Sighing, he looks away. “I know last night wasn’t perfect…”
I squeeze him maybe a little too hard. “Itwasperfect.”
“I almost punched your other boyfriend in the face,” he huffs, his face pinched.
A little snort escapes me. “He was being a dick. And you only almost punched one of them.” I nuzzle against his chest again, breathing him in. “The effort and the intention were perfect. There’s no one way this all has to go. Perfection is found in all the little moments of grace, where we’re willing to be patient and flexible with each other.”
“Okay, Dr. Davvies,” he murmurs, pressing his lips into the crown of my head. “You sounded like your mom just now.”
The sentiment warms me from the inside. A degree in peace communications isn’t part of my ten-year plan, but I love that Ty remembers that about my mom and made the connection. I’m grateful that the two of us share good memories, not just painful ones.
He rubs his free hand up and down my spine. “The team travels a lot. It’ll be a good thing, I think, knowing you’ll have them.”
He’s talking about the future.
He’s talking aboutourfuture.
Emotion rises up in me, but I force my voice to remain steady. “I don’t know if Noah will ever want to leave here. And Mercer has tenure. What if Holt becomes home?”
He shrugs, the move easy. “I’ve lived a lot of places over the years. Home isn’t a certain building or geographic location. For me, home has always been wherever you are.”
Tearing up, I pop up on my toes and kiss him in earnest.
When we break apart, he wipes at my bottom lip, then steals one more kiss. “Assuming everything goes smoothly and I get called up with the Galaxy, I’ll still need to have a place in Georgia.”
I grin up at him. “We’llneed to have a place in Georgia. And we’ll make it work, for better or worse.”
“For better or worse, huh?” A teasing smile dances over his expression.
I cringe, though the smile is still there, too. Yeah. Okay. So what if I just accidently recited part of the traditional wedding vows?
With a deep breath in, I gather the courage to bring up another issue I’ve been thinking about. “Yesterday,” I hedge, “when we told Noah everything, and he assumed the reason you kept calling me your wife was to grant us spousal privilege from testifying against each other…”
I trail off, looking away, suddenly worried I’ve gone too far. But I want to be sure there’s nothing left unsaid between any of us as we lay the foundation of our relationship.
Ty takes another sip of his coffee, then holds it out to me, but I shake my head, too anxious for his response.
“You asking me to marry you, mon ange?”
I roll my eyes, relief washing over me. If he can tease me about it, then we’re doing okay. “His assumption makes a lot of sense. It might be worth pursuing, just in case. You’re going to be a professional athlete. And your new team already thinks we’re married,” I remind him. “What if someone goes digging? What if someone back in Montreal who knew your dad talks to the media or starts posting on message boards?”
A shudder racks through him. With a clenched jaw, he shakes his head. “I already did this wrong once. I’m not fucking it up again.”
He cradles my cheek, staring down at me like I’m the most precious thing in his life.
“You’re going to be my wife,” he declares. “Sooner rather than later, if I have my way. But there are other people to consider. And… and you deserve a real proposal. A real wedding, if that’s what you want.”
I pop up onto my toes and kiss him softly. “I just want you. And them.”
“I just want you to get everything you want,” he retorts.
“So it’s settled,” I offer nonchalantly.
“Not yet. But it will be.”
Ty’s words burrow deep in my chest, soothing all the uncertainty and heartache that have plagued me over the last few years.
We’re unconventional and perfectly imperfect. Nothing is settled, but it will be. I believe in my heart of hearts we’ll get the happy ending we deserve.
