“Given our history, I probably should have come to you all first out of respect, but Savi is a grown woman, and whether you like it or not, she doesn’t need your approval on who she can and cannot date.” I feel Savi’s hand cover mine as she silently stands by me. “But,” I say, looking at each of her brothers, “having your approval will make this a hell of a lot easier on her, and she’s all that matters to me.”
“What if we don’t approve? Do you walk away?” Jake asks, studying me closely for my reaction.
“Jake…” Lyla looks at her husband next to her.
“I just want to hear his answer,” he murmurs, keeping his eyes trained on me.
“I want to know it as well,” Ryder chimes in as I glance in his direction to meet his intense greys that are locked on me.
“If you don’t approve, then I’ll ask Savi what she wants. If not having your approval is too hard on her, I’ll only walk away if she asks me to. Even though I want your approval,” I say firmly,matching their stares with one of my own, “I don’t need it. I’ll choose Savi. Every…Single…Time. You all are like brothers to me, but Savi is my future, and I’m choosing her with or without your permission.”
I watch a smile play on Travis’s lips as his brothers follow suit.
“Does that answer your question?” I ask, looking around at their now grinning asses.
“It does,” Travis grins. “Tells us exactly what we needed and wanted to know.”
“Which is?” Savi asks, looking baffled.
“That he has the balls to put you first,” Jake grins, taking a sip of his bourbon.
“We had to make sure you were important enough to him. Not a lot of guys would be willing to go against all four of us just to make you happy,” Ryder chuckles.
“Men,” Eve says, rolling her eyes.
“The testosterone in here is suffocating,” Olivia mutters.
“Looks like you made it past the last hurdle,” Miles grins, lifting his glass in the air. “Welcome to our family…again.”
“He wasn’t going anywhere,” Meaghan huffs. “Dad and I already gave him our blessing. You boys would have just had to get over it.”
“Agreed,” Trevor says, shaking his head at his sons.
“We couldn’t let him get off that easy,” Travis grins at his mom. “Just having some fun while we get a feel for the relationship side of Knox that we’ve never seen.”
“Glad you had your fun,” I smirk.
“We did,” Jake laughs. “I’m just glad you had the right answer because this limo ride would have gotten extremely awkward.”
Shaking my head, my lips quirk up as I settle back in my seat. The conversation around us flows easily now that they’ve gotten that off their chests.
“Glad that is over with,” Savi leans over and whispers in my ear.
“You and me both,” I chuckle softly. “We just have one more thing left to do.”
Looking out the window, I see the cameras already flashing as important guests arrive at the event. Each year, this ball gets bigger as more celebrities show up to mingle with professional athletes.
The press is already swarming the place as we pull up to the curb. I know the moment I step out with a girl on my arm that it’s going to be a frenzy. It’s not something I ever do, so I’ll undoubtedly be raising questions on the internet tomorrow with our picture plastered everywhere.
“What could possibly be left?” She laughs, peering out the window.
“Telling the world,” I mumble as I take her hand in mine. If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it right.
After tonight, there won’t be a single doubt in tomorrow’s headlines when it’s revealed that Knox Stone and Savannah Montgomery are indeed together.
THIRTY-SEVEN
SAVI
