

Grant lights the fire and puts a blanket in front of it where he fucks me nice and slow. He uses words like mine forever and always going to love you, and for as selfish as I was about my career, this is what my heart truly wanted. A man—this man—who loves me. Who would rip apart every rulebook to find a way to be with me and not stop trying until he made it happen.

When I think about the defining moments of my life, this will be the one I flip back to on my gloomiest days.

Eternal hope, new beginnings, and every dream I’ve ever had coming true.

NINETY-FOUR

GRANT

EARLY APRIL, THIS SEASON

The bylaw getting approved quite literally changed my life.

For the first time in the seven years I’ve known Amelia, I don’t have to be quiet about my feelings for her. I can shout them from the goddamn rooftops if I wanted to.

I do kind of want to, considering the CBA will have the addendum I helped craft in its pages for the rest of my career.

We spent the day after the good news holed up in the house, taking turns to talk with our agents and the commissioner while also fielding calls from our friends and the executive boards for both of our teams. I was afraid to think it was actually true until the owner and CEO of the Stars apologized for the uncomfortable position I was put in.

Since then, my social media has been flooded with messages of support from athletes across every sport. There are a handful of comments from trolls about how it’s unprofessional to date someone like Amelia, but they don’t know the whole story.

They’re never going to.

We’re allowed publicly be together now, but that doesn’t mean people deserve access to us. We’re planning on keeping much of our personal life private, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

“Hi.” Amelia sits next to me on the bed. Her hair is wet from her post-run shower, and she smiles when I hold my arm open so she can scoot into my side. “Are you planning on getting out of bed at all today?”

“Unfortunately. I need to leave for practice in thirty minutes, which means I’m already behind schedule. But I think as an alternate captain who just went through a big fucking life event, I have some leeway on being a few minutes late.”

“You think Brody is going to care about that?” She laughs. “He’s going to be calling your ass out if you’re even a second behind schedule.”

“You’re right, which is why I need to get moving.” I groan and stand, stretching my arms above my head. “You’re off today, right?”

“I am. No practice, no meetings. This might be the first time in my career I’m not going to touch any work while I’m away from the ice. I might go get a massage and sit in a silent room for two hours where no one can bother me.”