“I’d say you made me believe in love again, but since knowing you, I’ve realized I didn’t even know what love was. You make me believe in love, period.”
“Is that a hockey reference?” I blurt, because shock evidently makes me hilarious. Sean just laughs.
“Kayla Carville, I want to love you for the rest of my life. I want to give you my heart, not just my zip code. Will you marry me?”
Not just my?—
Zip code.
Relief floods my mind as oxygen fills my lungs. And that pinched feeling of confusion (and worry mixed with flattery) releases.
Go with it,he told me.Just like I told him.
He’s proposing for the zoning ordinance. He’s offering me a lifeline, giving me a way to get around the town’s absurdly antiquated rules so I can keep the team for as long as I want.
And, honestly, maybe he’s doing it to protect himself from Serena, too.
I know what I should do. I should say no. I should pull him aside and thank him for caring so much but tell him I’d rather fight them in court.
I should go the next few days and weeks and months knowing that Aldridge is trying to control my life from behind the scenes, trying to force me back into his arms, all while fighting him above board, proving through sheer grit and savvy and mettle that I can beat him at his own game. I should keep proving myself to the town, day in and day out, until I win them over, make the right covered dish, wear the right colors, whatever.
But this seems a lot more fun.
I look at our hands, the way his right hand is holding my left hand, his big, strong fingers folding around mine. Yet, eventhough his hands are bigger than mine, my hand doesn’t feel small in his. It didn’t have to shrink down to the right size.
It justfits.
Sean is staring up at me with those rich, caring eyes, and those eyes … they could make me give in too easily. Could make me want things I shouldn’t.
Should I?
In that moment of looking at him, every anxiety and frustration and fear melts away, and suddenly, it’s just Sean and me. A question and a ring.
“Yes.” I laugh, and a cheer rises up to the rafters. “YES!”
CHAPTER NINE
SEAN
Everyone else has cleared out, including my parents, who gave me a trusting smile when Kayla and I met them on the concourse. Tripp looked suspicious. But his friends and their wives looked excited, if shocked.
“I know you’ve talked about Sean, but you didn’t say you two werethatclose!” Ash said when she hugged Kayla.
“It was sudden, but when you know you know!” she said, and she didn’t even sound panicked.
Granted, her eyes looked like they were fixing to pop out of her head, but I was the only one who could see them.
Even Fletch, who has a chip on his shoulder the size of a boulder, seemed not unhappy.
“If you think I’m going to call you boss, you’ve got another thing coming,” he said, pounding my back.
I laughed. “Be nice, or I’ll have my fiancée fire you.”
Scottie alone looked like she was in on the con. “What great timing!” she said, her eyes too sharp for a smile so soft. “I imagine you’ll elope in the next, what, six days?”
“Give or take,” Kayla said, her own eyes sharp but playful.
“I couldn’t be happier for you. Or for the team,” she said before giving us a meaningful look. Then it was on to the next well-wisher.
