Page 112

He takes a step toward me and hands me the bouquet of flowers.

“What are these for?” I ask, bewildered.

“We met six years ago today.” His eyes bore into me.

“We did?” My interest piques.

“Yes.” His eyes stay glued on me. “You were in a dark gray sweat suit with a messy bun and loo—

“All right, well I’m gonna go,” my brother interrupts as he points to the door, then promptly walks out.

Calvin coughs, but it appears he’s covering a laugh. “Sorry. I was just really excited to give you these. I’ll have to give Sebastian something in a few weeks when your foundation anniversary comes.”

“He probably would love that.”

“I’ll make a note.” His eyes stay on me. “You looked beautiful then, and you do right now as well. You make me so incredibly happy, and I just wanted to thank you for opening that door for me six years ago today and not closing it on my face.”

“Thank you for being patient with me.”

“Always.” He cups my face and presses his lips to mine.

Epilogue

The following summer…

Calvin

“Ican’t believe you insisted we take your car,” Lettie grumbles from the passenger seat.

I bite down on my lip to hold back my laugh and my thoughts on the matter because I’m not budging on safety and reliability, especially with our track record for travel down to Cape Cod.

Today is a new adventure, though, as we are celebrating the grand opening weekend of the newest women’s shelter owned by the Good WIN Foundation.

Lettie and I are arriving the day before the event so we can prepare and set up everything ‌first thing tomorrow. She has been working tirelessly over the last year to make this day happen. The sale went through seamlessly, but a lot of construction and changes had to happen to transform this place into their vision.

Shortly after winning the Super Bowl, I decided I wasn’t ready to retire yet. Even though I finally had a ring, I still wanted to play. However, when this off-season came around, I felt differently. I made the difficult decision to, in fact, hang up my helmet.

My body is thanking me, and I have more time to focus on other things, including more time with Lettie.

During last off-season, Lettie and I flew out to Colorado to meet my newest niece and hang out with my family. As expected, Lettie was amazing, and my family loved her, especially my mom, who is thriving as a grandma.

She even talked about flying out here soon to check out the newest shelter on the Cape, as well as the brand-new house that we put an offer on last week, which is in the same seaside town.

Seeing my mom bloom has healed a little bit of the guilt I didn’t realize I carried. I felt like I should have protected my mom better against my dad, but a child can only do so much. I guess Sebastian and I are alike in some ways for that. We are both protectors and want to guard our loved ones. It’s kind of nice to have a close friend who understands.

I am also now an official team member of the Good WIN Foundation and have worked there for six weeks.

It feels good to still be part of a successful team while doing meaningful work. I may even apply to graduate schools and become a licensed counselor. I have a coffee meeting scheduled next week with Claire from the foundation to discuss it further. I may not go that route, but I still want to consider all my options.

I flip on my blinker to turn off the main road and into a large parking lot with a very familiar coastal sign.

We step out of the vehicle, and I grab our two bags from the back seat and sling them over my shoulder. We walk around the corner to our favorite inn, and her eyes light up as we walk through the lobby with carefree smiles on our faces.

Without thinking, I cover and clasp my hands over hers. She eyes me with confusion, but I continue. “I wasn’t going to do this yet. I wasn’t sure I was going to do this at all.” I shake my head because I’m screwing this up.

“I was going to snap to you. But you’re my teammate in everything, and I never want that to stop. You can be the quarterback and call the shots, or you can be the center, and I can revolve around you. I don’t care about positions. I’ll do anything.” I pause, realizing what I said, and throw Lettie a wink.

The blush that I love so much creeps onto her face. I roll my shoulders and clear my throat, then drop down to one knee. “I just want you on my team forever.”

She gasps as her hands fly to cover her mouth.

“I knew pretty early on that you were my joy. My happiness. My Lettie. I hoped you never Googled the meaning of the name Lettie because then you would’ve known my feelings for you early on.” My joy. “When I’m with you, all I feel is happiness. Will you make me the luckiest guy alive and marry me?”

“I don’t know what to say…” Her eyes widen, and her mouth falls open.

Fuck. Did I totally misread the play here?

“Well, yes or no would be an appropriate thing to say,” I retort.

She lets out a quick, nervous chuckle before bobbing her head up and down. “Yes!”

She rushes toward me and wraps her hands around my neck; her strawberry scent wafts through me.

“You just caught me off guard, but you are my favorite person. My forever teammate. And I’ll take any position too.” She tosses me a wink.

As we check in, I ensure that this time, we in fact have one bed.