Page 59
fifty-one
GRIFFIN
My wife just proposed to me in front of a room full of reporters and press. Holy shit.
She giggles and burrows her face in my neck as I carry her to my car, letting Maddox and Isla know we’ll meet them at Chasers to celebrate. For a little while. Then I have some celebratory plans that would get us arrested for indecent exposure. We’ll have to go home for those.
Home. She wants me to come home. She wants to stay married.
She wants me.
When we get to the G-Wagon, I set Mira’s feet on the ground, only to push her back against the car.
Caging her body in, I press my forehead to hers, closing my eyes and savoring her softness and warmth against me, the sound of her shallow breathing, and the floral scent of her hair.
She’s my safe place. My home. And even though I was determined not to let her go, I can’t deny the fear that crept in like shadowy vines at the edge of my mind.
Every other woman I’d been with had decided I wasn’t forever material.
What if Mira had come to the same decision?
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. Her soft hands cup my face, chasing the last remnants of fear away with their warmth. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
“No, baby. You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“I do, though. I hurt you. I made you question my love for you and I pulled away. It’s stupid, but I really thought I was doing the right thing.
That I had to fix myself to be worthy of your love or something, but you have never asked me to be perfect or to prove my worth.
You’ve loved me exactly as I am. I was just too scared of being hurt to see it.
” Tears drip from Mira’s lower lashes and her lip trembles.
Reaching up, I dry her eyes with my thumbs.
“Oh, sunshine, you don’t have to apologize for being scared and trying to protect yourself.
I did the same thing for years, remember?
It’s why I never tried to date anyone or put myself out there.
Until you. You got me drunk, and when we woke up married, it was like you handed my chance to me on a silver platter.
” I kiss her teary eyelids before tilting her chin up and running my thumb over her lower lip.
“Not sure I would have had the courage to go after what I wanted if you hadn’t. ”
“And what did you want?”
I grin and nuzzle her nose with mine. “You. Some part of me has always wanted you. But I couldn’t let myself acknowledge the attraction I felt, because you were my best friend’s little sister. You were beautiful and fiery and hilarious, but you were off-limits.
“Then you moved in and I realized what I felt for you was so much more than physical attraction. Spending time with you made it easier to breathe. You’re sunshine and fresh air and everything good, baby.
” Reaching into my pocket, my fingers close around the little black velvet box I’ve carried every day since that first day in Michigan.
Not even her no when I proposed before made me stop.
Mira’s green eyes widen as I pull the box from my pocket and hold it up between us. She clasps her hands over her heart, and they tremble. So do mine.
Flipping the lid of the ring box open, I memorize her soft little inhalation and etch it into my heart.
“I know you said no when I asked you to marry me a few weeks ago, but I figure now that you’ve asked me and I said yes, well…
” I take the massive diamond out and slip it onto her ring finger.
“I thought you may want to wear it now.”
“Yeah,” she says with a watery laugh, “I want to wear it now.”
Once the ring is on her slender finger, she holds it out between us and admires it. I’m only admiring her. “You’re beautiful.”
“I love it. I love you .” Mira leans in and presses a soft kiss to my lips before pulling back with a stunning smile. “I can’t wait to show Isla and Lexi.”
The way she’s looking at me—like I’m everything to her—has me tempted to say fuck it to meeting everyone at Chasers so I can take my wife home and make her mine again in every conceivable way.
But they’d kick my ass, and I know they’ll want to celebrate Mira and me working our shit out as much as they’ll want to celebrate the win.
So instead of pushing my girl into the car and ravaging her, I settle for slanting my lips over hers and kissing the fuck out of her.
The little gasp she releases in my mouth as she opens for me has my dick painfully hard.
I press her against the car, showing her how much I want her, and sweep my tongue inside her mouth.
We make out right there in the players’ garage until a few of my teammates wolf whistle and shout at us to get a room.
Mira pulls away, the prettiest blush staining her cheeks. She looks up at me, giggles, then leans forward and hides her face in my chest.
“Oh my god.”
“Got a little carried away. Sorry, sunshine. Let’s go make an appearance at Chasers. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave.”
She giggles again, and god, I’ve missed that sound. We don’t talk much on the way to the bar, both of us content to soak up the other’s company. I don’t let her hand go until I’m pulling into the parking lot, then as soon as we’re out of the car, it’s back in mine.
For the first time in weeks, I feel settled and content.
There’s no worry eating away at my stomach, no loneliness picking at my heart.
I woke up this morning without Mira in my arms, but tonight, I’ll fall asleep holding her, and I’ll never wake up without her again.
Well, without her being mine. Even if there are hundreds of miles between us during away games, I’ll still wake up each morning knowing she’s mine.
Isla, Lexi, and the guys all cheer as Mira and I walk into Chasers.
They stand and clap and shout for us. Even Maddox.
Once the other patrons see what the fuss is about, they join in too.
And I laugh when I see what’s playing on the big screens all over the bar.
It’s footage of Mira proposing to me after the game.
“This is embarrassing,” she mutters, her face turning the brightest shade of red I’ve ever seen.
