Page 14

“No, I didn’t. We stayed together. The father dipped, dropped out of college and disappeared, but it didn’t matter.

I was going to be there for Samantha and the baby.

I was there. I went to every appointment.

I turned the extra room in my apartment into a nursery and painted it yellow.

I bought one of those books that tells you what kind of fruit the fetus is week-by-week. ”

“And then…” he says, trailing off so I can fill in the blanks.

“And then it didn’t matter. She didn’t want to be with me, so she left.

It didn’t matter to me that the baby Samantha was carrying wasn’t mine.

I loved her, and I loved that baby, and if she had let me, I would have been a father to that child.

I tried. For months after Samantha left me, I tried to find ways to be around.

I begged, I sent money, I did everything I could.

Eventually, I had to cut my losses. She didn’t want to be with me and I had no rights to the baby, and that was that. ”

“Dean, I’m so sorry.”

“I’m not. Things happen the way they were meant to.

If we’d stayed together, I probably wouldn’t have entered the draft.

I was already leaning towards giving up on that dream.

I would’ve stayed in Michigan at the university and maybe tried my hand at coaching so that I’d have a more stable job and could be there for my family.

I wouldn’t have had my NFL career, and I probably never would’ve met you.

” I bump my shoulder against his, relishing the small smile that plays at his lips when we touch.

“I think a part of me will always mourn the loss of what I thought I could have, but that’s not the point here.

The point of me telling you this is that I need you to understand something about me.

You asked me earlier—what happens when I want a real family one day?

Luke, corazón, you and your kids are my real family. ”

He opens his mouth to speak, but I hold up a hand between us to stop him.

“I know what you’re going to say. But biology means nothing to me when it comes to family.

I mean, just look at my parents. I’m only biologically related to IronDad, but does that make me love my Pops any less?

Is Kira any less my sister just because she is biologically related to Pops?

Do you think IronDad loves her less because she didn’t come from his genetic material?

Family is not about who you share DNA with, it’s about who you love.

You are my best friend in the entire world, Luke.

Lemmie, Mellie and Ollie are my favorite little people.

” I tap a knuckle against my chest, feeling my own heartbeat thumping under my ribs.

“And in here, the four of you are already mine. I’m not going to change my mind, Luke.

I’m in this with you, and if legally binding myself to you is what it takes to keep our family together? That’s a no-fucking-brainer to me.”

Luke’s eyes dart back and forth between mine, his chest rising and falling in unsteady breaths.

I reach out and cup his cheek, feeling his stubble tickling my skin and letting the warmth of my palm steady him in the moment.

He leans into my touch, and a flurry of butterflies flap their wings in my stomach.

He doesn’t say anything for long moments, just lightly nuzzles his cheek against my hand.

For a moment, I think he might still shut me down, that baring my truth and my heart won’t be enough to convince him that I am so serious about this, but then…

“We’re going to need ground rules,” he says and I nod frantically.

“I love rules. Any rules, all the rules,” I sputter, unable to hide my excitement at the prospect of all of this becoming real.

Luke closes his eyes for a second, then opens them up slowly. Blinking at me from under his thick, black lashes, his irises rimmed in a shade of gold I could so easily get lost in if I let myself. Finally, a smile reaches his eyes.

“Ask me again,” he whispers, and an involuntary shudder runs through me. Up here on this ledge overlooking the ocean, I can’t exactly get down on one knee again. But that doesn’t stop me from cradling Luke’s hands in mine and giving them three firm squeezes.

“Luke Daniel Cannon, my best friend. My person. You mean more to me than anyone I have ever known, and I would be a lucky man to get to spend my life trying to make you happy. Will you please do me the honor of marrying me?”

The look on Luke’s face—a mixture of gratitude and something I can’t quite recognize but that has his cheeks turning the sweetest shade of pink under the scruff of his beard—settles in my chest like warm honey.

For the briefest of seconds, I forget that this isn’t quite real.

I forget the sense of friendship and obligation and all the other scary things and let myself sink into this alternate reality where I’m asking Luke Cannon to be my husband and expecting him to say yes.

“Yes, Dean Hayden McKenna. I would love to marry you.”