Found THE Boy

Epilogue

Max searched for his keys in the dim light. He groaned when he realized that they must have been tossed into his duffel bag, “Shit,” he cursed.

He dropped a couple of his bags and began the search of his duffle bag. Finally, he pulled them out of the bottom and turned the key in the lock.

It was late or early, he didn’t even know what time it was because the Flyers had been on the road for two weeks straight. He was about ready to either kill his teammates or go on a long vacation. He knew neither options were a possibility, but he could still dream.

“Scooter,” he whispered to the black lab that had walked up to him, “Back to bed, please.”

The dog whimpered so Max patted its head and gave it a treat. He was so tired that he didn’t even notice that the dog was in his house until he got to the stairs, “Wait,” he turned to see the dog curled up with its treat.

Max shot up the staircase and flung the door to his bedroom open. The light from the hallway showed him that there was a bump in the shape of a human on the far end of the bed. He closed the door quietly and began stripping from his clothes, thankful he had changed into sweats on the plane.

He didn’t bother with his nightly routine, he just climbed into bed and pulled the blankets back just enough to see Finley curled up, facing the window. He kissed her head and then wrapped himself around her body.

When he woke up in the morning he could hear Finley downstairs playing with Scooter and listening to music. He could hear the faint sound of the song in the background and chuckled. It was an Adele song, an artist he was almost sick of hearing out of Finley's computer speakers.

He got up and made his way downstairs, “Good morning,” he snuck up behind Finley, making her jump.

“Maxime!” she screeched as he tickled her.

“I see you agreed to my terms,” he noticed a few more boxes.

Finley shrugged, “Your terms weren’t really…terms.”

Before Max had left on the team’s road trip he had been begging Finley to move in with
him. She kept saying that when the time was right that she would. He accepted that but then started to get antsy over her uncertainty. Two days before the team flew out he drove to Pittsburgh to spend a day with her. Max finally told her that it was now or never.

“I hate that we have to drive almost five hours to see you and that you aren’t around all the time. Please be there when I get back, with some of your stuff. You don’t have to bring all of it, just enough to get you through a while.”

“No, but I was begging and I hate begging,” he laughed as she turned to face him.

“You’re a sap,” she touched his face.

“I love coming home from a long trip and you being curled up in bed, waiting for me,” he
kissed her lips, “And when I have a bad game and need a back rub, you’ll be here,” he kissed her neck.

“And what about me Maxime Talbot? Is this living situation meant solely to benefit you?”

“Believe me,” he lifted her up in his arms, “I think that you are going to benefit from this too.”

“I love you,” Finley giggled as Max started to swat away the dog he had given her on her birthday.

“Me or Scooter?” he asked.

“Both,” she wrapped her arms around his neck, “But mostly you.”

“Good,” he began walking the two of them back to the stairs, “Because I really love you Finn.”