The Chase is Over - Toni Aleo Page 0,2

of, and on almost every page was a little heart with A+S in it. Good thing I got my head out of my ass and saw her, and I mean, really saw her, or the other guy she married would be questioning the hell out of her.

But none of that matters. She’s got me. I’ve got her, and I want her to be happy. If that entails a huge-ass wedding, then that’s what she’ll get.

“You’re lucky I love you more than anything in this world.”

She nods, leaning into me as she kisses my chin. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

We kiss, her lips hard to mine as I snake my arm around her waist. I pull her to me as I tear my lips from hers, kissing her temple. “So, you’re sure about all this?”

She beams up at me. “Marrying you, no-brainer.”

I scoff. “I mean about all this stuff. This circu—”

“Don’t you dare call our wedding a circus. I let Posey and Boon say it, and sometimes Wes, but you’re not allowed. You will sleep on the couch.”

I laugh as she eyes me. “Fine, fine. This production.”

She glares. “I don’t like that either.”

I shake my head. “So, this is happening?”

“Oh, it’s happening, and it’s going to be amazing.”

“Okay,” I say, kissing her lip. “I have one question. Where is the Cup going?”

Grace holds up her fingers, showing me the iPad with a very detailed sketch of the wedding. Under the huge altar is the Cup in all its beautiful glory. Grace points to it with her pen and says, “You’ll be married in front of it, and then you’ll pour the two colors of sand into it, becoming one. I have the smaller Stanley Cup replica for y’all to keep the sand in later.”

I nod as Shelli grins at me. “Happy with that?”

“Yup, especially since so many of my buddies from other teams are coming—oh, and Chandler,” I tease, but Grace doesn’t laugh.

“My son-in-law is still very upset,” she tells me, and I grin.

“Yeah, giving up a three-game lead and losing is something to still be upset about,” I say proudly. The Assassins were down-and-out; no one thought we could come back, but we did, and I held that Cup above my head and kissed my girl. Pretty incredible.

“It’s all fun and games until he doesn’t come,” she warns me, but Shelli just laughs.

“He’ll come. His kids are in the wedding along with his wife, so he’ll come. He’ll be bitter, but he’ll be here.”

We all share a laugh as I slide my hand in Shelli’s. She looks up at me with all the love in the world in her eyes. She loves me, I know this, and hell if I don’t love her more than life itself. I lace our fingers together before I bring our hands up, kissing the back of her hand. With everything going on, it hasn’t just been her and me. When we’re alone, we’re both bone-tired. The play-offs were long and hard. Yeah, we brought home the Cup, but as soon as that was over, we went into hard-core house hunting and wedding planning. Shelli worked her ass off for the alumni game, and then Posey’s wedding happened in there too. So much has been going on, and I feel like Shelli and I haven’t connected like we did before the Cup run. I know I have her for the rest of our lives, but I don’t ever want to stop chasing her. “Are we done?”

Shelli looks back at her mom and aunt, where they are discussing whatever the hell is on Grace’s iPad. “Here, yeah. But I have to go get ready for the bachelorette party tonight.”

I shake my head. “That’s not until eight. We have plenty of time.”

“Plenty of time for what?”

“I have a surprise for you.”

She raises her eyebrows. “For me?”

I nod. “Always you.”

I pull her along without either of us saying goodbye to Elli or Grace. Reason being, they both know where we’re going. They helped me plan it. I take Shelli to the back of the barn and then up the spiral staircase to the second level.

I look back to Shelli, and she’s excited but wary. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” I say sweetly, kissing the back of her hand once more. She thinks there are only dressing rooms up here, but I’m about to show her so much more. I turn the handle on the door that leads to an open-air balcony hidden by the large cupola