Page 96 of #Awestruck
Evan kissed me gently, which elicited a lot of cheering and yells from the crowd. “Your parents took some convincing, but eventually everyone said yes. Even Joey gave me a ‘good job, football man,’ and during a tea party Charlotte haughtily said Uncle Satan could marry her aunt Ashton.”
And I swear, right in that moment, I heard my mother yell, “I’m going to have more grandbabies!”
That made me throw my head back and laugh. I felt unbelievably happy and free. Like I’d found the other half of me and could finally feel complete.
“Your mother did make me promise to stay and fight when things got hard, because love is worth it. And I said I would.”
“I promise to never lie to you again. Ever. About anything. Like that terrible pass to Sanchez in the first quarter. Ugh. Just awful.”
He laughed and pulled me into a hug, squeezing me tightly. I closed my eyes. I had missed this.
“With that in mind,” Evan said, pointing over his shoulder at the Jumbotron, “I have something to ask you.” He walked over to his bag and pulled out a box. A ring box. For a second I was worried. I hoped he hadn’t bought me a new ring. He came back and got down on one knee, sending the crowd into a frenzy. “I told you I’d never propose in a restaurant.”
Being proposed to in one of my favorite places by my favorite person was infinitely better. Both of my hands went over my heart, trying to contain the joy I felt. “It’s a good thing I showed up today! Or else this would have been really embarrassing.”
He grinned at me. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too.” He’d probably never know exactly how much.
Evan opened the ring box, and tears blinded my vision when I saw it was his mother’s ring.
My ring.
The crowd went insane. Someone started chanting the wordyes, and soon the entire stadium was chanting along. “Yes, yes, yes, yes.”
“I can get you a different one,” he yelled.
“Don’t you dare. This one is perfect. I love it,” I yelled back as he slipped it onto my left ring finger. “And I love you.”
The chanting became deafening, and it turned from “yes” to my name. “Ashton, Ashton, Ashton.”
Evan had to shout, “Ashton! Will you marry me?”
“Do you hear that?” I asked him.
“The sound of seventy thousand people screaming your name? Kind of hard not to!”
“No. The sound of me saying yes!”
Evan got back to his feet and pulled me into a kiss, dipping me backward. The entire stadium went berserk, hollering and cheering.
He pulled back, grinning at me, and I’d never realized this kind of happiness could exist. He kept an arm around me while he waved to everyone in the stadium, and now they were chanting his nickname. “Awesome, Awesome, Awesome!”
I couldn’t wait to become his wife. “I don’t want a long engagement!”
“Me neither! We’d never make it!”
We kept waving and smiling until I felt like my face was going to freeze in a permanent grin. As soon as we left the field, cameras would be shoved in our faces, questions yelled at us, interviews given. But it would all be worth it.
Evan was worth it.
And I wouldn’t have traded him and what we had for anything.
We started to walk off the field toward the Jacks’ tunnel, where a horde of reporters and photographers waited for us.
“In case you were keeping track,” Evan said just before we reached them, “that was Marriage Proposal Number One. And it’s the only one I plan on making in my entire life.”
“Then it’s a good thing I plan on being your wife for the rest of my life.” I paused. “But only if you win this playoff game and then get me one of those Super Bowl rings.”
He laughed. “I will.”
And he did.