Forever Wild (Wildcat Hockey Book 5)

EVERLY

The next couple of months are a blur of change and settling into old routines. Tyler already rented my yellow house, so when my internship ends, I move in with Jack. It was supposed to be temporary, but I’ve been here for weeks and neither of us has brought up me leaving since the first day.

Working with James is tough, but exciting. No two days are alike. As much as I love hockey, we decided that starting with some smaller clients that don’t know me would be best all around. I have a baseball player named Flynn Holland, who was just drafted to the Twins earlier this year, a gymnast training for the next summer games, and a college basketball player who is expected to go in the first round of the next WNBA draft.

The days are long, my phone is rarely in do not disturb mode, but I’m happy and excited for the future.

“Ev?” Jack calls as he enters the house. I hear him set his keys on the front entryway table.

“In the office,” I yell.

By the time he makes it down the hall to me, I have the heavy frame mounted on the wall.

“What do you think?” I ask. I’m standing on his desk and I hold my hands out toward the old jersey.

“It looks great in here.”

I redid his office and today, it’s finally finished. His dad’s jersey was the final touch.

He walks over to me and pulls me down from the desk into his arms. After kissing me, his gaze goes back to the jersey.

“How’d you talk him out of this?” Jack asks. “I used to beg him for it when I was a kid.”

“I asked nicely.”

Jack huffs a laugh. “Of course he’d give it to you.”

“To be fair, he said you wanted to wear it to play hockey in the street.”

Jack laughs. “I was so proud of him. I wanted all my friends to know my dad was a hockey star.”

I run my fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck and we stare up at it together. His dad continues to improve. Jack couldn’t convince him to move in with him, but he agreed to move closer. Jack found a house for him a couple of blocks away and so far, he still seems committed to staying sober. I hope he does, but only time will tell.

“We gotta get ready. We’re having dinner at my brother’s house.”

“I remember,” he says, but doesn’t move. I unwrap myself from him and drop to the floor.

“You don’t look ready.”

“I need to shower. Thought maybe you’d want to join me.”

“We don’t have time for that.”

“There’s always time for that.” He scoops me up again. I don’t fight him. Ty won’t mind if we’re a little late.

When we arrive at my brother’s house, there are far more cars in the driveway than expected. I spot Ash’s truck, Declan’s Ferrari, and Leo’s Jaguar.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“Not sure.” Jack takes my hand and leads me up the front and into the house.

As soon as we walk in, everyone yells, “Congratulations!”

I gape, looking around. Jack is calm and smiling next to me.

“You knew?” I ask him.

He winks, drops a kiss to my lips, and then we’re swallowed up by our friends.

“I thought we were having dinner,” I tell my brother as I hug him.

“We are.” He squeezes me tight.

Charlotte is next, then Piper, Bridget, Ash…and they just keep coming. Nick and his son Aidan are here. The younger Galaxy holds out a bouquet of carnations to me.

“Will you be my agent someday?” he asks. “You’re pretty.”

Nick and I both laugh lightly and Aidan’s cheeks flush. He has big green eyes like his dad and the same dimple in one cheek.

“Absolutely,” I tell him. “I better be your first call when you make it pro.”

His grin resurfaces.

Nick ruffles his son’s hair. “Congrats.”

“Thank you.”

He leads Aidan away. My throat is thick with emotion as more people hug and congratulate me. Jack reappears by my side and hands me a drink as the last person that I haven’t seen steps up.

“Mom?” The shock at seeing her makes the emotions I was holding back spill to the surface and tears pool in my eyes. “What are you doing here?”

She smells like the same perfume she’s worn my whole life. There’s a comfort in her embrace, even if we haven’t always seen eye to eye.

“Tyler invited me,” she says simply. I glance over at my brother hovering not far away. More like he forced her. I know how far “asking” usually gets with her. But tonight, I can’t find it in me to care. I’m just glad she’s here.

“Food’s ready,” Piper says loud enough for everyone to hear.

Jack and I walk into the dining room. There’s no buffet tonight. Tables are pushed together, extending out of the dining room into the living room. They’re covered in white tablecloths, and colorful floral arrangements sit in the middle of each one.

“Piper. It’s gorgeous.”

“I can’t take the credit.” She tips her head to Bridget.

“You did this?”

“It turns out, a tiny bit of your design skills have worn off on me. Is it okay?”

“It’s more than okay.”

Jack’s hand comes to rest at my back and I lean into him as I admire the care and effort that went into tonight. We eat and laugh, and it fills my heart with so much love that I think I might burst with it.

