“Problem is,” he said, “I’ve been keeping a secret from you guys ever since I got here. A big one. I don’t want to keep that secret bottled up anymore.”
Now the room fell totally silent, and I knew Levi had everyone’s attention.
“You should all know the truth,” he said. “And the truth is I’ve spent the last five years in love. Actually, I’ve been in love fora lot longer than that, but I finally decided to hand my heart over to the person it rightfully belongs to five years ago.”
No one in the room spoke. I knew what was coming. I wondered how the room would react, but I felt too swept up in the moment for fear to take hold of me.
“You all know Quinn,” he said, “and you know that his dad married my mom. What you don’t know is that we’re in love—and not afraid to say so.”
That didn’t trigger a chorus of chatter, but I heard a few garbled words muttered. I’d always found Levi brave and strong, but I considered this his boldest move yet.
The players and coaches in the room mostly just stared at us, waiting for Levi’s imminent conclusion. He turned to me, taking my hands in his, offering his warmth.
Head bowed, he said, “I know what the rest of the world might think. To be honest with you, I really don’t give a shit. I love you, Quinn Standish, and I always will. I just thought everyone here should be the first to hear about it. And, because my teammates are family too, I wanted them to see this.”
And then Levi dropped to one knee. He paused before digging into his pocket and fishing out a ring.
“Quinn, from the moment I first saw you all those years ago, I knew we were meant to be together. It felt like a million things were standing in our way. The universe has been against us. But I’m not going to allow any more roadblocks to stand between us and our destiny.”
Oh my God, was this really happening? It felt surreal.
I stared down at Levi. He never took his eyes off mine.
“Quinn, will you marry me?”
I didn’t know what to say. Correction: I knew exactly what I wanted to say, but I couldn’t make the words come out of my mouth. People were watching. Levi’s teammates remained silent(or had I simply tuned them out?). I couldn’t leave the man of my dreams waiting a moment longer. He deserved an answer.
“Of course I will,” I said.
Levi sprang to his feet, slid the ring onto my finger, and locked me in another hug that lifted me off my feet. And then he kissed me deeply in front of applauding hockey players and coaches, as if unconcerned about what any of them thought.
When our lips broke apart, he stared deep into my eyes and said, “You won’t regret this.”
“I know.”
