Page 43 of Protected from Malice (Blade and Arrow Shadow Team #1)
Webb continues, “So. We know everyone loves extreme Jenga. But there was a request for some trivia tonight.”
Indy pulls a large box out from behind the TV console and starts pulling bundles of gray fabric out of it. “And we have T-shirts for everyone who’s up for playing. Let’s see a show of hands. Who’s interested in a game of trivia?”
Everyone’s hands shoot up in the air, and Indy begins to walk around the room, handing out what look like T-shirts.
As Rafe and I reach the bottom of the stairs, I turn to him. “We’re playing trivia?”
He grins. “Yeah. I thought you’d enjoy it.” With a little squeeze of my hand, he guides me towards the center of the room, where three couches are arranged in a large U-shape. Once we get there, he gestures for me to sit, and says, “Just wait here for a second, okay?”
“Okay?” I raise my eyebrows at him. “Where are you going?”
“Just to grab some T-shirts.” He bends down to kiss my cheek. “We can’t play trivia without T-shirts, after all, can we?”
“No, I suppose we can’t.” With all the craziness of renovations and moving, we’ve only gotten to play trivia a few times so far, but one of the first things Rafe did was have our custom T-shirts made.
And like he promised, he had Levi create a special logo for us to use—a sneaky cheeseburger dressed all in black, complete with a little mask and mischievous grin.
Before I know it, Rafe’s back with two T-shirts, and he hands one of them to me. I unroll it to find a different logo, this one of a double helix with a smirking face and the words, Devious Double Helixes , printed beneath it.
As Rafe pulls on his matching shirt, he says, “Since we already have the Sneaky Cheeseburger ones, I thought this would be fun. And look—” he gestures at the Sleepy Hollow crew, all clustered around the adjacent loveseat. They’re all wearing shirts that proudly announce Mighty Mitochondria on them.
I burst out laughing. “That’s awesome! What other team names did you pick?”
Rafe glances around. “Well, we have the Mischievous Milkshakes, the Daring Elements—for the Periodic Table, that is—and the Brave Bacterium.”
“The Brave Bacterium ?”
“Yeah.” He laughs. “I thought the San Antonio team would appreciate it.” He turns to give Rhiannon and Hawk a thumbs up, smirking as he does it.
Rhiannon makes a face at him. But she’s laughing, too.
“Okay.” Webb raises his voice so everyone can hear him. “So. We all have our teams. It’s pretty simple. Each team has thirty seconds to come up with their answer. Then you’ll write it on the dry-erase board and reveal it when I tell you.”
I notice a small whiteboard on the couch beside Rafe. He picks it up and hands it to me. “You can be in charge of writing down the answers,” he says.
As I take it from him, Tyler, Indy, and Ace converge around us, settling on the arms of the couch and the floor in front of it. Indy glances at me with a smile. “You ready to show these guys how it’s done, Genius?”
I reach over to swat the back of his head. “Of course.”
Indy tousles my hair. “You’d better win. I heard the prize is pretty good.”
“Kids,” Rafe scolds with a chuckle. He loops his arm around my waist. “Are you ready, Brain?”
“I’m ready,” I assure him. “Let’s show these other teams how it’s done.”
And for the first few questions, we do. Amid groans and good-natured ‘ that’s not fair ’s, we breeze through the questions with ease. Then we get to the fourth question, and that’s when our game host, Webb, pauses. He glances at Rafe, and they exchange another long look before continuing.
“This is a special question,” Webb announces. “And I think it’s only right to have the person who came up with it ask the question.” Then he tosses the remote to Rafe, who catches it one-handed.
Rafe holds the remote for a second, just staring down at it. He draws in a breath and lets it out slowly. Then he presses a button, and the TV screen changes.
On it is one simple question.
Eden, will you marry me?
My hand flies to my mouth as I gasp.
Rafe gets up from the couch and drops to one knee in front of me.
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small velvet box. Then, he flips it open to reveal a sparkling diamond nestled inside it.
“Eden,” he starts. “I’ve been waiting for the right time to ask. I know romance isn’t my thing, but I wanted it to be special. Something that represented us .”
“Rafe.” My voice wobbles.
He takes my hand, wrapping his around it.
His gaze searches out mine. “I love you, Eden. More than I ever knew it was possible to love someone. And—” He swallows again.
“It’s only ever been you. From the first time I met you, no one else could even come close.
I didn’t think I had a chance. I didn’t think I deserved you. But?—”
“You do.” Tears burst free, spilling down my cheeks. “You deserve everything , Rafe. I promise.”
“I don’t need everything,” he replies roughly. “I just need you. And Eden, if you agree to marry me, I swear, I will spend my life doing everything in my power to make you happy. To protect you. To prove you made the right decision by saying yes.”
“Rafe—” It’s hard to speak past the emotion thickening my throat. “You don’t have to prove anything. I already know.”
Hope flashes across his face. “You know?”
“Yes. Absolutely, yes. I know it’s the right decision. Marrying you? There’s no question. Of course I want to. I’ve been hoping you’d ask.”
Rafe cups my cheek as he gazes at me with love in his eyes. “Does that mean you’ll marry me?”
“Yes.” I lunge forward to fling my arms around him. My lips crash down on his. I kiss him with all the love coursing through my body. With all the joy exploding out of it. “Yes, Rafe. I will absolutely marry you.”
His eyes close for a second. When they open, his eyes shine with unshed tears. “Baby. I can’t even tell you… I’m so happy.” With a shaking hand, he takes out the ring and slides it onto my finger. “I’m just so happy.”
Oh.
I can’t stop crying.
But they’re tears of happiness.
Of wishes that finally came true.
“Rafe.” I hug him again. “I’m so happy, too.”