My grin widens. “That’s what I’m hoping for.”
“What my girl wants,” he says quietly, tucking a stray lock of hair behind my ear, “my girl gets.”
He leans in, his lips hovering over mine, waiting a beat before closing the rest of the distance, anticipation heavy in the air. And then his lips are on mine, and I melt right into him, opening, my tongue seeking his. He dives in, and my head spins as he licks into my mouth, tastes me like he’s been starving for a week—and maybe he has. Maybe we both have. Because my heart pounds and I press tighter against him, moaning as our tonguestangle and he kisses me like I’m the one breathing the air back into his lungs.
“You beat me to it, you know,” he murmurs, smile playing over his lips.
“Beat you to what?”
Cam leans his forehead against mine. “The grand gesture. I had all these plans for tonight. Oliver was going to make an excuse to get you out of your house after the game. I was going to sneak in and make you dinner and build a blanket fort in your living room and light a million candles and ask you to be mine forever.” He lifts his head, his arms tightening around my waist and for a second as he looks around with a grin. “I like your way better. It’s perfect. Absolutely, perfectly us.”
Laughing, I turn his face back to mine. “The candle thing sounds good though, and you know how I love a blanket fort. Let’s do that later.”
Cam presses a kiss to my forehead and both of my cheeks before taking my mouth with his in one more long, slow kiss. “Anything for you. Always everything for you.”
The cheers from the crowd and the sidelines filter into our little bubble of happiness and joy and we break apart, laughing as we both catch sight of Riley and Ethan at the same time, standing with the rest of the team, all of whom are watching us with one huge, collective grin.
“My kids are down here?” he asks, pressing kisses to my forehead, my cheeks, wherever he can reach.
I slide down his body until my feet are on the ground, laughing when he makes a disgruntled noise, pulling me close like any distance between us is unacceptable. “I got them from their seats. I thought my grand gesture should be a family affair.”
Cam cups my face in his big hands, threading his fingers into my hair. “I love you so damn much. Be mine, Maddy.” He glances over at his kids and then back at me. “Be ours.”
“Always,” I say quietly, pressing up to kiss him again, contentright down to my toes. There’s nothing in the world that could ruin this moment.
“Lowry, get your ass off the damn field!” Coach Campbell’s irritated voice cuts through our happy little bubble.
Except maybe that.
But Cam just laughs, kissing me again before his eyes travel behind me, amusement filling his eyes. “Look, baby, we’re on TV.”
I glance up and then toss my head back and laugh. “I’ve always wanted to be a star.”
He dips his head, his mouth close to my ear, warm breath ghosting over the sensitive skin. “You look so fucking good with my name on your back, Wildcat. I’d really like to see you wearing nothing but this jersey later on.”
A shiver works its way down my spine as he kisses the spot below my ear because hot damn, me too. “That can definitely be arranged.”
“I fucking love you,” he says, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. My most unexpected, happiest ending.”
My heart swells as I cup his face in my hands. “I love you, too. And your kids. I want all of you to be mine.”
He closes his eyes, taking a slow, deep breath. When he opens them, he looks at me like I’m the center of his entire universe. His only reason for being. “Baby, we already are.”
“Off. The. Field.” Coach’s voice is low and a little dangerous. When we look at him, a vein is pulsing in his forehead, and his jaw is so tight I wonder if he’s cracking molars right now. Cam chuckles like he’s amused and wraps an arm around my waist, tugging me closer like he can’t stand any distance between us. “Right. Fucking. Now.”
He spins around and stalks to the sidelines, and I snicker as we follow closely behind. “Sorry, Brookie. I was grand gesturing.”
When we reach the sidelines, he turns back, narrowing his eyes at me. “I hate that fucking nickname. And your grandgesturing gave us a delay of game penalty and for sure there’s going to be a fine involved,” he says, pinning Cam with an exasperated look.
Cam just shrugs, like nothing in the entire world could dampen his joy right now and seriously, same. “Worth it.”
When I cackle, Coach casts his eyes to the sky, muttering something about football players being the literal death of him. “Get off my field.”
Okay, well, that dampens my joy. And pisses me right off.
“Hang on.” I drop my arm from around Cam’s waist and put my hands on my hips, leveling Brooks with a glare. “You can’t eject him from the game. It’s the AFC Championship. The team needs him.”
Brooks rolls his eyes. “I wasn’t ejecting him from the game. I was giving you time to figure out whatever this is.” He waves a hand between us. “Why does everyone always assume I’m being mean?”
