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“I’ll see you guys later,” Hannah says. She borrowed my dad’s car tonight and it beeps from the curb as she unlocks it.
She gives me a hug and I can’t resist. “Hot date?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.” Her eyes are bright. I’ve never seen my sister this happy about a fourth date before. Her relationships usually fizzle out after one or two.
“Don’t forget to use protection,” I tease her.
“Thanks for the advice.” Hannah gives me a wry look. “Which you didn’t even bother following.”
“I followed half of it.”
She laughs and shakes her head. “See you tomorrow, Zee. Bye, Isla.”
“Bye, Hannah.”
As we get closer to the house, the lights are on and we can hear music. West’s current favorite song. Since I moved in, Elias’s three teammates have become like brothers to me and I couldn’t love them more. West is always fun, Gabriel is smarter than anyone I’ve ever met, and Jake is grounded and easy to talk to.
We step inside the small entrance foyer, which leads into the open plan living room and huge kitchen. The place is definitely a bachelor pad on steroids but for some reason, tonight, it’s full of at least a dozen bouquets of red roses.
“What’s this?” Isla asks. “Is someone getting married?”
All four of them are here. West, Jake and Gabe all have shit-eating grins on their faces, like they’re bursting with news but playing it cool. “What’s going on?” I ask.
Elias comes over to me. Like always, when I haven’t seen him for a while, I’m almost shocked by how beautiful he is. I love his face. I love his thick dark hair and the way it flicks in half curls behind his ears. I love that I know how the coarse silk of it feels in my hands…when he fucks me relentlessly until I come around him. I love his big, buff body…and how the hard textures of him feel when I grip him because he’s so unbelievably big and he feels so good. He’s wearing jeans and a black shirt. A nice one. In fact, all four of them are dressed nicely.
“Good game tonight,” I say, sort of breathless from his effect.
Elias takes my face in his hands and looks down at me with a vast kind of tenderness. “Thanks, angel girl.” He kisses me, the kiss erotic in its lightness. “You’re so damn beautiful it hurts. I can’t believe you’re mine.”
As much as I love that Elias is a drop-dead gorgeous sex god and an elite football hero, my favorite thing about him is that he’s careful with the broken places in me. He gets them. And I get his. It’s where the cracks are that our love grows the strongest.
And just when I think I couldn’t love him more, he’ll say or do something that proves me wrong.
Like now.
Elias gets down on one knee.
Isla gasps.
I’m finding it hard to breathe.
Elias is holding a small duck-egg blue box. He opens it, and inside, there’s a diamond ring. Not just any diamond ring. The biggest, shiniest diamond ring I’ve ever seen in my life.
“Zara…” Elias takes my hand. “You’re my dream girl. I’ve been waiting to do this for a while but I know you’re young and it’s fast and I wasn’t sure if you were ready. But I’m ready. There’s no one else for me when you exist in this world. I love you. I’ve loved you from the very first second I saw you. I knew you were the one on that very first day. I want to wake up next to you every morning. I want to build a life with you. I want to give you everything you’ve ever dreamed of, because to call you the love of my life doesn’t do justice to how much I love you. My imagination couldn’t have dreamed up this level of absolute perfection. Zara, will you marry me? Please say yes.”
I’m crying. And nodding. And laughing as I’m crying. I launch myself into his arms. “Yes.”
The room erupts and there’s the sound of champagne corks popping.
Jake gives Gabriel a high five. “The amygdala never lies,” says Gabe.
Elias slides the ring onto my finger. Then he holds my face and kisses me.
Falling in love with Elias O’Shea wasn’t something I could have planned, or even dreamed. I never knew I was capable of this kind of happiness.
Turns out, my dad was right.
When you know, you know.
