Page 128 - It Ends with Us

I hug hi m back and say, “It’s fine. You’re here. It was per fect.” I’m

giddy with ex citem ent tha t he made it at all.
“You’re per fec t,” he says, kissing me.
Allysa brushes past us. “You’re per fect ,” she mimics. “Hey R yle,
gues s wha t?”
R yle rel ea ses me. “Wha t?”
Allysa grabs the trash can and drops it on the count er. “Lily need s

to hi re more em ployees .”
I laugh at her cons tant rep et ition. R yle squeez es my ha nd and says,
“Sound s like busines s was good.”
I shru g. “I can’t complain. I mea n . . . I’m no brai n surgeo n, but
I’m pret ty good at wha t I do.”
R yle laughs . “You guys need any hel p clea ni ng up?”
Allysa and I put hi m to work, hel ping us clea n up after the big day.

We get ev er ythi ng fini shed and prep ped for tomorro w, and then
Marsha ll arri ves just as we’re fini shi ng up. He’s carr ying a bag when
he walks ins ide and drops it on the count er. He beg ins to pull out
hu ge lumps of some kind of materi al and tosses them at ea ch of us. I
catch mine and unf old it.
It’s a onesie.

Wi th kittens all over it.
“Bruins game. Free beer. Suit up, tea m!”
Allysa groans and says, “Marsha ll, you made six million dollars thi s
yea r. Do we real ly need free beer?”
He sho ves a fing er agains t her lips, pushi ng them in opposite
direc tions . “Shh! Don’t spea k like a rich girl, Issa. Blasphem y.”
She laughs and Marsha ll grabs the ones ie out of her ha nd . He

unz ips it and hel ps her int o it. Onc e we’re all suited up, we lock the
door and hea d to the bar.
I’ve nev er in my life seen so many men in ones ies . Allysa and I are
the onl y women wea ring them , but I kind of like tha t. It’s loud. So
loud, and ea ch time the Bruins make a good play, Allysa and I ha ve to
cover our ea rs from the screa ms. After about ha lf an ho ur, a booth on

the top floor opens up and we all run upstairs to claim it.
“Much bet ter,” Allysa says as we slide in. It’s much quiet er up here,
altho ugh still loud compared to no rmal stand ards.