When she pulls back, she drops back onto her heels, breathless. “I'm sorry, Z.”
“What for—”
“No, let me finish.” She swallows, gathering herself. “I’m sorry it took me this long to get here. I’m sorry for every time I ran away from you when I should’ve been running toward you.”
My grip tightens slightly on her hips.
“I love you. I have always loved you, and I have been trying to become someone worthy of that instead of just—” Another stop. She's searching for the right words, and I know the feeling.
“I spent months trying to build this version of myself,” she continues softly. “And I’m proud of her. I needed to become her.” Her thumbs brush against my face. “But there’s always been a part of me that was missing.”
I open my mouth to talk, but she hushes me by gently resting her finger on top of my lips.
“I’m not finished,” she says teasingly. “You’re the part that’s missing.”
Then she drops her hand from my mouth and turns it over for me to see.
My eyes lock onto her hand, and every thought in my head immediately disappears.
My ring.
The gold honeycomb engagement ring is blinding me under the stadium lights, and suddenly, I feel like I’m standing inside one of those dreams that got me through the worst parts of this season.
My ring isn’t just in the box anymore. It’s on her finger, proving she’s fucking finally mine forever.
For a second, I can’t process it. I just stare at her hand, waiting for my brain to catch up to what my heart already knows.
I lift my eyes to hers slowly, and she’s already crying. Smiling, but crying.
“Yes,” she whispers.
That’s it. Just yes.
“Yes?” I say in complete disbelief. There’s no way this is happening to me.
A watery laugh breaks from her as tears spill down her cheeks. “Yes.” Her voice cracks around the word. “There’s nothing in this world I want more than to marry you.”
There’s nothing left to say.
I kiss her again, pulling her tight against me.
Confetti rains from somewhere above, red and white falling around her hair and my shoulders while fifty thousand people scream like we just won the championship instead of a regular-season game.
But none of it compares to this.
Nothing ever will.
We pull apart, and she presses her face against my chest for a hug. I've got both of my arms around her, and I just hold her there, breathing the moment in while fifty thousand people go completely insane around us.
She pulls back after a moment and wipes her eye with the back of her hand.
Looks down at her hand.
Looks up at me, and then back to her finger.
“I almost put it on a hundred different times.”
I look down at the ring again while she smiles shakily.