Laughing, I grab my wife and dip her low, right there in front of the entire bar, and kiss the hell out of her. When we’re standing again, I raise her hand like the winning boxer in a ring and shout, “I said yes!”
Cheers go up again, along with quite a bit of laughter, as we make our way to the table in the back filled with our family and friends.
They all crowd around Mira and me, hugging and congratulating us.
My wife’s smile is blinding, and my heart feels like a helium balloon.
If it gets any fuller, it may float out of my chest.
“I’m happy for you,” Bash says as he pulls me in for a hug. “You deserve someone to look at you the way your wife does. I’m glad I was wrong about the jersey stunt.”
I laugh. “Me too, man, me too.”
Ryder hugs me next, then Maddox, then Logan.
“Can’t believe my wingman is married,” Logan laments. “This is a sad fucking day.”
I can’t even be annoyed, because his pout is so ridiculous that all I can do is laugh. “Just wait, dude. You’ll be next. You have to be, because karma is hilarious like that.”
Byrne’s nose wrinkles like he smelled something foul. “No. Absolutely not. You won’t curse me to a life of misery and disappointment.”
“I’m gonna laugh my ass off when you change your tune one day.” Shaking my head, I clap my good friend on the shoulder. “Some firecracker of a woman is going to come along and put you in your place, and you’ll never live it down.”
“Never gonna happen.”
I laugh and wrap my arm around Mira when she snuggles into my side. “We’ll see, Byrne. We’ll see.”
MIRA
I can’t believe how much my life has changed in less than nine months.
Who would have thought back in September, when I agreed to live with Griffin, that this is where we’d be in April?
The guys just won their first postseason game, and I proposed to my husband in front of a room full of cameras and reporters.
Life is strange and beautiful.
Snuggled into the large corner booth with Griffin on my left and Isla on my right, I allow myself to get lost in the laughter and conversations.
To think, I spent so many years of my adult life trying to separate myself from my big brother’s life and shadow, to make something for myself and prove I could do big things, too, and all I was doing was putting distance between myself and the people who love me.
It’s never been a competition with Maddox, and if I felt like it was, it was all in my head.
Maybe our dad was a giant piece of shit who walked away, but my mom and my brother have always done everything they can to fill the space he left.
I’ve been blessed to have blood family that loves and supports me.
I hate thinking about the extra years I could have had with a found family who are just as supportive and loving.
“What are you thinking about?” Isla asks, giving my hand a squeeze. “You look a thousand miles away.”
As I scan the overflowing table full of massive men, a woman who is fast becoming one of my best friends, and one who is now my sister, I smile. “Thinking about family. And how lucky we are to have one this big and amazing. Even if the guys do make everything smell like sweat and hockey funk.”
Isla laughs, the sound bright and comforting. “The smell can be awful, but they more than make up for it, don’t they?”
I watch as Ryder hugs Lexi to his side and they both laugh at something Sebastian says.
Logan shakes his head at them, but it’s affectionate and familiar.
My brother and my husband are cracking up with a couple of other guys from the team, and Griffin’s laughter vibrates through me where he holds me to his side.
Jared isolated me. I let him, but he did.
By the time I left Chicago, I didn’t have any friends left who would rally around me, celebrate when I had a win, or show up when things were falling apart.
On paper, he’d been perfect. Everything I was looking for.
In reality, he was just another guy content to take and take until there was nothing left.
Griffin pulled me right into the center of his circle like it was the most natural thing in the world.
He’s given me so much more than he’s taken, and even though he seemed like the opposite of what I should want, he’s everything I needed.
He’s become my safe haven, my home, and my biggest supporter.
“They really do,” I finally say to Isla. “They’re the best men I know.”
“Who’s the best man you know?” Griffin asks, breaking away from his conversation with Maddox.
I snuggle into his side and let my hand drop to his leg, teasing my fingers up the muscles along the inside of his thigh. “You.”
Griffin’s hand on my hip tightens, the pads of his fingers biting into my flesh. “Sunshine…”
His tone holds a warning, but to me, it sounds like a promise. Isla giggles and I give her a wink.
“Yes, husband?”
“You’re playing with fire.”
I trail my fingers higher, pleased as fucking punch when his dick hardens and strains against his suit pants. “Am I?”
He stands when I let my fingers just barely graze the head of his cock, bumping the table and making all eyes turn his way.
Clearing his throat, he grabs my hand and hauls me to my feet, then says, “Well, it’s been fun.
I can’t wait to celebrate our next win, but my wife is tired, so I’m going to take her home. ”
“I’m not tired,” I say sweetly.
Everyone laughs and Lexi shouts, “Get it, girl!”
Griffin shrugs. “You will be when I’m done with you.” Then he bends down, wraps his hand beneath my ass, presses his shoulder into my stomach, and lifts me over his shoulder like a caveman right there at the booth. He salutes our laughing friends with his free hand.
“See you guys tomorrow.”
For the second time tonight, he carries me out to the sound of cheers and laughter.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59 (Reading here)
- Page 60
- Page 61