As the night wears on, people start to trickle out.

I haven’t had much of a chance to talk to my mom tonight so I lean onto my elbows and smile at her across the table. “On a scale of one to ten, how shocked were you when I told you I was going to be an agent?”

We’ve only talked once since that day, but I swear she’s barely said two words about my job. Everyone was surprised, so it’s not really fair to single her out, but she’s my mom and I’m dying to know what she thinks. I guess a part of me still wants her approval.

“I was surprised.” She arches a brow. “It’s good you’re trying new things and I’m sure Heather would be happy to have you back if you change your mind.”

Jack tenses next to me, and I swear I can feel him about to say something, but I place a hand on his thigh.

“Mom—” Ty says with a look of warning.

She looks around innocently like she doesn’t know why anyone is upset with her.

I take a breath. It isn’t the glowing endorsement I wanted, but it doesn’t sting like I expected. “Maybe, but I don’t think it will come to that. I’m really enjoying being an agent and I’m good at it.”

She smiles in a way that doesn’t seem like she believes me. I open my mouth to try to convince her, but you know what? I don’t need to. I believe in myself.

I glance over at Jack, who still looks pissed at my mom. I place a hand on his cheek and kiss him.

“I love you,” I say quietly.

His features soften. “I love you too. You’re a great agent already. And you’re just going to get better.”

“I know.”

The party continues to die off until it’s just me and Jack, my mom, Tyler and Piper and little Charlotte sitting in my lap.

She wants to be on me, but it’s Jack that she’s looking at wide-eyed. She pulls at the material of his T-shirt until he gives her his hand, then she brings it up to his mouth.

“Are you going to bite me next?” he asks her with a teasing tone.

“Don’t worry,” Tyler says. “I put the hockey stick in my room.”

“You could have just tossed it,” Jack says. “I’ll get her another when she’s old enough to use it properly.”

“I could have, but I wasn’t convinced I wouldn’t need her to use it again,” he says pointedly.

Jack grimaces like he’s reimagining the time she whacked him with it.

“I should get her to bed,” Piper stands and rubs at her side. She has the cutest baby bump. Being an aunt is awesome and I’m so glad I’ll be here to watch my nieces grow up.

I reluctantly hand over Charlotte and then stand. Mom does too.

“And I should get back home,” she says.

I move to hug her.

“I’m glad you came,” I say to her. “I guess I’ll see you in a month for Piper’s Sprinkle. Did you get the invite?”

My sister-in-law didn’t want a second baby shower, but we convinced her to host a small little gathering to celebrate my second niece.

“I did,” she says. I can already tell by her body language that she’s not coming, but then she confirms it. “It’s a long way to come for a shower and it’s not like it’s her first.”

“I know it’s a long way, but it’s important. You should be here. It’d mean a lot to Ty. He wants you to be here. We both do.”

She nods slowly. I don’t know if my words are making any impact or not, but I feel better having said them.

I find Tyler in the kitchen cleaning up.

“Hey.” He looks so domestic with a hand towel thrown over one shoulder.

“Are you disappointed I’m staying?” I ask. He’s seemed happy for me, but I need to know if he’s waiting for me to fail just like Mom. He’d be better at hiding it to spare my feelings.

“What?” He stops what he’s doing. “Of course not. Why would you think that?”

“I know how excited you were when I got the internship.”

“Because I thought that’s what you wanted.”

“Everyone always told me I was good at art. It was easy and I enjoyed it more than math or science.”

“But you don’t love it?”

“No, I do. But I don’t want it to be my job.”

“If you’re happy, then I’m happy.”

“Really? You’re not just saying that?”

“Where’s all this coming from?” he asks. “If I’ve ever given you the impression that I wasn’t proud of you, then I’m so sorry, Ev. I worry about you, but you’re my baby sister. I’m always going to worry about you.”

“You have your own family to worry about now. I’m okay. I’m all grown-up.”

One side of his mouth quirks up. “I guess sometimes I forget you aren’t seventeen anymore. You’ve turned out to be a pretty badass woman.”

My cheeks warm with the compliment. “Thanks to you.”

“Nah.” He shakes his head and then steps forward to hug me. “I can’t take any credit. You never really listened to me.”

A small laugh escapes. “I listened to you more than anyone else.”

“I’m glad you’re here. I like having you around. And free babysitting.” He grins wide.

Jack and I walk outside, hand in hand. I breathe in the cold air and feel a contentedness spread through me.

“Ready to go home?” Jack asks.

“You mean your home?”

“No.” He shakes his head. “I mean ours.”